|
Here: Home > Dual-Boot > Dual-Boot Windows Vista with other Operating Systems >
Dual-Boot or Multi-Boot:
Install Windows 7 + XP + 2K + 9x/Me on a Windows Vista computer
(Vista installed first)
Last reviewed: July 2009
On this page:
Introduction
This page shows how to create a native (natural) multi-boot of Windows Vista plus Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Millennium or 98SE on a computer with Windows Vista already installed on NTFS. You can then run any of those five Windows by selecting one from a Vista menu during bootup. No data loss will occur and no third-party boot utility will be used.
In this procedure you need to shrink the Windows Vista drive to make room for Win98/Me (and also for Windows 7, XP and 2000 unless you install those on a second hard disk). Using a second disk simplifies the procedure but it's not necessary. The example shown here uses one hard disk.
Windows Vista Home Premium, installed on a single NTFS partition, was used in testing. The operating systems added were: Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows XP Professional SP2 or XP Home SP1, Windows 2000 Professional SP4, and Windows Millennium or 98SE. The computer used was a 32-bit Dell Optiplex with Pentium 4 (2.26GHz), 1.25 GB RAM, 160 GB ATA hard disk.
Only experienced computer users should attempt to create this multi-boot.
Users with 64-bit computer systems should note that they are unlikely to get 64-bit hardware drivers that work with Win98/Me. They may, for instance, be stuck in low screen resolution. However, you can dual-boot Win98/Me with a 64-bit computer provided you reboot an extra few times while the Win98/Me installation tries for compatability - it finds a little, but not much.
[top of page]
Important Installation Notes
Full Installation CD/DVDs
The Windows you are adding cannot be installed from Recovery or Repair CDs or DVDs. Some OEMs supply them instead of the full versions and some only give you a recovery partition on your hard disk. You need the full installation or setup version to install a Windows.
127 GB Partition Limitation in Windows 98/Me and 2K
Windows 98/Me must be installed on a Primary partition that starts before 127 GB from the beginning of the first hard disk. This physical limitation cannot be avoided. It's fine to install 2K within the 127 GB limit on a second disk.
Shrinking the Windows Vista drive
You should avoid resizing a Windows 7 or Vista partition with a third-party partitioning utility like GParted. Windows partition editors often use different disk geometry than that used in Linux. Therefore resizing a Windows partition outside of Windows control could sometimes make Windows unbootable.
It's recommended you use Shrink in Disk Management to resize the Windows 7 or Vista partition and not a third-party utility - play safe and let Windows do it. If the free space achieved is inadequate, you can read Shrink the Windows 7 or Windows Vista Partition for instructions on completing this task successfully. The very popular and free GParted Live CD cannot be recommended in this situation - read Use GParted to Resize the Windows 7 or Vista Partition to learn why.
Formatting
Windows partitions should be created before you start installing any Windows. The partition should be Formatted when installing that Windows to ensure compatible file system versions. Avoid formatting Windows partitions with GParted or any other third-party partitioning utility.
Restore Points and Windows XP
A fix must be applied to prevent Windows XP removing Restore Points created by Vista. Read Fix Restore Points Problem in XP (below).
EasyBCD
The highly-acclaimed EasyBCD is a free boot menu editing utility for Win7 or Vista. It allows users to easily edit the BCD (Boot Configuration Data). The BCD is an integral part of Windows 7's and Vista's new boot manager/loader that replaces the NTLDR/Boot.ini method used in Windows XP, 2000, and NT. Manually editing the BCD is quite difficult. However EasyBCD has plenty of useful options including the addition of any Windows, DOS, Linux and others to the new boot loader with just a few clicks in a user-friendly GUI. You can also, at your leisure, use EasyBCD to alter the Default OS, the Bootloader Timeout, the Name that appears in the boot menu, and the Boot order in the boot menu.
[top of page]
Make NTFS Partition Active
The Win98/Me FAT32 partition is automatically made Active when Win98/Me is installed. After Win98/Me installation, the originally Active NTFS partition must be made Active again. This can be executed using Fdisk (option 2) run from a MS-DOS Prompt in Win98/Me or boot floppy/CD.
However, Fdisk does not show any labels and it shows incorrect sizes for larger NTFS partitions. This may make it difficult to accurately identify the correct partition to be made Active. Some users would use other methods such as GParted Live CD, Ranish partition manager, MBRWork 1.07b (all are freeware). The natural successor for Fdisk is DiskPart which you can run from your Windows DVD.
