Triple Boot Help

[pctech265]

No I didn't have the product key for xp so I have just gave up with it and installed vista and 8 in just over 2 hours

 

[AC]

Then why would you bother installing XP in the first case if you didn't have a product key?

 

[pctech265]

Because it worked on another laptop but that was probably because it was a dell disc and a dell laptop-i used jelly bean key finder but the product key didn't work on the intel laptop

 

[AC]

Well that makes sense. A Dell recovery disk will work only on a Dell PC.

 

[pctech265]

Oh well-tried my luck but it is all back to normal now,only lost a few files and pics--Why did windows xp actually mess around with the boot loader in the first place???-just curious

 

[AC]

Because you told it to. You said you used the fixboot and fixmbr commands.

 

[pctech265]

No I used them commands after the boot loader was corrupted-why did win xp do this in the first place???

 

[AC]

Ok, for the last time. With all of the installations and messing around you did, you messed up somewhere, and messed up something.

 

[pctech265]

Ok fine I hold my hands up-i caused the problem but it was XP installation that created the problem-maybe xp was built to take over boot,I don't know

 

[theog]

1) Install Windows XP.
2) Install Windows 7.
3) Install Windows 8.

The oldest OS needs to be installed FIRST,

 

[pctech265]

1) Install Windows XP.
2) Install Windows 7.
3) Install Windows 8.

The oldest OS needs to be installed FIRST,

Why is this though-just seems strange to me

 

[AC]

Most likely because of bootloaders.

 

[pctech265]

Ok-must be because the newer systems know how to work with the older systems(backwards compatible) but the old systems don't know how to interact with the newer systems

 

[Orerockon]

I have a similar situation in mind but I want to do something different. I have a dual boot XP / Win 7 x64 system with XP loaded first. I want to have a triple boot config with XP. Win 7, x64 and Win 8 x64. However, XP is on an (older) separate drive. Win 7 is on an 120 gig SSD which I want to keep as my primary drive (with Win 7 and Win 8 OSs). So I would like to:

1) Shrink the SSD C: drive partition (Win 7) to create a new 40 gig partition for Win 8 . I plan to do this with PerfectDisk 11 Pro (I tested it and with some tweaking it appears like it will work).

2) Install a fresh copy of Win 8 x64 on the new partition, in a triple boot XP/Win7/Win 8 configuration for software compatibility testing. Keep the XP OS on the older drive for programs that don't like to play along with Win7.

3) Assuming there aren't any issues with win 7 / Win 8 compatibility, uprgade the existing Win 7 OS to Win 8 to preserve programs, settings etc. without losing the original Win 7 installation. In other words now it will be a triple boot XP/original Win 7/ Win 8 upgrade from 7. I've already tried the Win 7/8 upgrade on a laptop and it worked just fine, but it doesn't have the software I need to test for compatibility. If I can I'd like to do this overtop of the fresh Win 8 install since I won't be needing it anymore.
I assume I am going to have to do this with some defrag like PerfectDisk, a bootloader pgm, and probably something to image the Win 7 install (I have Acronis backup & Recovery 10). Does that sound about right? Anyway I'm not sure how to do it without blowing some/all of my PC to bits

 

[boyans]

Double, triple or multi boot - one click repair:
"Dual-boot Repair" tool (runs in XP and later) from Visual BCD package.

FYI:
MBR boot: Every Windows OS boots from FIRST disk + ACTIVE partition !
GPT boot: depends on settings in firmware boot manager.

Once Windows boot manager is started all depends on BCD contents.

You can view and edit complete contents with Visual BCD Editor.
Creation of any Windows loader - one click - no parameters, drives or whatever to specify
tool searches for Windows installations and adds them to boot menu.

Hope this helps.

 

[Orerockon]

All well and good but were you replying to my question or something else in the thread? I don't see how what you suggest applies except at the very end when I have to set up the triple boot options.

 

[boyans]

All well and good but were you replying to my question or something else in the thread? I don't see how what you suggest applies except at the very end when I have to set up the triple boot options.

1) shrink and create new partition - no need for special software - Windows 7 Disk Manager can do.
2) copying of partition contents - trivial - no need for special software - xcopy can do (see parameters in command help)

3) it is not very clear but what you want is:
a) keep XP
b) keep Win 7
c) have a copy of existing Win 7 to new partition which is later upgraded to Win 8
Right ?

If 3)c) is performed last then upgrade should pick up XP and Win7 and create triple boot.
If something is not as expected - my previous post could help.