Windows XP 64-bit & 32-bit: EFI Compatibility, GPT Partitions, Booting & Dual Boot Guide

Name: Windows XP 64-bit & 32-bit: EFI Compatibility, GPT Partitions, Booting & Dual Boot Guide
Uploaded: 2018-09-02T10:50:32+02:00
Description: WinXP x64 supports GPT partitions but reportedly cannot boot from such a partition. As you know its little brother - Win7 x64 supports EFI, including booting. Win7 creates 3 partitions during installation including one 100MB FAT32 EFI partition. WinXP can't create such partitions during...

Question

WinXP x64 supports GPT partitions but reportedly cannot boot from such a partition. As you know its little brother - Win7 x64 supports EFI, including booting. Win7 creates 3 partitions during installation including one 100MB FAT32 EFI partition. WinXP can't create such partitions during...

Prot · Answer

But I guess in BIOS mode this WinXP installation :?: Copying files? Are you transferring a disk image from XP If the image, what modifications to the entries have you made in the MBR and bootsector regarding the system boot? It's common knowledge that older Windows systems cannot boot using UEFI - you want to deny this point

Gelip · Answer

Of course, in BIOS mode, EFI cannot be installed. I clearly stated that I copied the files and not restored the image. No - I do not want to deny but find out where the limitation is because, for example, Windows 7 x64 can be installed in both BIOS and EFI mode and after the system starts it uses the same .dll or .exe files in both BIOS mode and EFI. Besides, even WinXP does not use BIOS device drivers, only its own. I think it's just a matter of bootloader because WinXP 64-bit for Itanium architecture supports booting from EFI using a file IA64ldr.efi : Edited ======== However, there was a bug in BCD because after booting the machine from DVD-ISO Win7 and selecting the option Fix the computer : the installer repaired my BCD entries, but probably only the one regarding the location of Windows 7. However, the WinXP entry is either still bad because the option Fix the computer from Win7 or Vista disc can not repair older systems either and / or ntldr from WinXP x64 does not support EFI because now after the repair I have something like this:

Prot · Answer

I suggest you review the article about the intricacies of dual booting Windows i limitations related to the input / output interface (BIOS vs UEFI), and the type of disk partition (MBR vs GPT) -

Gelip · Answer

Yes, officially everything is correct - what can the system do, but while investigating the topic I came across a 32-bit beta version - something between WinXP and WinVista, and more precisely Windows Longhorn (Vista Beta 1 5112): which when installed in BIOS mode has some files .efi In the catalogue C: \ Boot : I try to use it in EFI somehow, but it doesn't work very well because the CD doesn't boot in EFI mode. Program winnvram.efi has the following syntax: but I don't know if the system should be on a regular MBR or GPT partition - the system certainly supports GPT partitions because diskpart whether diskmgmt.msc recognizes GPT correctly.

Dra98 · Answer

Windows XP supports GPT partitions but does not boot from them. You can have a look at the solution from the server 2003 -

Gelip · Answer

Files winldfw.efi and winnvram.efi they are also in WinXP Media Center in Gateway 610 in directory only C: \ Boot \ EFI \ Microsoft \ Boot on an NTFS partition. It was probably one of the first computers with EFI firmware and 32-bit: Intel and Microsoft are set to start pitching EFI Windows XP Pro SP2 DOES have EFI Support Only, I don't know whether the computer had the Legacy BIOS option in EFI or maybe Microsoft added support for EFI in WinXP in this case? Very interesting things: Microsoft - Firmware Design UEFIrequirements.doc EFI - The BIOS Replacement This is what it looks like EFI Boot Manager on a computer with Insyde EFI firmware: from the document (Power Point) - TW04023_WINHEC2004.ppt Implementing EFI on 32-bit Systems , it appears that Insyde has implemented WinXP boot from EFI: I found the firmware of this 610 and using UEFITool I extracted several EFI modules, e.g. Csm16 and LegacyBios : so it looks like WinXP is booting on this Gateway 610 thanks to CSM and this framework is nothing but CSM: Intel(R) Platform Innovation Framework for UEFI - Compatibility Support Module Specification

