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Dual Boot Windows XP and 7?

Post Date: 2009-10-12
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B5GkarNarn View Drop Down
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Posts: 170 		  Quote B5GkarNarn Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Dual Boot Windows XP and 7?
    Posted: 12 Oct 2009 at 7:00pm
Recently, I spoke to a Microsoft representative at a local Best Buy store who is specifically there to answer questions about all things relating to Windows 7. I told him that I have a few old PC games that run on Windows XP & was wondering if I could run them in Windows 7's XP mode? He told me that Windows 7's XP mode does not work for games. It's really meant for older business software.

So if I want to play an old game that was developed to only run in Windows XP - and the developer/publisher does not release a compatibility update/patch that allows me to run the game in Windows 7 - would I need to have a dual boot setup (Windows XP/7) configured by Digital Storm?

Are there any well known problems with running a dual boot configuration currently?
 
Will Digital Storm offer the option to configure one of their PCs to dual boot into Windows 7 & XP?


Edited by B5GkarNarn - 12 Oct 2009 at 7:03pm
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DST4ME View Drop Down
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Posts: 36758 		  Quote DST4ME Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Oct 2009 at 12:44am
you can dual boot or just run VMware and install xp in that.


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B5GkarNarn View Drop Down
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Posts: 170 		  Quote B5GkarNarn Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Oct 2009 at 2:24pm
Originally posted by DST4ME

you can dual boot or just run VMware and install xp in that.

James from Digital Storm told me that they could configure a dual boot for Windows 7 & XP. 
 
It looks like I might run into problems trying to play 3D games inside VMware according to this Knowledgebase FAQ on the VMware official website: 
The 9th question & answer are quoted here:
"Can I play games inside a VMware virtual machine?
Some Windows games will run within the VMware software. However, VMware has not tested most game software for use in a virtual machine and cannot guarantee that all games will run properly."
 
Also, I plan to get a 64-bit OS & according to the above referenced FAQ, "VMware is supported only on host processors and host operating systems running in 32-bit mode; processors and operating systems running in 64-bit mode are not supported. VMware is considering supporting 64-bit machines for future versions, but this is still under technical review at this time."
 
In view of the above facts, I would much rather have Digital Storm configure a dual boot setup for me on the gaming PC that I plan to purchase next month.  I also plan to ask a lot of questions on these forums asking for advice.  I'm actually fairly noobish with PC gaming & configurations. 


Edited by B5GkarNarn - 13 Oct 2009 at 2:29pm
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Posts: 36758 		  Quote DST4ME Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Oct 2009 at 4:32pm
I believe there is an update there that says version 3.0 supports 64bit, and just because they have not tested it, it does not mean that it won't run.

personally if I were you, I would order the hailstorm case and just get an os installed seperatly on a drive of its own, so that instead of dual boot on one drive, there will be a HDD with Win 7 on it and on a separate drive you will have xp, and with hailstorm's hot swap drive bays, you just pop in the OS you want and boot up the PC.

this way you don't have to worry about compatibility and corruption of the mbr and etc., each os is its own entity on its own drive.

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B5GkarNarn View Drop Down
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Posts: 170 		  Quote B5GkarNarn Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Oct 2009 at 5:39pm
Originally posted by DST4ME

I believe there is an update there that says version 3.0 supports 64bit, and just because they have not tested it, it does not mean that it won't run.

personally if I were you, I would order the hailstorm case and just get an os installed seperatly on a drive of its own, so that instead of dual boot on one drive, there will be a HDD with Win 7 on it and on a separate drive you will have xp, and with hailstorm's hot swap drive bays, you just pop in the OS you want and boot up the PC.

this way you don't have to worry about compatibility and corruption of the mbr and etc., each os is its own entity on its own drive.
I like your idea about having a separate hard drive for each OS & I will discuss this option with a DS sales rep.  However, since I have no experience with swapping drives in & out when I want to boot up an OS - it sounds cumbersome to my noobish ears. 
 
What is an mbr & why would a dual boot setup cause compatibility & corruption of the mbr?
 
What other problems can a dual boot setup cause?
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Posts: 36758 		  Quote DST4ME Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Oct 2009 at 5:53pm
some times the boot sectors or the ini file that has the bootup info get corrupted and one os won't boot up and some times both.

if you get the hailstorm case, the HDD drives slide out to the outside and you just take out the HDD and place in the other one and then push it back in, almost like a dvd/cd drive.

below you see all four HDD bays ejected, you would only eject one ofcourse:



below you see one of the above bays open with the hdd in, you just pop out that hdd and pop in the other one and close it:


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B5GkarNarn View Drop Down
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Posts: 170 		  Quote B5GkarNarn Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Oct 2009 at 9:57pm
Originally posted by DST4ME

some times the boot sectors or the ini file that has the bootup info get corrupted and one os won't boot up and some times both.

if you get the hailstorm case, the HDD drives slide out to the outside and you just take out the HDD and place in the other one and then push it back in, almost like a dvd/cd drive.

below you see all four HDD bays ejected, you would only eject one ofcourse:



below you see one of the above bays open with the hdd in, you just pop out that hdd and pop in the other one and close it:

Than you very much for that info, DST4ME.  I had no idea that a dual boot system could cause such problems.  I was hoping to go with the HAF 932 case because a friend said that Cooler Master is a trusted brand name.  Do you know if the HAF 932 would allow me to swap out hard drives like the Hailstorm case does?
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Posts: 5084 		  Quote justin.kerr Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Oct 2009 at 10:00pm
what older games? if I have them I can try them out. I have been running windows 7 for a while now, and have not had any issues...
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B5GkarNarn View Drop Down
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Posts: 170 		  Quote B5GkarNarn Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Oct 2009 at 10:09pm
Originally posted by justin.kerr

what older games? if I have them I can try them out. I have been running windows 7 for a while now, and have not had any issues...
These are my older games:
1) Star Trek Bridge Commander
2) Star Trek Voyager Elite Force
3) Star Wars Rogue Squadron 3D
3) Halo: Combat Evolved
4) Iron Warriors: T72 Tank Command
5) Sub Command
6) Fleet Command
7) 688(i) Hunter/Killer
 
Is there a way to find out if they will run in Windows 7 before I make my PC purchase from DS next month?
 
