[VeilSide]

Hi there! Sorry for posting multiple threads here its just that i have a lot of questions about my new dell!

I am wondering if installing Windows XP Black Edition SP3 (from a usb flash drive) even with W7 already installed. Today I attended a 1 day internship in a school that teachs everything about a computer: The parts/ OSes/ Networking/ Programming ect... And i asked a tech if it was possible and he told me that i can't do that and i would firstly need to remove W7 then install XP and then W7. If he was right i am screwed up because i do not have a usb drive that has enough space for the W7 installation files.

So would it be dangerous to partition my HDD and install WinXP BE SP3? Or i should just give up?

Because i am currently running W7 on a stock 1GB ram and it is really slow, the programs takes too long to open and i have like 100 mbs of memory that i can use for my personal applications.

Thanks in advance and sorry for my bad english!

[holmes4]

You can do this, if you can free up a partition for XP. When you install XP, it will render Windows 7 unbootable. But you can fix that by booting the Win7 install DVD and selecting Repair. After that, you'll probably want to install something like EasyBCD to manage the boot selection.

[edokassiah]

make a partition and format it to ntfs and install whatever os u choose
GParted -- Welcome
grab that iso or usb and boot it its a free linux distro and re size your existing partition and then then make a new partition format it to ntfs and load whatever os and install on the new partition
suggest you back up your stuff

or if you dont care and you wanna start fresh boot any os either xp or 7 and when it asks you where to install create 2 partitions and install then go back with the other os and choose the other partition u made and install there and when u boot the machine it will ask you what os to boot

[VeilSide]

Oh i got no luck on that, i don't have an external cd drive. Well i will just wait to get everything i need before doing this because i do not wanna make my machine inoperable. Thank you for the information!

[edokassiah]

you dont need a external drive get yourself a 4 gb flash drive from anywhere and get yourself a program called ultraiso does the same thing as burning the iso to a disk but this is for burning an iso to a jumpdrive
PortableAppZ: Search results for ultraiso
download the iso from the site the g parted
install the ultra iso
when you boot the program hit
file>open and open the g parted iso
then hit bootable on the top>and write disk image and hit write *make sure the jumpdrive is formatted to fat32
it will format the jumpdrive so always back up
make sure to pop in your jump drive before hand
reboot your machine and hit f12 and select the jumpdrive and itll run perfect

---------- Post added at 01:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:14 AM ----------

YouTube- Create a New Partition with GPartedlittle video tutorial

[VeilSide]

I will do that by tomorrow and reply here if i get any luck! Thank you very much for all the detailed information and links, i'm sure its gonna work!

[gaster]

Best dual boot guides I have seen are here: How to dual boot Vista and XP (with Vista installed first) -- the step-by-step guide with screenshots

Other configurations are available by drop down menu, but that one is for you. Vista and 7 are close enough so that guide should work I think.

[VeilSide]

Wow thats awesome, now i have a load of tools, guides and tutorials, i will definitely not destroy my machine haha! Oh and by the way, do you think it will be faster on XP?

Thanks a lot for the useful informations everyone!!

[edokassiah]

ive tried xp and its a bit faster and more stable but i installed a 2 gb stick felt a slight battery increase over 7 but 7 runs smooth i wouldnt recommend vista resource hog lol yeah ive learned the hard and f^&* it up a few times before i got it right like i said starting from scratch is the easiest

[VeilSide]

Originally Posted by edokassiah

like i said starting from scratch is the easiest

I have no doubts on that, it's just that i am not really good @ installing OSes (last time took me a week to get W7 perfectly burned at a perfect speed and to install it on my desktop). So if i remove W7 from my hard drive i might $#% the computer up :S. So i only have the hard way to do it, anyways, gonna way till next monday, a Dell tech is coming to my house to replace the motherboard and cooling system (gonna ask him if he can install XP while hes there!)