Gelip · Answer

The topic was originally about WinXP 64-bit but this post is about WinXP x86

Test versions of Vista are practically improved WinXP and it turns out that WinXP SP3 can be launched from the EFI bios. It is possible thanks to two files from the test version of the system Vista (Longhorn 6.0.5219.0) (beta2) . These files must be extracted from the ISO image from the location:

install.wim\Windows\System32\winload.efi
install.wim\Boot\EFI\Microsoft\BootMgr\bootmgfw.efi

Tested in VMware Workstation 8 - of course in EFI32 mode.
[letter: bc67a9acf6] [*: bc67a9acf6] create a machine with a disk, e.g. 3GB
[*: bc67a9acf6] we create two primary partitions on the disk - 100MB FAT32 active and the rest 2, something NTFS
[*: bc67a9acf6] install WinXP SP3 in regular bios on partition 2, something GB
[*: bc67a9acf6] after installation on a 100MB partition, create a folder EFI \ Boot and put the file there bootmgfw.efi changing its name to bootia32.efi
[*: bc67a9acf6] file winload.efi copy to Windows \ System32 on the second partition
[*: bc67a9acf6] on a 100MB partition we have a file boot.ini and edit it to look like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
NOBCD
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /usenewloader

[/ letter: u: bc67a9acf6]
System boots but BSOD occurs 0x00000050 framebuf.dll :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCTF0C2bOuA " target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener ugc" class="postlink inline" title="" > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCTF0C2bOuA

Officially VMware 8 does not support EFI, but just extract the EFI32 firmware (resource 6020) from the file vmware-vmx.exe and add this entry to the machine configuration file .vmx:

firmware = "efi"
efi32.filename = "6020.bin"

Gelip · Answer

From what I found a bug STOP 0x00000050 causes VMware. Here's a topic that covers the same BSOD that occurs with a non- 5219 test version of Vista 5231 in VMware: Vista 5231 error in VMware player Apparently the version VMware Workstation 7.1.4 in mode Hardware Compatibility 6 works correctly with the test version of Vista and this error is not present, only that Vista was installed probably in BIOS mode, not EFI, but since the same error appeared in VMware EFI32 in WinXP 32-bit, it is possible that in the EFI version on VMware 7.1. 4 error 0x00000050 it will not: target=_blank rel=nofollow noopener ugc class=postlink inline title= > : In laptops there is mostly EFI64. There were a few exceptions from the EFI32. If someone has one, he can test the operation of WinXP 32-bit. On laptops with EFI64, you can only try WinXP 64-bit installations, but you need 64-bit EFI boot files. I did not find the test version of the 64-bit 5219 and it probably wasn't. However, there were such 64-bit test versions and it is possible that the appropriate files are there: [*: be6eca52a4] Windows Longhorn (6.0.5112.0) (x64 beta1) [*: be6eca52a4] Windows Longhorn (6.0.5231.2) (x64 beta2) [/ list: u: be6eca52a4] Win7 64-bit EFI files are not suitable because the Win7 loader works in conjunction with the BCD not Boot.ini : Added after 5 [hours] 6 [minutes]: Unfortunately, it all sucks: [*: be6eca52a4] 64 bit Vista 5112 has no EFI files [*: be6eca52a4] The 64-bit version of Vista 5231 has EFI files but 32-bit (weird) [*: be6eca52a4] na VMware Workstation 7.1.4 WinXP x86 still fires with an error 0x00000050 [/ letter: u: be6eca52a4] The only way to check if WinXP SP3 will run in EFI32 is hardware with EFI32 firmware, e.g. Lenovo Ideapad flex 10 with 32-bit bios (93cn19ww.exe) - Lenovo Flex 10 BIOS Update Issue If someone has it, he can test ;-) Added after 8 [hours] 32 [minutes]: However, you can boot like WinXP in EFI. Here is my post on another forum: Does Windows XP have EFI? I was able to run Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 x86 in VMware Workstation 7.1.4 with EFI32 bios. I used the same EFI files as for WinXP SP3, i.e. from Vista beta2. How we turn on the service Themes the system looks like WinXP : I found out from an unofficial source that the w2k3R2 system has improved HAL drivers to work with EFI, i.e. files such as framebuf.dll, hal.dll, halmacpi.dll, ntoskrnl.exe e.t.c. Added after 10 [hours] 7 [minutes]: I did new tests. If the EFI32 firmware has an integrated NTFS driver (as in this case) then only one active MBR primary partition is enough to run Windows 2k3 in EFI32 mode: You don't need any EFI FAT32 partition or GPT disk as it needs Win7 and above. You can switch between EFI and BIOS at any time and the system will start up without a problem The best way to switch is in the machine's configuration file .vmx by adding or removing the comment, e.g. with a character # : To boot in EFI mode: Code: text Expand Select all Copy to clipboardfirmware = efi efi32.filename = 6020_ntfs.bin To boot in BIOS mode: Code: text Expand Select all Copy to clipboard#firmware = efi #efi32.filename = 6020_ntfs.bin Oh. And that's it for VMware Workstation 8.0.2 build-591240 in mode Hardware Compatibility 8

