XP dual boot with W10

skyways1142 · 28 Jan 2019

Have read a shed-load of info on here about dual booting XP and W10...just need to clarify a few bits!

I need to retain XP due to a hardware/software issue where the hardware will only run with XP...

In preparation I have partitioned my HDD to C:\ 78GB (XP) and the remainder as E:\ 388GB to be used for W10.

Please confirm that with the PC running I can plug-in the W10-USB and be able to 'run' the installation choosing 'advanced' to be able to point it to the E-drive.

Is that it - seems too easy! - or have I missed something?

Running 'CPU-Z' I can see in 'Instructions': MMX,SSE,SSE2,SSE3,EM64T,VT-x...
In one of the posts it 'required' SSE2,EM64T,VT-d, VT-x ~~~ so I appear to be missing VT-d.

Would rather be certain W10 will be good on this PC before I spend £100!
PC spec: Intel Q6600 quad-cord @ 2.40GHz; 4GB DDR2 RAM @332.5MHz.
This PC is only used for mail and internet plus some photo-editing and my (XP-only) musicpadpro.
No gaming...

Thanks in anticipation.
Ken

jimbo45 · 28 Jan 2019

skyways1142 said:

Have read a shed-load of info on here about dual booting XP and W10...just need to clarify a few bits!

I need to retain XP due to a hardware/software issue where the hardware will only run with XP...

In preparation I have partitioned my HDD to C:\ 78GB (XP) and the remainder as E:\ 388GB to be used for W10.

Please confirm that with the PC running I can plug-in the W10-USB and be able to 'run' the installation choosing 'advanced' to be able to point it to the E-drive.

Is that it - seems too easy! - or have I missed something?

Running 'CPU-Z' I can see in 'Instructions': MMX,SSE,SSE2,SSE3,EM64T,VT-x...
In one of the posts it 'required' SSE2,EM64T,VT-d, VT-x ~~~ so I appear to be missing VT-d.

Would rather be certain W10 will be good on this PC before I spend £100!
PC spec: Intel Q6600 quad-cord @ 2.40GHz; 4GB DDR2 RAM @332.5MHz.
This PC is only used for mail and internet plus some photo-editing and my (XP-only) musicpadpro.
No gaming...

Thanks in anticipation.
Ken

Hi there

Have you thought of running XP as a Virtual Machine -- no dual boot required -- and depending on what the specific hardware is you might be able to load the driver and install on the Windows VM -- these days Virtual machines are far superior to the technology of even a few years ago. VMPLAYER (Free) IMO is probably the best option for what you want to do as HYPER-V might not play well with specific hardware. I don't think you need vt-d in the bios in any case so long as virtualisation itself is enabled which is should be on that CPU. Check the bios menu.

I've managed to get a vinyl record cutting machine and sony minidisc recorders running on XP Virtual Machines without a problem.

Note - XP is a 32 bit OS so running this with VMWARE player wouldn't even require virtualisation to be set in the Bios -- for 64 bit guest OS'es that's another issue though.

Since vmware player is free just download and try it -- windows XP also doesn't require mandatory activation immediately either so it's definitely triable before you need to commit on spending money for alternative methods.

Cheers
jimbo

Try3 · 28 Jan 2019

Ken,

I have an old computer dual-booting 32 bit XP & Windows 10. To set it up, I followed the advice at How to dual boot Windows 10 with Windows XP - PageStart [JWStuart]
- JWStuart was a reliable contributor to the MS Answers forum.
- During installation, you will be able to tell Windows which drive to install to and this is covered in JW's instructions.
- It is a fairly simple procedure because of JW's excellent guidance. There might well be equivalent guidance in TenForums as well.

Partition sizes:-
- My XP is only 32 bit and I have run it successfully in 20-25GB partitions. I know nothing about 64 bit XP.
- Even if you are using 64 bit, you will not need any more than 100GB for the Windows 10 partition. I have one computer running Windows 10 x64 successfully in a 60GB partition.
- I suggest using the rest of your disk space for a data-only partition. You can set up your user folders to use the datadrive from both XP & Windows 10 so there is proper access to your own information whichever one you are using [There's a TenForums tutorial on this topic].
- A split between your OS drives and your data drives allows significant benefits in terms of backing up. You can make frequent system images of your OS drives [XP & Win10] and fairly standard backups of your own files [I just use RoboCopy to create mirror images of my own folders on external drives & on my other computers].

I do not know anything about the capabilities of your computer so I hope the post I have just seen appear above [from Jimbo] covers that ground.

My old dual-booter [XP-Win10] worked as far as Version 1709 [Sep 2017] which falls out of support in a few months. It failed to install Ver 1803. Since I bought it in 2005 I am pleased that it got as far as it did. Yours might not be as old as mine but do consider the possibility that future Windows 10 versions will make additional demands on your hardware that an older computer cannot cope with.

Denis

jimbo45 · 28 Jan 2019

Hi there
also before spending money (can't see though why W10 wouldn't run on that machine) download current release from UUPDUMP -- you can run it for a while before activation is mandatory -- good way to test - if it doesn't work you haven't lost anything.

UUP dump

Cheers
jimbo

bro67 · 28 Jan 2019

It would be easier to just run XP in a VM.

Samuria · 28 Jan 2019

If I understand you have xp installed on this system and want to add win10. There is no guarantee it will put files on the second parition it will create a new system paritions and may well put files on c. As suggested its best to wipe drive and install 10 then add xp as a virtual pc. Its possible to image xp you have then restore it to a virtual drive

skyways1142 · 28 Jan 2019

Thanks for the responses. Guys!

The VM route sounds OK ~~~ however, I downloded the VM software (no instructions) and tried to run it to find it is not compatible with 32-bit OS!

Yet ~~~ in the site details it does say that XP is one of the 'guest' systems...

Unless I am trying do something but the wrong way...

Just point me and set me rolling :)

Ken

Ztruker · 28 Jan 2019

Clean install Win 10 X64, deleting all HDD partitions so it's a unallocated drive and let Win 10 create the partitions it needs.
Do a Windows Update to get to the latest version.
Install Oracle VirtualBox or VMWare.
Install XP as a client in a Virtual Machine. There are tons of instructions on how to do this or folk here can help.

skyways1142 · 29 Jan 2019

Got it!
I have to do a new/clean installation of W10 ~~~ then ~~~ make the VM...

Taking that on-board and contemplating :)

jimbo45 · 29 Jan 2019

Hi there @skyways1142

You didn't mention however that your main computer was a 32 bit machine or running a 32 bit OS. For VMWare these days you need the HOST system i.e your Windows machine to be running 64 bit version of Windows.

Create an iso XP image

In the create Virtual machine wizard point to the iso file when it asks you to install the OS. To start with just leave the defaults as to memory etc. Once the Guest OS (XP) is booted the first time click the install vmware tools -- this will fix your probable graphics probem - you'll normally find not all sensible resolutions will be availble on first boot - especially if you have large monitors!!. Should also fix mouse / networking / sound possible problems.

Cheers
jimbo