Dual Booting W7 And Xp

[jackspratt]

My PC is currently running XP Pro. I have sufficient power to run W7, although perhaps not Aero (onboard VGA G41 chip).

I have a copy of W7 RC x 64 bit, which I would like to try before I make the decision on whether/when to upgrade to W7 exclusively.

I have read a number of articles on setting up partitions on the hard drive for W7, but wonder as to the applicability for my situation.

I have an 800Gb hard drive, which is currently divided into 2 drives (C & D), each of about 195GB ie 400GB is currently unused, and not even formatted.

XP is on C drive, along with data and programs etc. There is currently 170GB available

D drive contains basically only the residue from loading MS Office, and so has 194GB available.

My main questions is - where should I install W7?

I assume I can't put it on C drive, as it would over write XP.

Therefore, should it be in the D drive, or a new drive in the currently unallocated, unformatted space.

And if a new drive, what letter should that drive be allocated - currently E, F, G, H are allocated to removable disks (USB drives etc), and I is my CD drive.

All advice welcomed.

[thaimite]

My PC is currently running XP Pro. I have sufficient power to run W7, although perhaps not Aero (onboard VGA G41 chip).

I have a copy of W7 RC x 64 bit, which I would like to try before I make the decision on whether/when to upgrade to W7 exclusively.

I have read a number of articles on setting up partitions on the hard drive for W7, but wonder as to the applicability for my situation.

I have an 800Gb hard drive, which is currently divided into 2 drives (C & D), each of about 195GB ie 400GB is currently unused, and not even formatted.

XP is on C drive, along with data and programs etc. There is currently 170GB available

D drive contains basically only the residue from loading MS Office, and so has 194GB available.

edit

More info on M$ VMsoftware

My main questions is - where should I install W7?

I assume I can't put it on C drive, as it would over write XP.

Therefore, should it be in the D drive, or a new drive in the currently unallocated, unformatted space.

And if a new drive, what letter should that drive be allocated - currently E, F, G, H are allocated to removable disks (USB drives etc), and I is my CD drive.

All advice welcomed.

To install Windows 7 on a different partition, you will need to first create a new partition on the drive by making space with a partition managment tool such as parttition magic, and then install windows 7 and a boot manager to manage the process. It is not that difficult to do, but not for the faint hearted without full backups. As I have never attempted this I cannot be more specific.

However an easier alternative would be to use one of the many free virtual machine programs that will create a virtual machine under XP which you can then install windows 7 on. This has much less risk, and if you decide you do not like it then it is only a matter of deleting the virtual machine which is an easy task

This Google link will point to many tutorials including you-tube videos on how to accomplish this

Edit

More Info on the free Vitual PC at http://www.petri.co.il/virtual_install_new..._virtual_pc.htm

Edited November 7, 2009 by thaimite

[garyh]

Just follow the prompts when installing to put it on D: no need to repartition, W7 will also setup the dual boot. A better GPU won't cost you too much there are a lot around now that are much more powerful than the one you have for under 2000 baht. I am running W7 RC 64 bit on 4 computers, only prob I have had is one usb device will not work until unplugged and plugged in again after the PC has gone into sleep. Just do it you won't regret it.

[Supernova]

There's one slight change in the way Windows 7 assigns drive letters. Once you've got it up and running, the first thing you'll notice is a shift in drive letters. Windows 7 will always use the letter "C", even though it's not physically installed on the first partition. This behavior is by design. I just thought I mention this, so it does not come as a surprise.

[Gary A]

I am now running Windows 7 Pro, BUT, I bought a new hard drive for that installation. I have kept the hard drive that has XP Pro on it and unplugging one and plugging the other is not a big deal. I will say that at his point, I seriously doubt that I'll ever use XP again.

I don't even have a video card. The video off the Asus mother board plays DVD movies without a problem and I'm not a gamer so I didn't bother to install a video card.

[regedit]

It's all very easy and straight forward to do. Plenty of step-by-step articles on dual booting XP & W7 if you google. Only downside is that it's much harder to reverse the situation...

[danw]

You should be aware before you do this that you can no longer activate the RC version, the chance to do so expired in September, so not sure how much functionality you'd lose running an inactivated version. Just a heads up!

[garyh]

You should be aware before you do this that you can no longer activate the RC version, the chance to do so expired in September, so not sure how much functionality you'd lose running an inactivated version. Just a heads up!

I installed and activated W7 last week.

[jackspratt]

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions.

I will install it on the D drive, and give it a test drive

danw - my understanding is that as of September you could no longer download RC from Microsoft. As I have it on a CD, and there are a number of publicly available (legal) keys, I believe I should not have a problem. And I will have until March 2010 to evaluate.

[ignis]

And if a new drive, what letter should that drive be allocated - currently E, F, G, H are allocated

No they are not......... take care what you are doing as the letters change [have done for years NOT just on W7]

If you put W7 on drive D when you run W7 this will become drive C, + show XP on D, if you go back and open XP this will show as drive C... + W7 on D..... If you had a number of hard drives in the PC and say you put W7 on say H, if you run W7 it will show the H drive as C drive.