Gelip · Answer

And I was right that it is just a matter of loader because you can run both WinXP x86 SP2 in EFI32 and WinXP x64 SP2 in EFI64. Of course, with the help of a few files from the test versions of Vista Beta2 (Longhorn). Tests were done in VMware Workstation 8. Everything is described in detail in the topic Does Windows XP have EFI? from the post target=_blank rel=nofollow noopener ugc class=postlink inline title= > The startup works automatically, but you can also boot the system from EFI Shell : The test was also done with one laptop with EFI64 + WinXP x64 but WinXP has a problem with displaying the image. After disabling all graphics drivers, i.e. uninstalling graphics card drivers and disabling services in the registry vga ( vgapnp.sys ) and VgaSave ( vga.sys ) the system starts up and everything works except the screen - you can connect via RDP if you turn on the remote desktop first. Details on betaarchive.com

Gelip · Answer

Successful to run WinXP SP2 x64 in EFI mode on an X220 with a working screen thanks to the use of a universal graphics driver Universal VESA / VBE Video Display Driver (for Windows NT Architecture)

Details on betaarchive.com - Does Windows XP have EFI?

Tests are welcome!

Gelip · Answer

This topic of mine has over 2000 views, so there is interest, but somehow no one asks, reports what and how, but there are enthusiasts who to run WinXP 32 or 64-bit (currently in the legacy bios CSM) can hack ACPI tables (DSDT, FACP ), acpi.sys driver, AHCI (SATA) drivers, USB 3.0 and run WinXP on AMD Ryzen CPU :-)

- the topic has 150 pages and there we will find drivers for these devices and screenshots confirming the operation:
https://www.win-raid.com/t4035f45-Windows-XP-SP-bit-and-modern-PC-parts-148.html#msg87122 " target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener ugc" class="postlink inline" title="" > https://www.win-raid.com/t4035f45-Windows-XP-SP-bit-and-modern-PC-parts-148.html#msg87122
Apparently these HD Graphics 4xxx, 5xxx drivers work on XP: Modern hardware drivers for 32bit XP

Added after 31 [minutes]:

PS Like something, here are EFI files for booting WinXP 32 or 64-bit: xp_efi.zip

Gelip · Answer

Having recently had a lot of free time, I managed to complete the hardware on which the 64-bit WinXP starts and works under UEFI + CSM with a set of drivers. The motherboard is from the era Sandy Bridge for which the manufacturer provided drivers for this system - ASUS P8H61-M_LE R2 with CPU Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz. Plus a graphics card AMD Radeon HD6450 with Legacy video ROM.