Running Repair your computer after booting from the Win7/Vista DVD will not alter the Active location. Selecting Startup Repair on a second repair run still does not alter the Active location. However the second run will add the required boot files (including bootmgr and Boot folder) to the currently Active partition and will boot Vista from there! That's not very satisfactory but at least you can now boot Win7/Vista and use Disk Management to make the correct partition Active again, and then you're fine. Many users would prefer to use DiskPart.
How to use DiskPart to make a partition Active
- Bootup from any Windows 7/Vista installation DVD or even from NeoSmart's free Vista Recovery Disk.
Select Repair your computer at the Install now screen.
Click No if asked to Repair and Restart.
Click Command Prompt option on the new window. Press ENTER after you type in each of these commands:
- DISKPART
- LIST DISK (disk number(s) will be shown).
- SELECT DISK n (where n is the number of the disk - probably 0).
- LIST PARTITION (partition number(s) will be shown).
- SELECT PARTITION n (where n is the number of the partition you wish to make Active - probable 1).
- ACTIVE (the selected partition on the selected disk will be made Active).
- EXIT to exit DiskPart.
- EXIT to exit the Command Prompt.
- Reboot.
[top of page]
SUMMARY of Procedure (Advanced users)
- Backup.
- Create Unallocated space for 9x/Me, XP, 2K and Win7 at end of NTFS disk (use Shrink in Disk Management) or for XP, 2K and Win7 on second disk.
Create partitions for 9x/Me (Primary/FAT32), plus Win7, XP and 2K (all NTFS). Remember 127 GB limit for 9x/Me and 2K.
Note which partition is marked Active (use Disk management). Label the partitions.
- Install Win98/Me on new FAT32 Primary (use Fix System.ini Memory ... if necessary). Only 9x/Me boots now.
- Run Bootsec9.bat to create C:\Bootsect.dos from first FAT/32 Primary i.e. copy Win98/Me boot sector.
- Make previously active partition Active again and restart computer to Windows Vista.
- With Vista running
- Copy Bootsect.dos to root of the partition now marked Active (it was Active originally).
- Install/run EasyBCD v 1.7.2 or later to add "Windows 95/98/ME" in "Add an Entry".
A dual-boot of Vista and 9x/Me has been created.
- Install 2K on NTFS partition allocated to 2K. Only 2K boots now.
- Bootup from XP installation CD and install XP on NTFS partition allocated to XP. Only XP and 2K boot now.
- With XP running, install Microsoft's .NET 2.0 Framework.
- With XP running, install/run NeoSmart's free EasyBCD utility to add "NT/2k/XP/2k3" in "Add an Entry".
- With EasyBCD still running, select "Reinstall Vista Bootloader" and "Write MBR" in "Manage Bootloader".
Reboot. A multi-boot of Vista, 9x/Me, 2K and XP has been created (if Windows XP is not a boot option, use EasyBCD again to add it).
- Install Windows 7 on NTFS partition allocated to Win7. It's automatically added to the boot loader.
- Finally, Fix Restore Points Problem in XP (read below).
That's it! The boot loader menu will boot Windows 98/Me, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and also Windows XP or 2K from a sub-menu.
[top of page]
STEP-BY-STEP: Install Windows 7, XP, 2K and 9x when Windows Vista was installed first
Installing other operating systems on your Windows Vista computer may invalidate your warrantee.
It's very important to follow the instructions exactly as stated and that includes any restarts!
Requirements.
- Installation/Setup CD/DVDs for Windows XP, 2K, Me plus their Product Keys.
- 4 downloads (see below) and maybe device drivers for the older Windows.
- Win98/Me boot floppy or boot CD, or USB flash/pen drive, or external hard disk (FAT32).
- A first hard disk that uses only NTFS and contains a working Windows Vista (a second disk is optional).
A. Make your preparations.
- Backup important data before making any changes to a partition. You can burn files to a CD, clone an image of your hard disk, copy files to a USB flash/pen/thumb drive, or use an USB external drive (a good choice)
- Plan your new partitions carefully.
- Download Microsoft's .NET 2.0 Framework (Dotnetfx.exe - free - required by XP to run EasyBCD).
Download Neosmart's EasyBCD v 1.7.2 or later (free - simplifies editing the Win7/Vista boot loader).
- Copy Dotnetfx.exe and EasyBCD to a new EasyBCD folder on the Vista drive.
Download THPC's Bootsec9.zip (free - copies Win98/Me boot sector to C:\Bootsect.dos).
- Unzip Bootsec9.zip to a new Bootsec9 folder on any media accessible from Windows 98/Me
- it contains the three files Bootsec9.bat, Bootsec9.scr and Bootsec9.txt (3 KB in total)
Optional: Download NeoSmart's free Vista Recovery Disk only if your Vista DVD is missing!
