Can I create a PC with Windows XP and Windows 7

Question

I have an XP box with a lot software installed, that would be painful to re-install. I'd like to put a fresh installation of Windows 7 onto this pc and migrate my apps over time as I need them. I understand that XP and Windows 7 can't live on the same hard drive, but if I put a new drive in for Windows 7, can I run it alongside XP as a multi-boot?

Answer 1

LifeHacker has a nice article explaining how to dual boot Windows 7 with XP. There are two main steps in the process of which the details are included in the article:

Step 1: Partition Your Hard Drive
Step 2: Install Windows 7

Answer 2

You may want to consider migrating the windows xp installation to a virtualised environment (e.g. Virtualbox, which, if you have a spare xp license available, is a much better virtualiser compared with XP mode).

There is a tutorial at the virtualbox website. http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Migrate_Windows

Answer 3

I was under the impression you can dual boot two or more OS's installed on the same Hard Disk...I've certianly done it.

However, if you have a 160GB HD and the whole disk is partiioned for XP then it may be worth adding an extra Hard Disk and put Win 7 on that. That was you can remove the old disk when you're done and you don't end up with a wasted partiion (unless you want to shrink the current partion and install 7 on that) Possible, but I wouldn't really want to do it.

Answer 4

yes just install windows7 on another partition