Interestingly - they only need to run the system under UEFI four files from the 64-bit test version of Windows Server Longhorn 2008 16497. These files are the loader bootmgfw.efi (renamed to bootx64.efi) and winload.efi, the font file wgl4_boot.ttf, and a BCD file with a few options. As the UEFI bios usually only supports the FAT file system, we need a FAT / FAT32 partition. It can be a flash drive, but it's more convenient as we have a separate partition on the hard drive - I made 100MB without a letter at the beginning of the disk just like the newer Windows installers do, and the system is on the second NTFS partition under the letter C: The partition style is MBR.

I tested various other disk configurations and it could be either MBR or GPT:
[*: c6c5491776] MBR, one FAT32 partition e.g. 5GB
[*: c6c5491776] MBR, one NTFS partition + NTFS driver loaded e.g. from EFI Shell
[*: c6c5491776] GPT, 100 FAT + NTFS partition per system [/ list: u: c6c5491776]
It is quite possible that by replacing the graphics card with a newer one - one that has a dual video ROM - legacy and GOP, eg AMD Radeon HD7xxx, it would be possible to run the system in pure UEFI, disabling CSM mode in the bios.

Gelip · Answer

I checked this with a card that has a GOP - HD7450. WinXP SP2 x64 system installed in legacy MBR I even converted to GPT - windows loader starts but computer restarts and automatically turns on CSM: Again, it is not only about vbios GOP and GPT partition. Of course, in UEFI + CSM it starts without any problems with winload.efi from MBR or GPT partition: I also tested WinXP SP2 x86 on Thin Client Igel 4210 VIA C7 AWARD 6.00PG BIOS with UEFI32 DUET emulator. The system starts in UEFI, but it is not pure UEFI because the graphics card does not have a GOP:

Gelip · Answer

If someone is interested, WinXP SP2 64-bit can be run in pure UEFI class 3 without CSM using the UefiSeven loader: https://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=456492#p456492 " target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener ugc" class="postlink inline" title="" > https://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=456492#p456492
The loader does such a trick that at startup, it inserts an INT10 interrupt call emulator in RAM at C0000 so you can run Win7 64-bit in UEFI without CSM and as it turned out also WinXP 64-bit

Gelip · Answer

A lot of free time again and another success :-)

Using the EXP GDC 8.5c ExpressCard adapter and the same AMD HD6450 graphics card as in ASUS, I was able to run WinXP 64-bit in UEFI + CSM mode on a ThinkPad X220 laptop: https://www.betaarchive.com/forum /viewtopic.php?p=457234#p457234 " target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener ugc" class="postlink inline" title="" > https://www.betaarchive.com/forum /viewtopic.php?p=457234#p457234

omin172 · Answer

And can't you just use GRUB2?

Gelip · Answer

How?

Gelip · Answer

For interested: Sysprep WinXP SP2 64-bit on pure UEFI PC (no CSM)

Gelip · Answer

And again a curiosity - WinXP 64-bit pure UEFI on NVMe drive in MBR mode With manual TRIM operation .

Only as it turned out today, for TRIM to work, instead of updating KB932755 (storport.sys) and the NVMe 1.3 driver from Schtrom, use the Win7 NVMe driver ported to WinXP:

Gelip · Answer

There is also another Flashboot loader that allows you to boot WinXP SP2 64-bit in pure UEFI on a basic graphics driver VGA Display Controller and probably works with any graphics card that has GOP. I tested the one integrated with the Intel HD processor - the one that does not work with the UefiSeven loader:
https://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=474419#p474419

lechm56 · Answer

The topic has been unblocked at the request of the author.

Gelip · Answer

I have written a tutorial on how to build a WinXP SP2 64-bit ISO that works on modern PCs with SATA or NVMe drives in UEFI or Legacy (in Legacy only on MBR):
WinXP 64-bit on a modern PC (ISO boot.wim + install.wim) .
Tested on Intel Gen 1 to Intel Gen 12. On laptops where the touchpad (I don't know how the keyboard) is connected via I2C bus instead of USB the mouse and/or keyboard will not work - you have to use a USB keyboard and mouse. There is a ported HIDI2C driver for WinXP 64-bit but I have not tested it.

