Triple boot Windows 8, 7 and XP?

Aspiring

Hi, so basically right now I have Windows 7 and 8 on the MBR and it has a nice flashy GUI when I turn on the PC. Is there any way of adding XP to this because I want it for programming purposes, can't stand all the ****e stuff that slows you down in the other OS's.

I know from having a XP/Vista/7 triple boot before that it's best to install XP first but is there anything I can do here? Thanks!

mp22

Have a read here http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/38464-How-to-Triple-boot-XP-Win-7-and-Win-8-without-graphical-Boot

Aspiring

mp22 wrote: »

Have a read here http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/38464-How-to-Triple-boot-XP-Win-7-and-Win-8-without-graphical-Boot

Thanks for this, my problem is that I have Windows 7 and 8 installed at the moment, which makes installing XP a bit of a worry because it's messed up my bootloader before and left me having to format my hard drive.

What's the best option?

Fysh

Aspiring wrote: »

Thanks for this, my problem is that I have Windows 7 and 8 installed at the moment, which makes installing XP a bit of a worry because it's messed up my bootloader before and left me having to format my hard drive.

What's the best option?

If I accepted that the tripleboot you describe is necessary (XP Mode would be miles simpler and faster, IMO, unless you're writing code that needs direct hardware access), I'd do it this way:

• Physically disconnect all current hard drives from the motherboard
• Connect up a drive you're going to use just for XP. Install XP and get everything patched & installed.
• Do a full clean shutdown once you're finished.
• Disconnect the XP drive, reconnect your primary drive, boot from it again.
• Install EasyBCD on your primary drive.
• Shut down, and connect your XP drive.
• Boot into BIOS/UEFI and verify that your boot settings are configured to start with your primary drive. IF the option's there, set your XP drive as the secondary boot drive.
• Confirm that with the XP drive connected you can still boot into your primary drive as normal.
• In Win8, use EasyBCD to add an entry for Windows XP to your bootloader.
• Boot into XP and verify it works correctly. Reboot again to confirm that you still see the Win8 bootloader on startup.

I remember trying this sort of thing with Vista, XP and whatever the current Fedora release was at the time. It wasn't fun. I also have it working currently on my home testbox/workstation with Win7, Win8 and ESXi - that also wasn't much fun. You'll make life much easier for yourself by either using XP Mode (easiest, by a mile) or using separate disks for each installation (easy).

Aspiring

Fysh wrote: »

If I accepted that the tripleboot you describe is necessary (XP Mode would be miles simpler and faster, IMO, unless you're writing code that needs direct hardware access), I'd do it this way:

• Physically disconnect all current hard drives from the motherboard
• Connect up a drive you're going to use just for XP. Install XP and get everything patched & installed.
• Do a full clean shutdown once you're finished.
• Disconnect the XP drive, reconnect your primary drive, boot from it again.
  y
• Install EasyBCD on your primary drive.
• Shut down, and connect your XP drive.
• Boot into BIOS/UEFI and verify that your boot settings are configured to start with your primary drive. IF the option's there, set your XP drive as the secondary boot drive.
• Confirm that with the XP drive connected you can still boot into your primary drive as normal.
• In Win8, use EasyBCD to add an entry for Windows XP to your bootloader.
• Boot into XP and verify it works correctly. Reboot again to confirm that you still see the Win8 bootloader on startup.

I remember trying this sort of thing with Vista, XP and whatever the current Fedora release was at the time. It wasn't fun. I also have it working currently on my home testbox/workstation with Win7, Win8 and ESXi - that also wasn't much fun. You'll make life much easier for yourself by either using XP Mode (easiest, by a mile) or using separate disks for each installation (easy).

My problem with XP mode is that I only have 1gb of RAM so it'd be pretty laggy. The main reason I want XP is for emulation of android apps. They only run smoothly for me on XP and Ubuntu. Extremely laggy on Windows 7 and 8.

_Kaiser_

Aspiring wrote: »

My problem with XP mode is that I only have 1gb of RAM so it'd be pretty laggy. The main reason I want XP is for emulation of android apps. They only run smoothly for me on XP and Ubuntu. Extremely laggy on Windows 7 and 8.

Might be as well investing in some extra RAM instead maybe? 4GB should be cheap enough and you can get it second hand on the likes of ebay or adverts if needed.

