How to Open a Command Prompt at Boot in
Windows 7
Information
This will show you how to open a command prompt at boot from the System Recovery
Options orAdvanced Boot Options screen in Windows 7.
Note
Command Prompt is a feature of Windows 7 that provides an entry point for
typing MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) commands and other computer
commands. The most important thing to know is that by typing commands, you can perform
tasks on your computer without using the Windows 7 graphical interface (GUI). Command
Prompt is typically only used by advanced users.
OPTION ONE
To Open a Command Prompt at Boot
1. Boot from either your Windows 7 installation disc or Windows 7 System Repair Disc,
and press Shift + F10 when at either screen below.
A) Go to step 3.
OR
2. Boot to the System Recovery Options screen, and select the Command
Prompt option. (see screenshot below)
A) Continue on to step 3.
3. A command prompt window will now open. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: To exit and restart to the Windows 7 logon screen, close the command prompt
window and click on the Restart button on the screenshot below step 2.
OPTION TWO
To Boot to "Safe Mode with Command
Prompt"
Note
This starts Windows 7 in safe mode with a command prompt window instead of the usual
Windows interface.
1. Boot to the Advanced Boot Options screen.
2. Select Safe Mode with Command Prompt and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
3. Windows 7 will now start loading Safe Mode with Command Prompt. (See screenshot
below)
4. When finished, you are now in Safe Mode with Command Prompt. (See screenshot
below)
NOTE: To exit from here, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete or type Exit and press Enter to restart
the computer.
When Windows 7 is Installed First
Warning
If you have a RAID setup, you will need to have the XP RAID drivers for your
specific motherboard on a Floppy disc available to select and load at the F6 prompt
while installing XP.
If you have a SATA drive, then you will need to do either one of these options to
load the SATAdrivers for XP for your specific motherboard.
o How to Slipstream SATA drivers into Windows XP setup CD with Dual
Boot of Windows 7 or Vista
o How to Load SATA Drivers in Windows XP Setup on your Dual Boot PC
with Vista or Windows 7 for how to load your SATA drivers from
a Floppy disc at the F6 prompt while installing XP.
1. To Create a New Partition from the Windows 7 Hard Disk Drive
NOTE: If you want to install XP on a separate internal hard drive instead, then skip
this step and go to step 2.
A) In Windows 7, select and shrink the Windows 7 volume in Disk Management by how
many MB (1024 MB = 1 GB) you want to have for this XP partition. (See screenshots below)
NOTE: You would do all of Method One at that link.
2. Insert your XP installation disc, then restart the computer and press any key to boot
from it when prompted. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: Make sure that the CD/DVD drive is selected first in the boot order in the BIOS.
3. From XP Setup, Press Enter. (See screenshot below)
Warning
If you have a RAID setup, you will need to have the XP RAID drivers for
your specific motherboard on a Floppy disc available to select and load at
the F6 prompt while installing XP.
If you have a SATA drive, then you will need to do either one of these
options to load the SATA drivers for XP for your specific motherboard.
o How to Slipstream SATA drivers into Windows XP setup CD with
Dual Boot of Windows 7 or Vista
o How to Load SATA Drivers in Windows XP Setup on your Dual
Boot PC with Vista or Windows 7 for how to load your SATA drivers
from a Floppy disc at the F6prompt while installing XP.
4. Press F8. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: On some multimedia keyboards, you may need to press the F-Lock or Function key
before pressing F8.
5. Select the partition (step 1) or hard drive that you want to install XP on using the arrow
keys and press Enter.
6. Finish installing XP.
Tip
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.
o bootrec /FixMbr
o bootrec /FixBoot
o 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) version or .Net
Framework 2.0 (64-bit) version first, and EasyBCD (free version) for your 32-bit (x86)
or 64-bit (x86) XP.
NOTE: In XP, Net Framework is required to be installed to run EasyBCD. Only the
"Download free for limited, non-commercial use" at the bottom or "Older Versions" at the
right are free for EasyBCD. Registration is not required to download EasyBCD.
8. Run EasyBCD (free version).
NOTE: This is required to repair the Windows 7 boot file and add XP to the Windows Boot
Manager list.
9. On the left side of EasyBCD, click on the Add New Entry button. (See screenshot
below)
A) In the top section under Operating Systems, click on the Windows tab. (See
screenshot below)
B) To the right of Type, select Windows NT/2k/XP/2k3 from the drop down menu. (See
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 name to
be displayed in the Windows Boot Manager, or you can type whatever nameyou 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 BCD Deployment button, select (dot)
the Install the Windows Vista/7 bootloader to the MBR option, and click on the 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)
Tip
If Windows 7 will not start up when selected, then use your Windows 7 installation DVD to
do aStartup Repair.
That's it,
Shawn