Gelip · Answer

On MDL you need an account to be able to read the tutorial - here the html version: tutorial.html . .

Gelip · Answer

Out of curiosity and boredom, I also made a tutorial for WinXP 32-bit on a modern PC:
WinXP 32-bit on a modern PC (ISO boot.wim + install.wim) .
Ideally there is a CSM option in the bios but it should also work under UEFI32 e.g. on computers with Bay Trail processors. Tests under UEFI32 in VMware ESXi, Workstation and QEMU positive :-)

.

.
And of course on a real PC with UEFI64 bios but in CSM mode - test on a mobo with Intel Gen 8 CPU:

.

Added after 37 [minutes]:

In both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, I added support for IDE drives (driver pciide.sys ). - Thanks to this, the installers also work on older computers with some Intel IDE controllers

lapsio2 · Answer

Hey, could you please also upload this x32 tutorial in HTML version? For some reason I'm unable to create account on MDL (it keeps telling me that I got detected as bot during registration lol). I'm on QEMU/KVM host (using libvirt precisely but I could also use raw QEMU if needed) with ia32 OVMF UEFI firmware. I'm trying to launch Windows XP 32 bit on it for 3 days now but no luck :c UEFI shell detects bootia32.efi but then screen turns black and nothing else happens. I used display adapter of type VGA, not sure if that matters. I got efi files from xp-efi.iso circling around but they have the same md5 as ones in your bundle from_vista_5219 If normal XP 32 bit is too difficult to get it to work i think WS 2k3 32bit would be fine as well for me.

Gelip · Answer

@lapsio2 tutorial_x86.html . I can suggest what and how but preferably in chat so as not to clutter the topic (let me know in advance on priv when):

Gelip · Answer

Guide on how to professionally fire up modern WinXP 64-bit in a virtual machine virt-manager using a real graphics card with real USB keyboard and mouse + virtual SATA drive, virtual xHCI USB 3 controller and virtual UEFI 64-bit OVMF bios - all on disk in GPT mode :-)

:
https://www.elektroda.pl/rtvforum/topic3768124.html#21384511 .

Gelip · Answer

There is a good chance that it will soon be possible to run WinXP 32/64 from a UEFI32 or UEFI64 bios on motherboards without CSM. In the QEMU virtual machine and on some real computers it already works :-)

.

CSMWrap - Get PC BIOS back on UEFI only system .
CSMwrap - boot CSM on UEFI only systems .

Gelip · Answer

I've set up an issue for the author to also compile a UEFI 32-bit version so you can run a legacy system on BayTrail computers with UEFI 32-bit
In QEMU virtual machine it works fine - normally you can run any legacy system 32 or 64-bit just use the appropriate loader - if UEFI 64-bit then csmwrapx64.efi and if UEFI 32-bit then csmwrapia32.efi
I've also tested the 64-bit version on a few UEFI computers by disabling the CSM option in the bios - it works. For the time being, it is best with a PCIe graphics card which has, in addition to the GOP video ROM, a legacy VBIOS - then csmwrapper uses this very bios and everything works as expected - you can install the graphics driver from the manufacturer and 3D acceleration works - of course, the card must have drivers for XP, i.e. some older supported card.
With iGPU cards integrated with the CPU the SeaVGABIOS is used, but then you have to use tricks to get XP to work using a different loader from a different Windows and it works, although there are no drivers for the iGPU anyway, so you only have a 2D desktop.

As I wrote, it is best to use an old graphics card in the PCIe slot for which there are drivers and we have XP-ek even on a modern desktop.

P.S. Linux has long had such a feature that you can run for example a 64-bit system under UEFI 32-bit - finally there is something for Windows, because with this loader you can run not only XP but any other Windows (I do not know about Win9x), but certainly from Vista upwards.

Windows XP 64-bit & 32-bit: EFI Compatibility, GPT Partitions, Booting & Dual Boot Guide

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