If you have items you plug in these also change letters...

As I made a very big error some years ago, I have the 2nd hard drive in the PC with letters L & M so they will always stay the same letters.. E & F are my DVD drives, if I plug in a USB it is then G, or H if I have an external hard drive switched on 1st.

I have 3 external hard drives the letter change depending on which one is switched on 1st...

As I said I made a big error, I re-formatted a hard drive witch was the wrong drive...... since then I have always added a name to the hard drive so no matter witch letter it says I know which is which by name

[danw]

You should be aware before you do this that you can no longer activate the RC version, the chance to do so expired in September, so not sure how much functionality you'd lose running an inactivated version. Just a heads up!

I installed and activated W7 last week.

I installed the RC from cd on Friday and couldn't activate, it's definitely RC, I've had it running previously on this machine, and it's currently running on my girlfriends, but after installing it on Friday, it accepted the beta key, but when I went to activate it failed with an 'Activation period expired'.

A quick search turned up this - http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums...67-b3d66c70fa96 which states that keys will be disabled soon after October 21st, let me know how you get on though as I may give it another try if you can activate successfully!

In terms of your partitions, it makes a lot of sense to keep OS and data separate, as it allows for you to easily switch OS whilst maintaining your data. In your case as your D drive is empty, i'd convert that into 2 partitions, use the first for installing Windows 7, and use the second for your data for both xp and win7.

Edited November 8, 2009 by danw

[garyh]

You should be aware before you do this that you can no longer activate the RC version, the chance to do so expired in September, so not sure how much functionality you'd lose running an inactivated version. Just a heads up!

I installed and activated W7 last week.

I installed the RC from cd on Friday and couldn't activate, it's definitely RC, I've had it running previously on this machine, and it's currently running on my girlfriends, but after installing it on Friday, it accepted the beta key, but when I went to activate it failed with an 'Activation period expired'.

A quick search turned up this - http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums...67-b3d66c70fa96 which states that keys will be disabled soon after October 21st, let me know how you get on though as I may give it another try if you can activate successfully!

In terms of your partitions, it makes a lot of sense to keep OS and data separate, as it allows for you to easily switch OS whilst maintaining your data. In your case as your D drive is empty, i'd convert that into 2 partitions, use the first for installing Windows 7, and use the second for your data for both xp and win7.

I definitely activated RC last week I think it was on Tuesday, the computer was one I bought second hand with Vista on it which I did not have the key for. So I formatted it and loaded W7 64 Bit RC, I then activated it with no problem. There is some confusion here with dates and versions, there is a difference between RC and Beta, this should clear up that.

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/windows-7/faq.aspx

"How long can I test Windows 7?

This is a very important question, because Windows 7 Beta and Windows 7 RC each have an expiration date. When the date arrives, your PC will completely stop working and it may be difficult to recover your files. This is very different from the persistent reminders you'll experience if you don't activate the operating system. For Windows 7 Beta, the expiration date is August 1, 2009. For Windows 7 RC, the expiration date is June 1, 2010. So if you are running Windows 7 Beta, you need to upgrade to Windows 7 RC before August 1, 2009. Then, if you're running the Windows 7 RC, you'll either need to upgrade to the final, released version of Windows 7 before June 1, 2010, or install a prior version of Windows."

Another point is a post from George some time ago here on TV about how to extend the trial period of the real Windows 7 http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Version-Wind...ys-t290524.html , with a little fiddling around you can get 120 days before the trial will go no further, If you are looking to buy W7 after a short trial it may be the way top go as you can not upgrade from the RC version to the Release to Market version. All you need to do this is a beg, borrow or steal a W7 install disc.

[jackspratt]

Installed and activated W7 RC last night, and running like a swiss watch.

[danw]

Installed and activated W7 RC last night, and running like a swiss watch.

Nice one, I must have done something wrong then! Which key did you use?

[garyh]

Installed and activated W7 RC last night, and running like a swiss watch.

Nice one, I must have done something wrong then! Which key did you use?

Maybe you went wrong here "it accepted the beta key" Try a key for the RC version.

[jackspratt]

Installed and activated W7 RC last night, and running like a swiss watch.

Nice one, I must have done something wrong then! Which key did you use?

You could try any of these:

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/05/05/f...-rc-activation/

I happened to use the 9JBBV...... key.

[neverdie]

Installed and activated W7 RC last night, and running like a swiss watch.

Dear Jackspratt,

A full test report would be appreciated, in due course of course.

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

As I made a very big error some years ago, I have the 2nd hard drive in the PC with letters L & M so they will always stay the same letters.. E & F are my DVD drives, if I plug in a USB it is then G, or H if I have an external hard drive switched on 1st.

I have 3 external hard drives the letter change depending on which one is switched on 1st...

As I said I made a big error, I re-formatted a hard drive witch was the wrong drive...... since then I have always added a name to the hard drive so no matter witch letter it says I know which is which by name

I sorted that problem out too. Now my USB sticks (F:, G: & H:) don't interfere with the letters of my hard drives, as the hard drives are way down the alphabet: