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How To... Dual Boot Windows 2000 and XP

When dual booting two Operating Systems you need to install the older operating system first and then install the second OS from within the first so the first thing you need to do to follow this How To... Guide is to have a computer with Windows 2000 already installed on it.


As always, I'm doing this on period computers so the images are not screenshots from an emulator but actual photographs on the computer I performed the task on so they wont be a clear as screenshots from an emulator, but they are genuinely authentic!


When dual-booting your computer you will need at least two partitions on your hard disk, one for each Operating System.

My Windows 2000 laptop has a 20GB hard disk drive on it so the first thing I have done is to shrink the original partition to around 50% which leaves the remaining 50% for me to install Windows XP on.

I used the PowerQuest Partition Manager 7.0 to create two partitions and my guides for installing this software and using it to create a second partition can be found here:





Once you have a free partition to install Windows XP on, simply insert the Windows XP CD-ROM and run the installation program...


From the drop-down menu, choose New Installation - if you choose upgrade, you will upgrade (i.e. replace) Windows 2000 to XP and in this guide we're trying to dual-boot them...


Click Next, enter your Product Key and then click on Next


As I have plenty of hard disk drive space I am going to speed up the installation by getting the setup to copy the installation files to my hard disk drive by clicking on Advanced Settings and ticking the appropriate box and then clicking on OK.


I'm in the UK so I need to change the language settings, to do this click on the drop-down menu and choose English (United Kingdom) and then click on Next.


Select No, skip this step and continue installing Windows and click on Next and the the Installation will then begin...







When prompted, press the ENTER key to continue.


Using the Arrow Keys select the Unpartitioned Space option (this is the second/spare partition you will/should have created) and then press ENTER.

Select Format the partition using the NTFS file system  (Quick) and press ENTER.




Once the format is complete, your computer will reboot...


The Regional Settings look OK to me (if not then change them), I think it has picked up the correct settings from within the Windows 2000 OS that XP has been installed from - click Next to continue.


Select Typical settings and click on Next.  I don't have a domain so I am going to leave it in the default settings of being in a Workgroup called WORKGROUP - click Next to continue.


Enter your Name and Company and then click Next.  Enter a name for your computer and choose a password for the local Administrator account and then click on Next.


Enter your area dialing code (needed for Dial-up network connections and required to be able to continue the installation) and then click Next.  Check the Date and Time settings are correct (if not adjust as necessary) and then click Next.




 Your computer will then reboot, don't press anything on your keyboard and let it load Windows XP...


When prompted, click OK.  If your screen resolution isn't high enough then instead of the second prompt you will just get a blank screen - if this happens then don't panic and don't press anything and the Setup will then continue...


Click Next and then Next again.


Click on Skip (you can set up how you connect to the Internet some other time).  Then click No to not register with Microsoft at this time and then click on Next.


Enter a Username to use to log on to this computer and click on Next.   Now click on Finish to complete the setup!


When you see the 'new' Start Menu the installation is complete!



The next time you power on your computer you should be greeted with the following screen:


You have now Dual-Booted your computer and can choose either Windows XP or Windows 2000 each time you turn on your computer!


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