If you get Error loading Operating System after XP restarts:

Using your Windows 7 installation disc, boot to the command prompt at startup.
Type in these comands below, and press enter after each one.
bootrec /FixMbr
bootrec /FixBoot
bootrec /RebuildBcd
Exit the command prompt and restart the computer.
At this point, Windows 7 should boot up the same way before trying to install XP
.
Continue to step 8 below and run EasyBCD from Windows 7 instead.
7. In XP, download and install .Net Framework 2.0 (32-bit) verison or .Net Frame
work 2.0 (64-bit) version and EasyBCD for your 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x86) XP.
NOTE: In XP, Net Framework is required to be installed to run the free program E
asyBCD.
8. Run EasyBCD.
NOTE: This is required to repair the Windows 7 boot file and add XP to the Windo
ws Boot Manager list.
9. On the left side of EasyBCD, click on the Add New Entry button. (See screensh
ot below)
A) In the top section under Operating Systems, click on the Windows tab. (See sc
reenshot below)
B) To the right of Type, select Windows NT/2k/XP/2k3 from the drop down menu. (S
ee screenshot below)
WARNING: Be sure to leave the Automatically detect correct drive box checked.
C) To the right of Name, you can leave the default Microsoft Windows XP as the n
ame to be displayed in the Windows Boot Manager, or you can type whatever name y
ou would like to have instead. (See screenshot below)
D) Click on the Add Entry button. (See screenshot below)
10. On the left side of EasyBCD, click on the Bootloader Setup button, select (d
ot) the Install the Windows Vista/7 bootloader to the MBR option, and click on t
he Write MBR button. (See screenshot below)
11. Close EasyBCD.
12. Restart the computer to have the option to boot from Microsoft Windows XP or
Windows 7. (See screenshot below)
If Windows 7 will not start up when selected, then use your Windows 7 installati
on DVD to do a Startup Repair.
1. Boot to the System Recovery Options screen.
2. Select the Startup Repair option. (See screenshot below)
3. Startup Repair will now scan your computer to attempt to find and fix any sta
rtup problems. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: Startup Repair might prompt you to make choices as it tries to fix the pro
blem, and if necessary, it might restart your computer as it makes repairs. If r
epairs are not successful, you'll see a summary of the problem and links to cont
act information for support. Your computer manufacturer might include additional
assistance information.

Secondly, if you really do feel the need to change the entries, you can assign a
drive letter to the Windows XP partition via Windows 7 Disk Management. Right-c
lick on Computer and select "Manage", then click on "Disk Management" in the lef
t-hand window.
On the primary drive there will be two partitions - one defined as C:\ and the o
ther without a drive letter. Right-click on the other partition (this is where W
indows XP is installed) and select "Change drive letter or path". Choose a drive
letter from the drop-down list and click OK. You'll now have a drive visible wi
thin Windows Explorer.
Go back into EasyBCD and into the "Change Settings" window. Change the "Earlier
version of Windows" entry to something else, make sure that you select the corre
ct drive letter in the "Drive" drop-down list and click "Save Settings". Reboot
the machine and the boot menu will reflect the changes you've made.
The third option is to use BCDEDIT to change the "Earlier version of Windows" en
try so that you don't have to assign a drive letter and can keep the original bo
otloader entry.
To do this, launch a Command Window with elevated access - go to Start, All Prog
rams, Accessories, right-click on Command Prompt and select "Run as administrato
r". Accept the UAC prompt.
Type in BCDEDIT and press Enter. This will
gured bootloader. You'll see that "Earlier
Legacy OS Loader, which has an identifier
(which is what you see in the boot menu),

display a list of the currently-confi

Version of Windows" is handled by the
of [ntldr]. To change the description
type in the following command:

bcdedit /set [ntldr] Description "Windows XP"

Press Enter and the changes are committed. Obviously the description can be anyt
hing, but you have to include the quotation marks. Type in BCDEDIT again to make
sure that the changes have taken hold, and then reboot. The boot menu will be u
pdated with the modified entry.
If you decide that dual-booting Windows 7 and XP is not for you, then it's fairl
y easy to wind back the clock using EasyBCD.
All you have to do is remove the Windows 7 boot manager
in EasyBCD go to Manage B
ootloader , select Uninstall the Vista Bootloader and then Write MBR . At the moment Ea
syBCD isn't aware of a distinction between Vista and Windows 7, but using this o
ption still works fine.
Restart the machine and that s it
the XP boot loader is the only one left on the s
ystem and XP loads. You can then delete the Windows 7 partition and use GPartEd
to re-extend the partition to take up the entire disk, or the EXTEND command in
Vista DISKPART.
4. If problems cannot be found, then click on Next. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: You can click on the View diagnostic and repair details link to see a deta
iled summary of what Startup Repair has done.
A) Click on the Restart button to return to the Windows 7 logon screen. (See scr
eenshot below step 2)

On the "View Settings" window you can see the entries already present in the boo
tloader. The main difference between the two entries is the drive which they are
loaded from. Windows 7 is loaded from C:, whereas Windows XP is loaded from \De
vice\Harddisk\Volume1. Now go into "Change Settings". Under "Entry-B ased Settin
gs" you get the option to modify the "Earlier version of Windows" entry, but in
the "Drive" drop-down menu you only have the option of C:\ or Boot. Neither of t
hese correspond to where Windows XP is installed, so if you make any changes and
click "Save Settings" you'll break the bootloader entry for Windows XP and it w
on't boot.
There are a few options to get around this. Firstly, leave the boot entry alone
- it works fine with the default settings.