Win XP Pro->Win 7 64 Dual Boot Questions

Hey All!

I've been poking around the Microsoft Web site trying to piece together some precise info on this but haven't gotten it all straight to I thought that I'd toss this out to the "POTN Geek Squad" and see if anyone has tackled this project.

I have an XP Professional workstation/OS. I've been told that it is readily compatible with Win7 64, and I've been contemplating the "move" for some time (I have a laptop that happily is running Win7 64), but the machine is so loaded with software of various vintages that I'm assuming issues. Of course the initial issue for a Win7 64 install will be that it will need to wipe the XP system out in order to do the install and that I'll have to re-install all my programs and some will likely have to run in the 32-bit environment.

Well, I don't think I want to do that quite yet, since I really want my install of Photoshop CS3 and LR1 and other apps to be intact.

So, what I'm thinking is to pick up a fresh disk drive (my system supports SATA but I know nothing about SSD support -- I'm taking my time here before jumping) and then installing Win7 on the clean drive and setting up a dual boot setup and working with that until I'm happy with the way things are going -- I have LR3 happily running in my 64-bit laptop so I know that'll be pain-free at least!

So, questions:

Has anyone here done this, and is there a straightforward approach to installing/setting up a dual boot system on two internal drives? In all the years of working with PCs I've never bothered with a dual boot system...

Second, can you get Win7 64 for the "upgrade" price and still take this approach? Will it just be a matter of entering the XP serial number?

Third, well, any "gotchas"?

Feel free to post a link if you have one on hand!

Thanks, gang!

I did it. I put a new drive in (an SSD) and kept the old drive in there as a data drive. I told the BIOS to make the new drive the main OS drive, ie to boot from in. To go back to the old drive was just a reboot and a quick change in the BIOS.

I never bothered to boot the old OS. I made an image of the disk in case I needed anything, and I copied a few things off (it was only OS no data) but I doubt i'll ever touch it again.

Well, that's an approach I hadn't considered -- I guess it could save the hassle of setting up and then undoing an "actual" dual boot system, and if it worked for you then cool! Good to know!

Did you have do anything to get things started other than just switch the BIOS and point the install to the new drive?

I did that awhile during the W7 beta. I ran a dual partition setup versus a dual drive setup, it's essentially the same approach.

All you have to do is install the new drive, and then install Windows 7 on it and you are good to go. Like Tim said you will have to change a setting in the bios so it will boot to the drive of your choosing. You should actually be able to get it setup where windows will prompt you every time to boot, to choose with OS you want to boot to.

But other then that there really isn't anything to it.

Thanks, Nick, if the Win7 installs to automatically give you the option, it may make things easy, we'll see!

tonylong wrote in post #12392580
Thanks, Nick, if the Win7 installs to automatically give you the option, it may make things easy, we'll see!

Yeah, I don't know if it reacts differently with the OS'es installed on two drives, it does make you run through that menu when you have both OS'es installed on one drive.

It actually may be a shortcut key to bring it up... I honestly don't remember it's been awhile since I had that setup.

Well, this could be a quick and painless transtion -- I certainly hope it will be!

Do you know what the system requirements are for an SSD drive?

Another question, what do you guys consider the "minimum optimal" size for an SSD drive if you are going to install not just the OS but Photoshop and Lightroom and other "critical" apps?

Yes, "Microsoft"

I would recommend going with the dual OS, just so you can have a clean install AND not risk ruining your current setup.

If you don't want to pay a lot, you may want to consider buying the OEM version of Win7. It's essentially the same as the retail version, but without the customer support, i.e. the same thing Fresh install of Win7 Home Premium OEM is just $99

128GB will do.

tonylong wrote in post #12392609
Another question, what do you guys consider the "minimum optimal" size for an SSD drive if you are going to install not just the OS but Photoshop and Lightroom and other "critical" apps?

If it was really just CS5, LR3, W7, say office and a few other things a 64GB or so would be plenty of room.
They really don't take up a ton of space, I'd look into something a bit more roomy though just for expandability down the road.

Well, thanks Nick -- I Googled the OEM version and various things from various places popped up:

http://www.google.com …urceid=ie7&rlz=​1I7ADRA_en

Some, like Newegg, have a "System Builder" version that is out of stock -- they had some kind of disclaimer in the Google result that seems to have disappeard, and it was one of those things that raised a question that it didn't answer...

I'll have to look at may XP system hard drive and see how the space is being used and consider the SSD thing for size!

tonylong wrote in post #12392499
Well, that's an approach I hadn't considered -- I guess it could save the hassle of setting up and then undoing an "actual" dual boot system, and if it worked for you then cool! Good to know!

Did you have do anything to get things started other than just switch the BIOS and point the install to the new drive?

Make sure the hard drive access is set to ACHI (or something like that) rather than IDE in the BIOS. Otherwise it just worked.

If the Win7 setup screen shows, the CD stops, and it appears to hang, give it an hour to recover. Mine took 10 mins but some people report longer. This is more for SSDs than hard drives but you never know.

Win7's fine, but I got an explorer replacement, a free one. Win7 tries to be too user friendly for me. I like simple and predictable.

tonylong wrote in post #12392793
Well, thanks Nick -- I Googled the OEM version and various things from various places popped up:

http://www.google.com …urceid=ie7&rlz=​1I7ADRA_en

Some, like Newegg, have a "System Builder" version that is out of stock -- they had some kind of disclaimer in the Google result that seems to have disappeard, and it was one of those things that raised a question that it didn't answer...

I'll have to look at may XP system hard drive and see how the space is being used and consider the SSD thing for size!

The System builder at newegg is just an OEM copy. Oh and all versions are in stock, just do a search on newegg. The SP1 versions are the only ones in stock, the google result may have brought up the older versions.

OK, Tim, I'll have to check that out about the ACHI thing -- I just haven't delved into BIOS stuff in a bunch of years.

As far as the Win7 Setup freezeup, are you talking about the initial installation?

This will all be a while -- my motherboard is having problems and I don't know how I'm going to get it fixed. Everything costs money and money is not in good supply for me these days. But in time I am hoping that my budget will free up a bit!

*sigh* wrote in post #12392926
The System builder at newegg is just an OEM copy. Oh and all versions are in stock, just do a search on newegg. The SP1 versions are the only ones in stock, the google result may have brought up the older versions.

Ah, OK, good to know, Nick!

I'll have to set up a Favorites folder for Computer Repair and Upgrade!

Oh, and any quick easy answer on the system requirements for supporting SSD?