Windows 7 partition for dual boot

[mightymilk]

i don't have a lot of experience with multiple partitions, i don't really have a use for them. i'd like to try Windows 7 on a seperate partition. i have 2x 250 WD HDs in my computer, but i'd like to use my primary since it has Vista and the other is for storage only. also theres only about 60GB left on the storage drive while the main drive has over 100GB left.

can i partition my Main drive in half, with Vista on one partition and Windows 7 on the other? will i get the boot choice in DOS when booting up?

 

[UBF]

Windows 7 Installer has a partition manager. So you can easily break up one partition into two. And during installing Windows 7 it checks if Vista or other Windows versions are installed on the computer. In your case it would find that VIsta is installed on a separate partition. So when starting your computer the "Windows Boot Manager" will ask you if you want to boot Windows 7 or Windows Vista. In my case it would ask me if I want to start Windows 7 or Windows XP because I also want to make a dual-boot on my "do everything what you want" PC.

Regards,
UBF

 

[mightymilk]

thanks, that was an awesomely thorough answer.

 

[Radenight]

@Mightymilk

Partitions are a great way to get the most out of your hard drives in my opinion, not to mention the fact that if you have your OS on a seperate partition from all your data then reinstalling an OS isn't near as big a deal since you don't have to back up all your data beforehand.. though it is still always a good idea to create backups periodically .. But having multiple partitions is an extremely efficient way to use a hard drive IMO.. The only annoyance is that you will have to reinstall all your apps, but you have to do that with or without multiple partitions anyway so that's nothing new...

And as UBF said you shouldn't have any problems doing what your thinking with your drives.. I think in the end you'll like having partitions rather than everything on one drive too..

Good luck!

 

[mightymilk]

@Mightymilk

Partitions are a great way to get the most out of your hard drives in my opinion, not to mention the fact that if you have your OS on a seperate partition from all your data then reinstalling an OS isn't near as big a deal since you don't have to back up all your data beforehand.. though it is still always a good idea to create backups periodically .. But having multiple partitions is an extremely efficient way to use a hard drive IMO.. The only annoyance is that you will have to reinstall all your apps, but you have to do that with or without multiple partitions anyway so that's nothing new...

And as UBF said you shouldn't have any problems doing what your thinking with your drives.. I think in the end you'll like having partitions rather than everything on one drive too..

Good luck!

well i really don't have a need for partitions. i have 2 identical 250GB WD HDs, one is for the OS and the other is my Storage/Backup. All saved files go to my secondary HD, while OS files go to my primary drive. Dual boot seems like fun, but i imagine once Windows 7 goes Retail, i'll probably replace Vista with a fresh install of Windows 7 and have no paritions again.

the only thing i've even thought about doing, is creating an identical partition of a fresh install of Vista, so reinstalling the OS every so often is easier/faster.