- Download any essential device drivers for your older Windows, especially a Chipset driver for your motherboard if required and perhaps a video driver for your own comfort. If you use a SATA disk, be sure you have the SATA Controller driver which is required during installation.
- If you intend using a second hard disk, make sure that disk is in place before you start.
- Disconnect all external devices before you start.
B. Make free space and create new partitions.
The single 160 GB disk usually used in testing initially had: Windows Vista (150 GB, Primary, NTFS). The Windows Vista drive was shrunk leaving about 70 GB Unallocated space at the end of the disk (to the right). After repartitioning it had: Vista (80 GB, Primary, NTFS), Win98/Me (2 GB, Primary, FAT32), 2K (6 GB, Primary, NTFS), Win7 (50 GB, Logical, NTFS), XP (10 GB, Logical, NTFS).
When a single disk was less than 127 GB in size, the Win98/Me Primary partition was put at the end of the disk after the Logical partitions, and Windows 2K's Logical was put after Windows XP's. This simplifies the removal of 9x/Me and 2K if/when required but it also required the use of GParted Live CD in order to create Logical NTFS partitions physically before the Primary FAT32 partition.
Windows 7, XP and 2K can be installed on Primary or Logical partitions on a single disk or some/all of them on a second disk. Windows 9x/Me must always be installed on the first Primary partition on the first hard disk and, like 2K, must start before the 127 GB limit.
Always note the size of each partition and also label each (this page uses w_Me, w_2K, w_XP, Vsta, wn_7).
- Restart computer correctly (close all programs before you Restart computer).
- Open Disk Management in Windows Vista (right-click Computer, select Manage, click Disk Management).
- Right-click your CD/DVD drive(s), select Change drive letter and paths..., and click Change.
Change the drive letter to K (get it out of the way!).
- Right-click the Windows Vista Volume (probably C:), and select Properties.
In the General tab, enter Vsta as the label for the Windows Vista volume, and click Apply.
- Right-click the Vsta volume, and click Shrink Volume.
- In Enter the amount of space to shrink in MB: enter enough for Win98/Me, 2K, XP and Win7.
(make sure the Win9x and 2K partitions start before the 127 GB limit for those OSs).
- Click the Shrink button (it may take some time!).
If Shrink does not give you sufficient Unallocated space, read Shrink the Windows 7 or Windows Vista Partition for instructions on how to complete this task successfully. Then return here.
- Right-click the Unallocated space and select New Simple Volume.... Click Next.
- In Simple volume size in MB:, enter about 2000 (2 GB for Win98/Me). Click Next.
- In File system, select FAT32 in the drop-down.
- In Volume label, enter w_Me.
- Tick to enable the Perform a quick format check box, and click Next.
- Click Finish button.
- In the same manner, create the other partitions using NTFS as the File system, and Label them.
If the disk is larger than 127 GB, create the 2K partition before Win7 and XP
(Disk Management will automatically create Logical partitions when those become necessary).
- If you have a very large hard disk, you can create an extra Logical NTFS partition for data.
- Restart to Windows Vista two times.
- Open Disk Management and check that all the changes are correct.
C. Install Windows 98/Me.
Windows 98/Me is installed and its boot sector saved in the Bootsect.dos file. Windows Vista is made Active and bootable again. Bootsect.dos is copied to the drive originally marked Active. EasyBCD then adds Win98/Me to the Vista boot loader.
- In Windows Vista, open Disk Management.
- Note which drive is Active. It's probably Vsta.
Let's refer to that original Active drive as 1stActDrv.
- Reboot and install Win98/Me on w_Me (it's the only available FAT32 Primary partition on the first disk)
- Click Continue for cautions SU0015 and/or SU0012
If an error occurs during installation reboots, apply the System.ini Fix below.
- After installation, copy the Bootsec9 folder to C: (from where you stored it and then remove the storage media).
Run C:\Bootsec9\Bootsec9.bat
Confirm that C:\Bootsect.dos was created by Bootsec9.bat.
- Make 1stActDrv Active again - it's the drive that was originally marked Active
(open a Command Prompt or MS-DOS Prompt in Win98/Me, type Fdisk, and select option 2)
- read Make NTFS Partition Active above if partition identification is a problem.
- Restart computer. Windows Vista will bootup when the correct partition is Active
(choose Normal startup if asked).
- Copy Bootsect.dos from root of w_Me to root of 1stActDrv.
