Goddard


I'm running basically the same dual boot setup as Jonbuoy, with XP (64 in my case) and Win7 x64 installed on separate boot partitions on a single drive, and it works fine. XP should be installed first, and then when you install Win7 just select the other empty partition (or create it in unpartitioned free space on the drive) and Win7 will create a boot menu so you can select which OS to boot when you start up the PC. One thing to note: Win7 supports "AHCI" mode of SATA, but XP doesn't. The SATA controllers on most recent motherboards can be configured in BIOS setup as IDE (legacy) mode, SATA (enhanced) mode, AHCI (advanced SATA features) mode and SATA RAID(Windows software RAID) mode. Except for IDE mode, installing Windows using these SATA modes requires first setting the desired SATA mode in the BIOS setup and then, when installing Windows XP, hitting F6 and then installing the appropriate SATA driver from a floppy disk or USB flashdrive because without the driver Windiws XP won't see the SATA drive. In an XP/Win7 dual boot setup, if your mobo uses an Intel chipset supporting SATA RAID, I would recommend configuring the SATA controller as SATA RAID mode in XP using the latest driver from Intel's site for your chipset SATA controller (Intel now refers to its software RAID as "Intel Rapid Storage Technology" but it used to be called something like "Intel Matrix Storage Technology", all the same thing with different confusing names). Get the F6 installation driver from Intel's support site under "chipset" software. You only need to use the F6 installation method or XP - Win7 shouldn't need it and should install in SATA RAID mode if it is set in the BIOS, without needing the driver. Windows SATA RAID mode offers basically the same performance as AHCI mode, and is supported by both XP and Win7, so it allows a dual boot setup without it becoming necessary to reconfigure the SATA mode setting in the BIOS when booting to a different OS. Running the SATA controller in RAID mode works just fine even without actually setting up a RAID array, so you don't need to set up any RAID drive(s), and if the RAID setup screen appears during boot you can just ignore it and let it time out and the boot process will continue after a few seconds (your boot drive should show up as a "Non-RAID" drive, which is just fine, no problem whatsoever). And that's it, no SATA hassles when dual boot is set up. If your chipset does not support RAID mode then it may also not support AHCI mode in Win7, so then you will have to configure basic SATA mode (enhanced mode) for XP, (don't use IDE legacy mode, too slow) and then let Win7 detect the SATA mode set in the BIOS and install its compatible mode, and if that doesn't work then you will need to go into the BIOS and change the SATA mode.

Thanks for trying to help, but in all honesty you lost me around the middle of the second line. After that it may as well be written in Swahili for all the sense it makes to me,  but I appreciate you taking the time to try and explain, not your fault that I'm so clueless :)

paolo, sorry if that got too technical. Also, apologies for it all running together as one paragraph, I'm on the road and was remoting my post thru a different browser running on another box. Oops, too technical again?

If you use a PC to stream audio, you should really learn about disk performance config. It's been like that since the dawn of the DAW.

If it's too technical for you, don't worry, hopefully your DAW will still work ok without your intervention. But if you encounter performance issues, time to learn more or consult someone more techie.

Goddard


paolo, sorry if that got too technical. Also, apologies for it all running together as one paragraph, I'm on the road and was remoting my post thru a different browser running on another box. Oops, too technical again?

If you use a PC to stream audio, you should really learn about disk performance config. It's been like that since the dawn of the DAW.

If it's too technical for you, don't worry, hopefully your DAW will still work ok without your intervention. But if you encounter performance issues, time to learn more or consult someone more techie.

Too technical, and irrelevant to setting up a dual boot OS.

Why obfuscate a fairly simple procedure with techno babble overload just for the sake of it?

Jonbouy

Too technical, and irrelevant to setting up a dual boot OS.

Why obfuscate a fairly simple procedure with techno babble overload just for the sake of it?

"Too technical" would have been giving an explanation of how to set AHCI mode up in XP.  "Irrelevant" and "obfuscate" would have been linking to an unnecessary BCD editor.

Goddard

Jonbouy

Too technical, and irrelevant to setting up a dual boot OS.

Why obfuscate a fairly simple procedure with techno babble overload just for the sake of it?

"Too technical" would have been giving an explanation of how to set AHCI mode up in XP.  "Irrelevant" and "obfuscate" would have been linking to an unnecessary BCD editor.

I'm wondering how I've managed to stumble along in the dark for so long until you turned up to enlighten everyone on your mid 90's technology expertise.  When I next need to solder some 256k memory chips in seperate banks to my motherboard I'll know just who to call on.  A real old fashioned outlook from back in the days when IT was an acronym from 'Ivory Tower' when so called 'experts' could BS everyone that what they knew was beyond the scope of mere mortals and therefore should command a ridiculous fee.  I haven't come across anybody like that for a good 15 years but you seem to be a great reminder of a bygone era and you are not even getting paid for it.

I managed to set-up AHCI mode on a dual boot system without any guidance from your superior wisdom and the unnecessary BCD editor might indeed be unecessary but will probably yeild the desired result far quicker than trawling through one of your posts on the subject.  I get it, let's all do it the manly way and not use a convinient BCD editor so we can impress our girlfriends into the bargain.

Yeah, I'm right with you tough guy, lets make it seem like a real mission to set up a windows dual boot, install a driver and make a switch to a bios setting.  That should get 'em all thinking I've entered some serious echelon of Geekdom and get them lauding me as some kind of hero.

I'm glad you've turned up though I haven't had this much fun for ages.

Yawn

The OP had said he wasn't going to do the setup himself, from which I took it he was going to have someone more technically inclined do it (who I thought it safe to assume could understand SATA setup and driver installation).

You said you couldn't even remember how you did your dual boot setup, but you were pretty sure you installed XP first, and I just filled in the gap. 

I mean, if you were the OP and someone was saying "yeah, it will work, it did for me although I can't actually remember how I did it, but I think this is how... but if that doesn't work, here's a link to a BCD editor utility just in case"  now, would you hesitate?

There IS a difference between just getting lucky and having things all magically work, and having things all work as expected without problem because one actually knew what one was doing.

SATA modes frequently catch people out, even in Win7. Try changing to AHCI mode after unknowingly installing Win7 in IDE mode because your new mobo was set to IDE by default, and enjoy the fun!.

Hey, I'm on to your campaign of policing others' posts in the CW forums. Seems I can rarely find a forum where you haven't gotten into it with someone over something or other. Next you'll be accusing me of violating the TOS for being too geeky...

Yawn

Setting up AHCI mode on Windows 7 after install.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976

The instructions for installing it on XP come with the drivers suited to your mobo/setup. Get them here.

http://downloadcenter.int...%22AHCI+SATA+Driver%22

Detailed instructions on setting up the dual boot I already gave here.

http://www.sevenforums.co...tion-windows-7-xp.html

The whole topic really wasn't any more complicated than that so I can understand why Paulo turned grey and eventually tuned out.

@Goddard, you've got me wrong I already stated that I'm really enjoying your work and thought you appreciated irony...  Causing somebody to phase out when you are trying to help would certainly fall into my understanding of what irony is all about.

So well done.

Whatever...

Came across a remark by someone else (perhaps a countryman of yours) in another forum which I really think puts it more succinctly than I ever could:

"If your computer is your instrument, you'd better learn to play it!"