Win 7 dual boot

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tom Brown
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Tom Brown

I didn't find a newsgroup (other than in Italian) for Windows 7 so I'll ask
my question here.

I have installed Win 7, Build 7100 on a spare drive. I wonder if it's
possible to install it as a dual boot with XP until it's prudent to give up
XP completely.

My real interest is if I can have my source documents (Word,
Excel, Windows Live Mail) in a location shared by both systems since it
would all be on the same hard disk.

My hope is that I could boot either under XP or Win7 and after installing
the proper software on each O/S, be able to access the same documents from
either side. Does that sound possible?

TIA,

Tom
 
Tom Brown said:
I didn't find a newsgroup (other than in Italian) for Windows 7 so I'll ask
my question here.

I have installed Win 7, Build 7100 on a spare drive. I wonder if it's
possible to install it as a dual boot with XP until it's prudent to give
up
XP completely.

My real interest is if I can have my source documents (Word,
Excel, Windows Live Mail) in a location shared by both systems since it
would all be on the same hard disk.

My hope is that I could boot either under XP or Win7 and after installing
the proper software on each O/S, be able to access the same documents from
either side. Does that sound possible?

TIA,

Tom
Click to expand...

You can dual/multi boot any OS by using a proper boot manager, e.g. XOSL.
It's free.
 
Dalo said:
Some OS have to be installed in certain ways for example Vista and XP -
XP has to be installed first...
Click to expand...

Completely inconsequential if you use third party boot managers. And
not true at all when using the Microsoft multi-boot method if you
understand Master Boot Records and Boot Sectors. While it makes it
easier when you install the older XP first it isn't that big a deal to
return the boot process to the Vista boot manager after XP is installed.

John
 
Dalo Harkin said:
Some OS have to be installed in certain ways for example Vista and XP -
XP has to be installed first, I have seen a few issues with Windows 7
and XP dual boots.
Let us know how you get on please
Click to expand...

Your comment is based on using native Windows boot managers, which hardly
deserve that name. Proper boot managers treat each OS independently. They
don't care which OS gets installed first.
 
I would suggest you get a free virtual machine software [VMserver, Virtual
PC, etc...]. Why? First, you don't want to install a non-final edition of
Windows 7 on your *main* system. Who knows the side effects are with this
edition.

Install VM software. Run the Win 7 beta or RC in the VM. Finished with Win
7? Remove it is a 30 second job. Remove Win 7 beta/RC off your system in a
dual boot? Nasty.

Note that if your documents are in their usual place [c:\D & S\tbrown\my
documents or equivalent], the Win 7 side may not be able to access the files
because of security settings [if you are using Win XP Pro]. You would need to
change the location to something like C:\My Documents, give the proper
security, etc. Windows Live Mail files may be more trickier.
 
John John - MVP said:
Completely inconsequential if you use third party boot managers. And
not true at all when using the Microsoft multi-boot method if you
understand Master Boot Records and Boot Sectors. While it makes it
easier when you install the older XP first it isn't that big a deal to
return the boot process to the Vista boot manager after XP is installed.

John
Click to expand...
 
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