- Install and run EasyBCD (click Yes for "User Account Control").
- Click Add/Remove Entries.
- In Windows tab under Add an Entry, select Windows 95/98/ME from the drop-down list.
- Give it a name (like Windows Millennium)
- Press Add Entry.
* If the new entry does not show under Manage Existing Entries, click View Settings, and click Add/Remove Entries again. Now it will show.
- Click Save.
- Exit EasyBCD.
- Restart computer. Both Windows Vista and Win98/Me should now be available in the boot loader menu.
You should stop at this stage and evaluate Win98/Me's usefulness to you after you have installed its drivers and your software. If you are dissatisfied with Win98/Me, now would be a good time to return to Section B above, delete the w_Me partition and reclaim that space back into Vsta. Reboot to Vista and use EasyBCD to remove Win98/Me from the boot menu. This section C can then be skipped.
D. Install Windows 2000 next and then Windows XP.
With 1stActDrv still the Active drive, 2K is installed first and then XP. This creates a natural dual-boot of XP and 2K. It also puts the XP boot loader in charge. The EasyBCD utility then reinstalls the Win7/Vista boot loader and MBR, and will later add an NT-type entry in Vista's boot menu. Selecting this new boot option produces a second menu from which either Windows XP or 2K will boot.
- Bootup from the Windows 2000 installation CD.
- Install Windows 2K on the w_2K partition.
(check both the label and the size to ensure you select the correct partition).
Select Format the partition using the NTFS file system when installing.
Label the Windows 2k drive back to w_2K.
Install any device drivers required by Windows 2K.
Windows 2K will be the only OS that will boot for the moment.
Next Windows XP is installed, creating a natural dual-boot of XP + 2K.
- Install Windows XP as a New installation (Advanced) on the w_XP partition
- Check both the label and the size to ensure you select the correct partition.
The w_XP partition should be Formatted with NTFS during installation (a Quick format is fine).
Label the Windows XP drive back to w_XP.
Install any device drivers required by Windows XP.
You now have a fully functional natural dual-boot of XP and 2K. Test it.
Now use EasyBCD to add XP to Vista's boot loader menu and to return boot control to Vista.
- Restart to Windows XP from the boot menu.
- Install .NET 2.0 Framework from the EasyBCD folder on the Vista drive.
- Install and run EasyBCD.
- Click Add/Remove Entries
- In Windows tab under Add an Entry, select Windows NT/2k/XP/2k3 from the drop-down list.
- Give it a name (like Windows XP Pro)
- Press Add Entry.
* If the new entry does not show under Manage Existing Entries, click View Settings, and click Add/Remove Entries again. Now it will show.
- Click Save.
- Click Manage Bootloader
- Enable Reinstall the Vista Bootloader (probably enabled already!).
- Click Write MBR.
- Exit EasyBCD.
- Label the Windows XP drive back to w_XP if it has changed.
- You must still execute a Windows XP fix - read Fix Restore Points Problem in XP (below).
- Restart computer. Now the boot loader menu has an extra entry which allows you to further select XP or 2K (if Windows XP is not a boot option, use EasyBCD again to add it).
E. Install Windows 7
Windows 7 is installed as a new installation using its Custom (Advanced) option and will take control of bootup.
- Bootup from the Windows 7 installation DVD.
- Select your Language, and Time..., and click Install now.
- In Which type of installation do you want? select Custom (Advanced).
- In Where do you want to install Windows? select the wn_7 drive
- check both the size and the label.
Optionally, click Drive options (advanced) and click Format and then OK.
- Restart your computer when installation is complete. Select Windows 7.
Label the Windows 7 drive back to wn_7.
Win7 has been automatically added to the existing boot menu. Nice!
|
Win7 has not created a System Reserved partition. This is created only when installing Win7 on a RAW disk.
If you did not skip the final part of section E, use EasyBCD in Vista to remove a duplicate boot entry after you have confirmed that the other duplicate works. Remember to fix the Restore Points problem in Windows XP (next).
Congratulations! You have created a natural multi-boot of Windows Vista and Win7 + XP + 2000 + Win98/Me when Windows Vista was installed first.
[top of page]
Fix Restore Points Problem in XP
Windows XP does not understand some of the disk management techniques used by Windows 7 and Vista. Every time XP is booted, it destroys Win7's and Vista's Restore Points and all except the most recent backup files from Complete PC Backup - read Microsoft's Knowledge Base article 926185. The problem does not affect Windows 2000 or other versions of Windows.