Fysh

Aspiring wrote: »

My problem with XP mode is that I only have 1gb of RAM so it'd be pretty laggy. The main reason I want XP is for emulation of android apps. They only run smoothly for me on XP and Ubuntu. Extremely laggy on Windows 7 and 8.

I'm not surprised they're laggy, it's been about 7 years since 1GB was a reasonable amount of RAM. I'd seriously say spend the money getting some more RAM, and if the machine won't take it plan on replacing it as soon as is feasible.

GreenWolfe

Even on a modern machine Android emulation is not great. I haven't done much in that area, but if you have an Intel CPU that supports virtualization use HAXM and an x86 Android image (plus 2GB+ RAM for HAXM). You'll notice the performance increase.

Capt'n Midnight

Might be easier with VM's - XP can's see beyond 4GB (3 realistically) unless you get the 64 bit version and that has it's own special idiosyncrasies.

Don't forget you will need a separate license for each copy of windows.

Aspiring

Took your advice on the RAM. Max is 4 think I'll get that. Ebay is working out too expensive with the shipping, Crucial has 4 gigs at 70$ which is pretty reasonable not sure about shipping there. Haven't checked adverts yet will do now. Cheers lads.

Capt'n Midnight

Aspiring wrote: »

Took your advice on the RAM. Max is 4 think I'll get that. Ebay is working out too expensive with the shipping, Crucial has 4 gigs at 70$ which is pretty reasonable not sure about shipping there. Haven't checked adverts yet will do now. Cheers lads.

www.shop4memory.com etc

Fysh

Aspiring wrote: »

Took your advice on the RAM. Max is 4 think I'll get that. Ebay is working out too expensive with the shipping, Crucial has 4 gigs at 70$ which is pretty reasonable not sure about shipping there. Haven't checked adverts yet will do now. Cheers lads.

Are you looking at DDR1? Prices on that have been trending upwards for the last 3-4 years because DDR2 and now DDR3 have effectively taken over, so economies of scale are no longer acting in your interest. (Edited to add: FARK ME! €76 for 4x1GB DDR DIMMS! And that's the cheapest option available!)

If you can't get your RAM upgrade for less than €40 (current ~ pricing for 2x2GB DDR3 DIMMs) I'd spend some time considering whether it might be easier/more cost-effective to just buy/save towards buying a new machine.

Capt'n Midnight

Fysh wrote: »

I'd spend some time considering whether it might be easier/more cost-effective to just buy/save towards buying a new machine.

especially if you are talking laptops.

don't forget that a new box will most likely have a better CPU / GPU , faster and bigger drive and a warranty

rule is look up to see current price of your box second hand and what you would get for that + money spent on RAM

unless you value your time a lot

Aspiring

I don't have the money for a new laptop unfortunately , heres my options for the RAM http://www.crucial.com/upgrade/Acer-memory/TravelMate/TravelMate+5520-upgrades.html there's two 2x2 packages which is better?

Capt'n Midnight

in general laptops have 2 ram slots, and usually both are already full so to get 8GB expect to buy 8GB

if you buy one 4GB module you'll probably end up with 6GB - depends though


get cpuz to id exactly what you already have

also http://www.adverts.ie/for-sale/q_Acer+TravelMate+5520/

Aspiring

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

in general laptops have 2 ram slots, and usually both are already full so to get 8GB expect to buy 8GB

if you buy one 4GB module you'll probably end up with 6GB - depends though


get cpuz to id exactly what you already have

also http://www.adverts.ie/for-sale/q_Acer+TravelMate+5520/

Mine has 2 slots and max is 4gb I think so 2x2

Capt'n Midnight

get cpuz to id exactly what you already have

Aspiring

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

get cpuz to id exactly what you already have

Slot 1 and 2 (both the same):

unkel

One 2GB DDR2 SO-Dimm stick will do you. Take out one 512MB and replace it with the 2GB. Gives you a total of 2.5GB for a total cost of €32 including VAT and shipping from shop4memory...

The difference between 1GB and 2.5GB on both windows 7 and windows 8 is going to be huge. Enjoy

Aspiring

unkel wrote: »

One 2GB DDR2 SO-Dimm stick will do you. Take out one 512MB and replace it with the 2GB. Gives you a total of 2.5GB for a total cost of €32 including VAT and shipping from shop4memory...

The difference between 1GB and 2.5GB on both windows 7 and windows 8 is going to be huge. Enjoy

You sure? I'll be getting a decent 8GB laptop after next year but just need something to end these occasional painful slow speeds.