Windows 7 Confusion over 2 HDD and how to setup

[domineaux]

I have Vista Ultimate 64bit currently installed on C:: drive.

I disconnected the Vista Drive and installed a new 7000+ RPM SATA drive, which I installed the Windows 7 Professional on.

So, naturally when I connect the cables to each drive I have issues with disk ID pointers - C: F: E: kinda stuff.

The old drive 5000+ RPM is Vista and has 300+ GB of data with appx 120 gb of free storage. All the pointers in the registry are pointing the C: drive for applications and data.

The new drive is Windows 7 and currently that is all that is on the drive size is 1 TB.

My bios does provide for setting the boot drive sequence, but I prefer not to make changes in the Bios each time.

I want to eventually migrate everything over to Windows 7, but for now I will be happy to use the VISTA OS for working with the applications currently on the Vista drive.

I don't know if there is a competent migration tool that will actually amend the Vista Applications/registry or whatever is needed to move all the Vista drive applications and data to the Windows 7 HDD.

The Vista diskmanagement tool seems to provide some ability for changing drive and partition addresses, but I'm not quite sure this is a best way to do things.

A dual boot would acceptable as well.

So, I would appreciate information or links to 1) A migration tool or how to 2)a Dual boot tool or how to from Vista 64 bit to Windows 7 64Bit.

OR most important - maybe some suggestions from others who have experienced and dealt with this issue satisfactorily.

Thanks

 

[Tepid]

I don't know if there is a competent migration tool that will actually amend the Vista Applications/registry or whatever is needed to move all the Vista drive applications and data to the Windows 7 HDD.

You can't just move applications to a new drive like that. They have to be installed into that Operating System (OS). (well, not entirely true, but this is another deeper subject altogether, most software is not portable)
The data can be copied over via Drag And Drop.

You have attempted to setup a Dual Boot, but did it improperly.
Unfortunately, there is no magic button, you will need to read, try, learn, read, try again and learn some more.

My foremost suggestion is Bing or google for Dual Booting Windows 7 and Vista,,, you will find an absolute ton of info that does not need to be repeated here. It is literally all over the place.

The reason for the Drive letters the way they are is as follows......

C: drive = Drive currently booted to, usually. (however, there are instances where the drive letter could have been set to something other than C: at install, if that is the case, (it is not usally a big deal, but some software is hard coded to C: drive and any other letter than c for the OS drive will break that software) so, the only way to really fix it and be sure that it is stable is to nuke and reload the OS properly to the c: drive)

If you swpa the boot order in the bios and boot the other drive (7) first and that also populates as C: drive after you log in, then you will be ok... but, that is now the main OS drive. You will need to know which drive is which when doing this. Don't just assume, you will need to look at the drive. You may be able to tell by name. But this is not always so. I can't go into details now.

you will see the other (vista) drive listed as some other drive letter (determined by the OS as first available free drive letter, usually). You do not want to install software to the vista drive while booted to the 7 drive, and obviously vice versa.

This can get extremely confusing and it's hard to go into details.

Good luck!

 

[tblount]

I use the multi-boot option to simply boot into my clone backup.... thus avoiding the hastle of changing my bios back and forth shoud I want to boot into my other drive. If you want to do that, go Windows 7 Tweaks, Tricks, Tips, Secrets, Shortcuts, Solutions and Fixes and search for bcdedit. You only have to run 3 commands from the command prompt.

also, there is an advanced tip that I discovered.... if you put any usb device in your computer, you can use the three bcdedit commands to add it to it to the multi-boot menu... then you can even remove it but you always have the option to boot into restore mode, without modifying your boot sequence, putting in an install cd, etc etc etc.

If you select that option from the multi-boot menu, then go to the command prompt in restore mode, you bypass the layers of folder and file locks that prevent access/modification when the os is loaded. It gives you tremendous power to backup and delete stuff that you can't mess with normally.

 

[tblount]

Oh, one more thing, I would not migrate, I would just install the porograms I wanted to use and check them out, a couple at a time... because if you migrate everything and have a problem, it will be a nightmare trying to find the program that is misbehaving.

 

[domineaux]

I have a drive with Vista 64 Bit Ultimate installed and working well

I have a drive with Windows 7 Professional installed and working well.

All I need is to call up a Boot Manager when I start the computer on the Vista drive, and select the drive with OS I plan to use.

Both drives are working well. I just need to know how to create the batch file that appears right after bios loads.

At least this is what I think I need to do.

 

[Saltgrass]

I would set it up so Win 7 boots when you turn the computer on. If it does not now, you probably need to change the drive order, not boot order, in the bios to set one first.

Then go to the link below and download EasyBCD. It will run and set up a dual boot situation for you.

NeoSmart Technologies

Post back if you have problems.

 

[Tepid]

All I need is to call up a Boot Manager when I start the computer on the Vista drive, and select the drive with OS I plan to use. Both drives are working well. I just need to know how to create the batch file that appears right after bios loads.

It is also called BCDEDIT.

But keep in mind,, you can render your system useless if you mess up the BCD.

 

[tblount]

easybcd fails for me most of the the time. it may work sometimes ... bcdedit is solid... at one time I built several vhd and everytime you set those up you have to get them listed in the multi-boot menu in order to load them.

the only drawback with using bcdedit is entering that long quid number but if you know how to copy and paste in the command prompt with the mouse, it's a 30 second job to run all three commands