 
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Posts: 5084 		  Quote justin.kerr Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Oct 2009 at 10:16pm
you can always google it. 
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venom View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		  Quote venom Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 Oct 2009 at 11:25pm
You can always select what HDD to boot from in the BIOS as well.
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Posts: 36758 		  Quote DST4ME Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Oct 2009 at 5:50am
Ya but if both drives are connected to the pc and you boot from one, the other drive's mbr will get destroyed and it will not be bootable anymore, for this reason you can have only one drive connected at once.

Edited by DST4ME - 14 Oct 2009 at 5:50am

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B5GkarNarn View Drop Down
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Posts: 170 		  Quote B5GkarNarn Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Oct 2009 at 1:05pm
Originally posted by venom

You can always select what HDD to boot from in the BIOS as well.
How would I do that?  I don't even know what a BIOS is.
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B5GkarNarn View Drop Down
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Posts: 170 		  Quote B5GkarNarn Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Oct 2009 at 1:15pm
I found this article on the Extreme Tech website:  http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2339538,00.asp
It looks like several old games were tested on Windows 7 and the majority ran fine.  None of the games that they tested were the ones that I have though.  I'm seriously considering just taking my chances with Windows 7 & forgetting about a dual boot OS setup because I don't want to risk having problems with the Master Boot Record & other things that I'm ill-equipped to handle.
 
What would you guys do in my shoes?
 
Keep in mind that I'm a noob that has several old PC games that he would like to play but doesn't want a lot of hassles & aggravation that a dual boot setup might cause.
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Posts: 36758 		  Quote DST4ME Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Oct 2009 at 2:57pm
I would do what I suggested, unless you can find a way of testing win7 with your games.

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venom View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		  Quote venom Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Oct 2009 at 11:10pm
Originally posted by DST4ME

Ya but if both drives are connected to the pc and you boot from one, the other drive's mbr will get destroyed and it will not be bootable anymore, for this reason you can have only one drive connected at once.


Never heard of that, do you have any information that explains why?

I may just try it myself, I have a few spare HDDs.

I will download and try Halo: Combat Evolved for ya and post back with the results on Win7.


Edited by venom - 14 Oct 2009 at 11:11pm
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Posts: 0 		  Quote venom Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 Oct 2009 at 11:51pm
Well Halo ran flawlessly, only glitch was the resolution settings weren't exactly matching what the monitor supported, 1680x1050 is native, 1600x900 was the maximum I could set.  
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Posts: 36758 		  Quote DST4ME Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 15 Oct 2009 at 10:45am
Do a test and see for yourself, if both drives are separate boot ini and you boot into one while the other is connected, windows will try and read the second drive after you boot and show you the contents as a folder, in the process of doing that it will destroy the boot info and the second drive will not be bootable anymore, or does it just do that for clones?

Edited by DST4ME - 15 Oct 2009 at 10:45am

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B5GkarNarn View Drop Down
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Posts: 170 		  Quote B5GkarNarn Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 15 Oct 2009 at 1:02pm
Originally posted by venom

Well Halo ran flawlessly, only glitch was the resolution settings weren't exactly matching what the monitor supported, 1680x1050 is native, 1600x900 was the maximum I could set.  
Thank you very much for testing Halo: Combat Evolved on Windows 7, venom.
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B5GkarNarn View Drop Down
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Posts: 170 		  Quote B5GkarNarn Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 15 Oct 2009 at 1:04pm
Originally posted by DST4ME

I would do what I suggested, unless you can find a way of testing win7 with your games.
Unfortunately, I don't have a way of testing Windows 7 with my old games. 
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Posts: 36758 		  Quote DST4ME Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 15 Oct 2009 at 5:24pm
Looks like venom is helping you out

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venom View Drop Down
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Posts: 0 		  Quote venom Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 16 Oct 2009 at 4:00am
Unreal Tournament 99 works great as well.  So I would bet most if not all of your games will work.

I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.


Edited by venom - 16 Oct 2009 at 4:01am
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B5GkarNarn View Drop Down
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Posts: 170 		  Quote B5GkarNarn Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 16 Oct 2009 at 1:50pm
Originally posted by venom

Unreal Tournament 99 works great as well.  So I would bet most if not all of your games will work.

I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.
Excellent!  Thank you very much, venom!  It will be a relief to not have to deal with a dual boot setup. 

I don't have UT99 but I plan on getting UT3 because there are mods that I would like to try that are not available for the PS3.  I've been playing UT3 on my PS3 & only some mods work while other don't - especially some vehicle mods that I'm keenly interested in.

 
What are the differences between the Ultimate & Home Premium versions of Windows 7 64 bit?
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Posts: 0 		  Quote venom Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 16 Oct 2009 at 7:23pm
Ultimate has a bunch of crap that you probably wouldn't need, most of it dealing with Windows XP Mode for applications (games not supported) and some other business related stuff.

Home Premium will be fine for a gaming/day-to-day/school/home office machine.
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