A small addition to XP's registry avoids this problem by making the Windows 7/Vista partition inaccessible when, and only when, XP is running. You must, however, use extreme care to ensure you enter the correct drive letter in the following corrective procedure. You must never enter the drive letter used by XP - that would prevent XP from starting! This fix is applied when XP is booted and not from any other Windows.
- Download this tiny xp_rstr_fix.reg file, xp_rstr_fix.zip, and unzip it to XP's Desktop.
- Startup to Windows XP. It must be XP and not any other version of Windows.
- Note the drive letters allocated to the Vista and Win7 partitions in XP's Windows Explorer.
- Right-click xp_rstr_fix.reg on the Desktop and select Edit. Look at this line in xp_rstr_fix.reg:
"\\DosDevices\\Z:"=dword:00000001
- Carefully change that Z to the drive letter allocated to the Vista partition
(make sure you do not remove the \\ before the letter or the : after the letter).
- Save the file back to the Desktop as xp_rstr_fix2.reg
- Right-click xp_rstr_fix2.reg on the Desktop, click Merge, and click OK.
- Repeat the last procedure, entering the drive letter for Win7 this time.
- Reboot to Vista and Win7, and create a new Restore Point in each (right-click Computer > Properties > System Protection).
- Delete those two .reg files on XP's Desktop when you're finished but store xp_rstr_fix_un.reg somewhere safe in case you wish to undo the change made (you'll need to alter the Z in that .reg file before you use it).
Whenever you reboot to XP you will be denied access to the Vista and Win7 partitions and the partitions will appear to be unformatted (RAW) even though the contents have not been changed. It will still be allocated a drive letter in XP but not with a Label. When you boot to Vista or Win7 you'll have access to all your drives, including the Windows XP partition.
This is the full xp_rstr_fix.reg file: (the blank line is required)
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\Offline]
"\\DosDevices\\Z:"=dword:00000001
[top of page]
Fix System.ini Memory Problem in Windows 98/Me
Earlier Windows versions were not designed to cope with the large amounts of memory (RAM) used today and this may prevent a successful installation. You may overcome this problem by limiting the amount of RAM Win98/Me will try to use.
If the Win98/Me installation fails to continue normally after the first reboot, you should edit System.ini from DOS (or use your own method).
- Edit C:\Windows\System.ini where C:\Windows is the Win98/Me directory.
- Locate the bottom of the 386Enh section of System.ini.
- Enter the following line at the bottom of the 386Enh section.
MaxPhysPage=20000
(that 20000 is a hexadecimal number and equals 512 MB of RAM).
- Locate the VCACHE section of System.ini (or create VCACHE if it's not there).
- Enter the following line at the bottom of the VCache section.
maxfilecache=262144
(that 262144 is bytes and equals 256 MB).
- Save System.ini, and Exit
- Reboot and select Normal startup when asked.
The Win98/Me installation should now continue normally and Win98/Me should run without error.
THPC had to use this fix with the preferred Win98SE which then seemed to work fine. However Win Me was mostly used because of its improved memory management. Many installations of Win Me were perfect, none ever required this fix, and there were never any problems.
[top of page]
Repair Windows Vista Startup
You will not have any problem if you follow the instructions as stated above. However you might encounter some freak occurrence like a power failure during an installation. Windows Vista will boot again if you execute the following procedure.
- Bootup from any Windows 7/Vista installation DVD or even from NeoSmart's free Vista Recovery Disk.
- Press a key when you see Press any key to boot from a CD or DVD.
- Select your Language and then Time....
- Select Repair your computer (bottom left of the Install now screen).
An automatic check of your system will run.
- Click Repair and restart
Windows Vista should boot normally (very likely). If not, continue here.
- Bootup from a Windows Vista installation DVD again
- Select Repair your computer again.
- In System Recovery Options, select Windows Vista, and click Next.
- Click Startup Repair.
- Click Finish when it's complete, and then Restart.
- You must let CheckDisk run if requested.
Windows Vista should boot normally.
If totally stuck for a solution, boot again from the installation DVD, select Repair your computer, select Windows Vista, get to a Command Prompt, use DIR command (DIR C: or DIR D: etc) to identify drive letter allocations (sizes and Labels will help), and type in:
x:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 C:
(where x: is your DVD drive letter, and C: is the installation drive for Windows Vista).
Type EXIT, and click Restart. Remove the DVD.
[top of page]
Related Reading How do I ...
[top of page]
Please remember that you alone are responsible for the consequences of any changes you make to your computer hardware or software.
www.thpc.info was formally TweakHomePC at www.tweakhomepc.virtualave.net
Copyright © LarryM 1998-2009
thpc@mail.com
|