Project: Add Mobo & HD w/ Win 7 to a Win Xp system and dual boot

[wjgollatz]

I have a project and I am hoping I can get some help on how to best proceed.

I have a mobo that has a malfunctioning SATA port, and it is limited to 4mb. I need to be able to use Win 7, could use extra storage, and not thrilled about converted all programs to Win 7 right away.

I would like to :

1 change my motherboard,
2 ad a hard drive
3 install Win 7 on the new hard drive
4 be able to dual boot either OS/drive (either Win XP on one drive, or Win 7 on the other drive). (Does Win 7 have a feature for opening Win Xp installed programs??)

What is the best procedure to do this? What problems will I have. For instance, when drives are lettered, is it a OS related naming, or will I need a different letter for the C drive for the Win 7 install? My current HD is partitioned. Can Win 7 read those partitions? I understand that changing the cpu heastsink/fan is a whole other process.

This is my current system;
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit

GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Antec earthwatts EA430 430W Continuous Power

SAPPHIRE 100265HDMI Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16

This is the motherboard I am looking at to replace the current one:

GIGABYTE GA-EP43T-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard

Actually, I originally posted above, but should go with this one, it can use the same memory sticks I have now, and can expand to 16Gb, instead of 8, even though it is DDR2.

GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX

No video on this mobo.

I do not need to expand the memory right now, but in the future I would like to, I know my current memory is the low end that this new mobo can handle.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Most programs written for XP will work without problems in Win7, some games will have problems. Win 7 also has a customized built in version of Virtual PC that can emulate XP for business program (not really useful for games).

Win7 can't run programs installed under XP to the XP hard drive because most programs store information in XP's registry which Win 7 won't read. You could try an upgrade install but that never goes well.

FYI, I've had that Gigabyte P43 since July 2008 and it's a nice MB. I've used XP on it since then, and installed Win7 ultimate on it without any problems.

I use the most awkward form of dual-booting, but it suits my needs: 2 primary partitions on the boot drive, manually setting one active and hiding the other as needed with Acronis Disk Director

A better scheme might be to use the BIOS drive order setting to change which drive boots first, but I've never tried that.

 

[mfenn]

That new mobo is fine. It'll serve you well.

You can do a dual boot the way you're proposing. However, you will probably have to change the boot order in the BIOS in order change from one OS to another (since they're on separate drives). Each Windows installation will see it's own boot drive as the C: drive though. You probably will not be able to run programs from one OS while you're booted into the other.

One thing you might want to look into is Windows 7's "XP Mode" feature. This feature (only available on Professional and higher) is basically a pre-installed Windows XP virtual machine. This will allow you to run your Windows XP apps alongside your Windows 7 apps. You will need to reinstall the apps in the VM though. It will work well for pretty much any app except for 3D games.

EDIT: Arrg Dave beat me to it! That'll teach me to refresh the page before I reply.

 

[klocwerk]

surprised no one's mentioned it, but it's highly unlikely that your current XP install's going to boot on a new motherboard without reinstalling it.

 

[mfenn]

surprised no one's mentioned it, but it's highly unlikely that your current XP install's going to boot on a new motherboard without reinstalling it.

G31 to EP43 has a decent chance of working actually, as long as he sets up the SATA controller the same way with regard to IDE mode, AHCI, RAID, etc.

 

[Pederv]

I have WinXP and Win7 Ult setup as a dual boot. No need to go into the BIOS to switch OS's. Instal XP first the Win7, you'll get a menu to select earlier version on Win or Win7. The drive letter designations are dependant on the OS but both OS's see all drives and partitions. WinXP is installed on its C drive and Win7 is installed on its C drive.

 

[wjgollatz]

I have WinXP and Win7 Ult setup as a dual boot. No need to go into the BIOS to switch OS's. Instal XP first the Win7, you'll get a menu to select earlier version on Win or Win7. The drive letter designations are dependant on the OS but both OS's see all drives and partitions. WinXP is installed on its C drive and Win7 is installed on its C drive.

You have these installed on the same drive?

I am eventually going to move everything to win 7 - but one program may not be able to move.

 

[wjgollatz]

surprised no one's mentioned it, but it's highly unlikely that your current XP install's going to boot on a new motherboard without reinstalling it.

Is there anyway to prepare the install for this? For instance install any applications for the new mb on the win xp drive before changing the board?

 

[Pederv]

You have these installed on the same drive?

I am eventually going to move everything to win 7 - but one program may not be able to move.

Each OS is on its own drive.

Sometimes if you're lucky and get a motherboard with the same chipset manufacturer, the new and old chipsets are simular enough where XP will boot on the new motherboard.