How to create a separate system partition for dual booting Windows XP or Windows 2000 with Windows 7

Review the current boot configuration (BCD) before changing the system partition. Use the bcdedit command with no arguments to view the current boot configuration.   The bcdedit output will be similar to the entries shown below. Verify the value of the drive letter assigned to the device for each boot entry corresponds to the Windows operating systems installed on the system. Look for the element partition=<letter>. Note A legacy Windows°XP or Windows°2000 Server boot entry is referred to in the description as Earlier Version of Windows. Windows Boot Manager -------------------- identifier {bootmgr} device partition=C: description Windows Boot Manager Windows Boot Loader ------------------- identifier {current} device partition=D: path \windows\system32\winload.exe description Windows 7 Windows Boot Loader ------------------------ identifier {358e1d8e-3bcf-11de-a57b-9ab47e0f3928} device partition=C: path \Windows\system32\winload.exe description Microsoft Windows Vista Use Disk Management console (diskmgmt.msc) to create a new primary disk partition from unused disk space for the new system partition. Use 200MB of free space on an existing partition and shrink the partition.   Create the new primary partition, and format using NTFS.   Assign the drive letter, S:.   Mark the new partition as Active. Right-click on partition S:, and Select Mark partition as Active.   Use bcdboot.exe to copy the Windows 7 boot files to the new system partition. Execute the following command: Bcdboot D:\Windows /s S:. Bcdboot copies the required boot environment files for Windows 7 to the S: partition, and creates a new BCD store to boot Windows 7 from the D: partition. The new BCD store does not have a boot entry for Windows°XP or Windows°2000 Server after this step. Copy the Windows°XP or Windows°2000 Server legacy boot files to the new system partition. The legacy boot files are: NTDETECT.COM, NTLDR, and BOOT.INI. To copy these hidden files from the root directory of the legacy OS partition to the new system partition, execute the following commands: xcopy /h C:\NTDETECT.COM S: xcopy /h C:\ntldr S: xcopy /h C:\Boot.ini S: Reboot to Windows 7 to establish the new system partition. A reboot is required for the BIOS to recognize the new Active partition. When the system reboots, there will be no boot menu as the boot configuration only has a single entry and automatically starts Windows 7.   Update the boot configuration to include Windows°XP or Windows°2000 Server by importing the previous boot configuration data (BCD). The previous boot configuration reviewed in Step 1 has boot entries for both Windows°XP or Windows°2000 Server and Windows 7. Use the bcdedit command to import the previous BCD store located on C: to the new System partition, S: as follows: Bcdedit /import C:\Boot\BCD.   Check the updated boot configuration using bcdedit, as in Step 1). The output will look similar to the following:   Windows Boot Manager -------------------- identifier {bootmgr} device partition=C: description Windows Boot Manager Windows Boot Loader ------------------- identifier {default} device partition=D: path \windows\system32\winload.exe description Windows 7 Windows Legacy OS Loader ------------------------ identifier {ntldr} device partition=C: path \ntldr description Earlier Version of Windows The legacy Windows boot entry is back and the Windows 7 entry is the same as earlier. However, after the import the device for the Windows Boot Manager entry refers to the old system partition C: and needs to be changed to refer to the new System partition.   Update the Windows Boot Manager device to the new System partition. Execute the following command: Bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device partition=S:.   Verify the boot configuration again to verify the Windows Boot Manager device is the new System partition, and the Windows Boot Loader entry for each version of Windows refers to the correct volume. The bcdedit output will be similar to the following:   Windows Boot Manager -------------------- identifier {bootmgr} device partition=S: description Windows Boot Manager Windows Boot Loader ------------------- identifier {current} device partition=D: path \windows\system32\winload.exe description Windows 7 Windows Legacy OS Loader ------------------------ identifier {ntldr} device partition=C: path \ntldr description Earlier Version of Windows Reboot the system and verify both Windows°XP or Windows°2000 Server and Windows 7 can boot using the new System partition. Confirm the Windows Boot Manager shows a boot menu that includes entries for both Windows°XP or Windows°2000 Server and Windows 7. If you want to change the entry in the boot menu for the earlier version of Windows, use bcdedit to set the description for the Legacy OS Loader entry. The Legacy OS Loader is referred to using the identifier {ntldr}, as in the following example:Bcdedit /set {ntldr} description “Windows XP”.   Note Since the Windows°XP or Windows°2000 Server partition no longer contains critical boot files, it will no longer be included by default in a system image created from Windows 7. However, the Windows°XP or Windows°2000 Server partition can still be optionally included via the Create a system image task from the Backup and Restore Control Panel.  -Source: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee829686(WS.10).aspx#BKMK_Step1