Hi Ed,

Yes, you can certainly dual boot XP and Windows 7. There are plenty of tutorials on how to do this, such as this one. Since you already have XP set up, then adding a second drive and installing Windows 7 onto it is a perfectly fine approach. You could also install Windows 7 onto a partition on the first drive. It's completely up to you.

To select the OS does NOT require going into the BIOS. You'll simply set up a boot menu that allows you to select which OS for boot when you start the PC.

You don't have to worry about "too much" RAM for the 32-bit OS.

Good luck!

Hi Ospry,

Thanks for that info.  I presume the link to tutorials will explain the boot menu process?  I will take a look when work is not so hectic.

Thanks again.

ed

So i followed the link you provided and it explains that it is possible to have a multiboot system, which i knew, but not any indication about how to get the multiboot menu at start up?  

If I just install WIN 7 to a second HD will the  BIOS boot detect that there are 2 OS's installed and automatically ask which to boot from?  What if after I install WIN 7 into that second HD and then want to swap it into another dual boot system (I have 3 different Dell GX270 boxes here)? 

I was thinking to use the BIOS to block the boot of the lessor used OS it would avoid having to decide on each boot which OS to boot.  So if I WANT to control via the BIOS should that work the way I described above?

Thanks again for your help.

ed

There is NO BIOS Based Multi Boot Anything.  There is also no such thing as "Swapping" drive into another "multiboot" system.  

Swapping Drive  =  STOP 0x0000007B INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE

The "dual Boot Menu" is an XP Boot.ini which is not the same as a windows 7 BCD.  SWAPPING OUT A DRIVE = Not Happy Ending.

STOP 0x0000007B INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE

WINDOWS BOOT MANAGER

Windowz failed to start.A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.To fix the problem:

1. Insert your Window installation disc and restart your computer.
2.Choose your language settings,and then click Next
3.Click Repair your computer

If you do not have this disc,contact your system adminstrator or computer manufacturer for assistance

File: \Boot\BCD

Status: 0xc0000001

When you install Win 7 on the second drive, a dual boot menu is automatically generated as long as XP is in place on the primary drive.

No need to yell.  Especially when what you are yelling about is not always correct.  I know because I have done it.

It might be more useful if you were a bit more specific about what you are saying and a bit less bombastic.

As i stated above i have several GX270's.  Just to be certain I know of what i speak I did this just now:

Attach 2 HD's to the system, 1 as Primary Master Drive, one as Secondary Master Drive.  I then started the system, went into the BIOS and set the Primary Master Drive to off.  Boot the system and it boots off the Secondary drive.  Turn off the computer and restart, go into the BIOS, set the Secondary Master Drive drive to off, set thr Primary Master Drive to on, and boot the system.  It boots into the Primary Drive.  By any definition that I can think of that is a BIOS based method that produces a  dual boot system.  

In any case, I then turned both drive on in the BIOS, and when i boot there is no boot menu, it just boots into the Primary drive.  So what is it that triggers the multi boot menu?  I presume it is when Windows is installed?  So if I install Win 7 on a drive or partition without other OS's already installed apparently getting a multi-boot menu is not an option.  Somewhere I saw that the older OS must be installed first, but by using my BIOS multi boot method wouldn't that preclude the need for that?

Anyway, when I get a some more time I think i will give it a try.

Thanks to those knowledgeable contributors for all your advice.

ed

Ed,

This article provides maybe a bit more detail. It assumes you're starting with XP already installed.

Yes, the second OS installed must be aware of the first OS. Yes, the boot menu is generated only if necessary, when two or more OSs are installed. I believe you can install a boot loader program that will set up the menu, but don't have a referance.