Problem solved.I installed dual Operating system with pre-installed Windows 7 with the help of other posts on this forum.This is what I did: 1.Partitioned the drive. 2.Changed SATA mode to IDE. 3.Installed Windows Xp successfully in another drive. 4.Installed all drivers given on the dell website. 5.Updated the driver to AHCI through device manager thru a file called iaAHCI.inf 6.Rebooted the system in AHCI mode.XP was running well 7.Booted the system with the Windows 7 DVD and and repaired startup.Rebooted again. 8.Windows 7 was running fine but not windows xp now. 9.Installed EasyBCD Utlity 1.7(made for Vista but works perfectly with Windows 7 too. 10.Rewrote the MBR through EasyBCD and setup boot records. 11.Restarted the system and it worked 100% fine.
I recently purchased the studio 15 laptop which came with windows 7 home premium.I need to run certain applications (very important) that can only be run on windows xp sp2.I have tried a lot of times running the software in compatibility mode but it does not work out.I have finally decided to install xp along with windows 7.I have only 1 partition.I tried to boot with the xp disc but a blue screen comes and shows a fatal error.I contacted dell and they said it is due the the SATA mode selection AHCI and said if i change it into IDE I'll be able to install XP but will lose my ability to boot into windows 7. Please tell me a detailed procedure to install dual operating system so that i can boot into the one of my choice.
Installing Dual OS(Windows 7 and XP) on my Studio 1555 model