voggorb Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Hi, Is it possible to install windows xp with dualbooting, when I currently am running native osx (jas 10.4.8)? Or do I first have to reformat, etc, and then start by installing windows first? I have only found guides for the windows --› osx dualboot, not the other way around....if you understand my question... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43508-install-xp-_after_-osx/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
hecker Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Yes, it is possible to install windows after OSX. Simply prepare an empty primary partition, format it with FAT32 or NTFS, set it as active, copy the MBR from windows into the drive (yes, replacing your current one and rendering your OSX unusable for now). After you do these changes, you can install winXP or whatever. In order to get OSX back up I would recommend the Acronis Bootloader. Of course, you didn't make ANY of your system configuration specs available so there will possibly be a few issues you will have to fix first. For example: - Do you have any free space on you HDD? - Do you have more than one HDD? - Do you understand how multi-boot systems are supposed to work? ie. different kinds of bootmanagers, BIOS booting (selecting HDD), etc Thare are many different options available depending on your system. Try checking the wiki.osx86project.org site for guides. hecker Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43508-install-xp-_after_-osx/#findComment-311101 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonj Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 (edited) I actually came here to pose the exact same question. I stupidly didn't read the guides before popping in the JaS install disc to replace Vista with OS X. I now have OS X set up exactly how I want it, with all patches in place needed to get everything running perfectly, and I'm afraid of killing the MBR when I install XP. I've already set aside an unallocated 25GB partition for XP. Is there a way to safely install XP on this partition without killing OS X? Edit: Hecker, I just saw your post. How do you copy the windows MBR over to the boot drive? Edited February 25, 2007 by bonj Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43508-install-xp-_after_-osx/#findComment-311138 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hecker Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 (edited) You can copy the windows MBR over but it will disable your OSX. You will have to use a bootmanager to make all systems available. IMPORTANT: BACKUP YOUR SYSTEM!! I recommend using SuperDuper! for this (using a sparse image file). First you will have to configure darwin bootmanager manually to set the correct active partition for windows (I'm assuming it's all on one HDD): Boot your OSX and: - Open a terminal window - View all disks by using: diskutil list - Write down or make a mental note of your drive's number. - call fdisk by typing: sudo fdisk -e /dev/rdisk# (replace # by the correct drive number!) p (to view partitions) f # (replace # with correct drive number of the WINDOWS PARTITION you want to set as active for booting) write (answer yes to question) exit reboot. The computer will fail to boot from OSX from now on, so we need to re-create a windows MBR. To recover the windows MBR : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058 After that you should be able to run your Windows XP installation. Just make sure you don't partition your hard drive or otherwise modify your partition tables via Windows! Just pick the empty space you have prepared for windows for installation (windows usually identifies this partition as C:). After you are done installing windows you can either install the Acronis Bootmanager or otherwise modify your boot.ini file to boot to OSX. I will be trying this technique myself tomorrow and let you guys know how it went for me. hecker Edited February 25, 2007 by hecker Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43508-install-xp-_after_-osx/#findComment-311159 Share on other sites More sharing options...
voggorb Posted February 28, 2007 Author Share Posted February 28, 2007 Thx for the very detailed instructions hecker. Have you tried it yet? How are the results? Any problems that I should be aware of, other than the things you already have mentioned? thx again for helping out. voggorb Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43508-install-xp-_after_-osx/#findComment-313571 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonj Posted March 4, 2007 Share Posted March 4, 2007 (edited) Just a quick update. I installed Windows XP on my 2nd partition today and there was no need to restore the master boot record. I simply marked the Win/DOS parititon active, installed XP as you normally would, letting XP's installer write the MBR, then when setup was complete I used the chain0 method to get back into OSX. Worked like a charm. Edited March 4, 2007 by bonj Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43508-install-xp-_after_-osx/#findComment-316078 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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