I have Windows 10 Home on my PC and I'd like to dual boot Windows XP on top of windows 10. But how to do that since after XP, Windows 10 MBR will be lost.
You would have to install Windows XP on the partition/hard drive you want it on, then use something like the repair option of Windows 10 install USB/DVD or Macrium Reflect Free rescue disk to replace the Windows 10 boot files and then add the entry for Windows XP to it.
Or, possibly, after you install Windows XP - while in Windows XP insert a Windows 10 install USB/DVD. From an elevated command prompt ("Run as administrator" command prompt), navigate to the boot folder on the Windows 10 install USB/DVD and use the bootsect command to restore the boot sector on the Windows 10 partition and the MBR on the hard drive. You might have to reset the previous boot partition to active as well in disk management. Not sure if that would work, but I think it would. Run bootsect /help for info.
I think the command is "bootsect /nt60 D: /mbr" where D: is the current drive letter of the Windows 10 partition.
If you don't have a second partition for Windows XP, you can shrink your Windows 10 partition to make space. From Windows 10, click the search icon and type Computer. This will show Computer Management. Click to launch it. Then click on Disk Management. Right-click on your Windows partition and select Shrink. Assuming you can give at least 20GB, go ahead and shrink it by at least 20GB. Now right-click on the unallocated space and select Add volume. You can also format is as NTFS. Now restart your computer and boot from Windows XP CD-ROM. Proceed to install Windows XP. You can now boot into Windows XP but not Windows 10 because the legacy boot loader has replaced the modern boot loader. Boot your computer with a Windows 7 or 8 or 10 DVD-ROM. When you see the setup screen you either click on Repair this computer or press SHIFT+F10 to launch a command prompt. Give the bootsect command as mentioned on they previous reply to restore the modern boot loader. Now you can boot to Windows 10 but not XP. Download and install EasyBCD. Run it and add a boot entry for Windows XP. Now you can dual-boot between the two.
Yes it is a long procedure that's why is preferable to install older OS first and newer second. But I have done it many times (install XP after Vista or newer) so don't worry.
you can resize the partition or insert a second hard drive into your computer to install windows 7.
Dual-Boot Two Versions of Windows:
How to Dual-Boot Two (or More) Versions of Windows
Hi
yes my daughter runs a small franchise but the software unbelievably still only works on xp. I could use hyper v but would confuse her, so if I could set up a dual boot 7 or 10 with XP that would be easiest for her....
npt aure if if howtogeek method is all I need, seems very simple, or maybe there is a better way with software....
I used vistabootpro with my PC or chose between safe mode and Windows 10 at boot up, giving me 5 seconds to chose, not sure if I could use this for the XP dual boot, assume I would need to install XP first, then use vistadualbootpro to chose the two OS choices
thanks
It might be worth considering something like VMware Player, it's free for personal use. I am sure once you have carefully explained what to do, it should be straightforward for her. After all once you have the guest OS open, its just like running it on real hardware.
Virtual software is a bit tidier than using dual boots. Also, if you have SecureBoot enabled that would cause problems trying to install another version of Windows.
VMware Player can be configured in "Unity Mode". This means that you won't need to see the Windows XP desktop, you only launch the desired application in a window, as it was running on the host. You can also add a shortcut for the application in start menu, so she won't notice anything confusing. She will be able to seamlessly use the XP application in Windows 7 or 10 as if she was running it directly on 7 or 10.
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