Windows 7 want to make a dual boot of 2 different w7 versions

[neelbha]

i have w7 home basic installed on my pc and want to install a higher version of w7 as well on the same pc such as professional or ultimate/enterprise and make a dual boot.how to do so?

 

[Saltgrass]

You should be able to install the other version on another partition and the boot menu will pick up the new install. Have you tried it yet? What size partitions are you trying to use? Are you using different hard drives?

If you get the install done and for some reason the dual boot does not work, there are some simple commands to set it up.

 

[patcooke]

You will need either to have a second hard drive available or partition your existing drive to create a second one. The new partition should be at least 40GB to take the new installation. Boot from the installation disk for your new version and make sure you select a custom install which will allow you to select the drive for it to be installed on - most critical as you don't want to overwrite your existing system.

You should be able to use administrative tools in the control panel to create your new partiton - if you need any guidance in doing this or have any problems (partition management from within Windows is a bit limited and you may need third party software to do the job) do get back to us.

 

[neelbha]

You should be able to install the other version on another partition and the boot menu will pick up the new install. Have you tried it yet? What size partitions are you trying to use? Are you using different hard drives?

If you get the install done and for some reason the dual boot does not work, there are some simple commands to set it up.

i am using 1 harddrive of 320gb and already have created 3 partitions on it including a system partition of 61gb=(c,rest are (d= 112gb, (e = 109gb.d: & e: contain important data but i have 70gb free space in d: .

 

[Saltgrass]

Installing an OS on a partition will wipe the partition. You will need to move any data to another one.

 

[neelbha]

Installing an OS on a partition will wipe the partition. You will need to move any data to another one.

fine man but can u tell me the detailed process or simple short steps to do this install on my partition?and another question how many partitions can i create on my 320gb hdd with w7 homebasic preinstalled on c drive?i have already done 3 partitions c,d,e.whose sizes are mentioned in the post.

 

[Saltgrass]

You can put 4 primary partitions, or 3 primary and one extended partition on a drive. The extended partition can contain several logical partitions.

I do not suggest installing an OS in a logical partition, but it can be done as long as there is a primary partition to hold the boot files.

Basically, move the data out of the second partition. Then boot to the install DVD, as mentioned and install to the second partition. You do not have to use the second partition, but keep in mind if you wanted to remove one of the OS installs later, which one might it be.

Since you have not mentioned what type of Win 7 install disc you have, I will not attempt to address the upgrade vs. full version DVDs and activation.

 

[neelbha]

You can put 4 primary partitions, or 3 primary and one extended partition on a drive. The extended partition can contain several logical partitions.

I do not suggest installing an OS in a logical partition, but it can be done as long as there is a primary partition to hold the boot files.

Basically, move the data out of the second partition. Then boot to the install DVD, as mentioned and install to the second partition. You do not have to use the second partition, but keep in mind if you wanted to remove one of the OS installs later, which one might it be.

Since you have not mentioned what type of Win 7 install disc you have, I will not attempt to address the upgrade vs. full version DVDs and activation.

basically i dont get this concept ofextended partition in my mind but i heard u can only create 3 partitions maximum on a home basic w7.is it so?secondly i have a preloaded win7 homebasic whose dvd i dont have coz sony didnt give me one,but i have its recovery disks,which i prepared using sony's software.and the other os is w7 ultimate oem dvd,which i want to install and make it dual boot,but i doubt that if i make it dual boot and then the preloaded w7 hbasic has problems and i do a recovery then the other version(ultimate)will be wiped out from the other partition,is that so?and another thing can i use w7 themes on homebasic version,if not any trick to do it?thanks.

 

[Saltgrass]

basically i dont get this concept ofextended partition in my mind but i heard u can only create 3 partitions maximum on a home basic w7.is it so?

Open Disk Management and add a 4th primary partition. You can always remove it. As far as I know, Home Basic is not different from the others, but I do not use it.

In order to make a partition logical, I believe you have to still have free space on the drive when you make the 4th partition. It will then assume you will want to make a logical partition.

secondly i have a preloaded win7 homebasic whose dvd i dont have coz sony didnt give me one,but i have its recovery disks,which i prepared using sony's software.and the other os is w7 ultimate oem dvd,which i want to install and make it dual boot,but i doubt that if i make it dual boot and then the preloaded w7 hbasic has problems and i do a recovery then the other version(ultimate)will be wiped out from the other partition,is that so?and another thing can i use w7 themes on homebasic version,if not any trick to do it?thanks.

The first thing I suggest you do is to make an image backup of your drive using an external drive. If all else fails, you can restore the original install using the image backup. I have never used an OEM version of the software. I understand there is some setup you have to do when using it and what exactly it entails, I do not know. Maybe someone else has done such a thing. Would using the OEM version wipe out you Home Basic install, I do not know for sure.

I am the kind of person that likes to have alternatives. To try what you want to do, I would probably make the image backup of the original install, then put in a new hard drive and restore the image on that drive. You can then screw up anything you want and can always just replace the original drive or restore the image again.