concerning a 'proper' dual boot system

peter tron · 2 Jul 2014 at 17:31

i currently have one hd with vista 32 installed.

i have just installed a 2nd hd which is waiting for me to install windows 7.

upon reading various forum posts, i have discovered there are 2 ways to do this.

1) unplug the current hd.
install windows 7 on the new hd.
reconnect the first hd.
reboot.
choose which drive to boot by going into the bios.

on one forum post, someone mentioned doing a 'proper' dual boot system (quoted below).

"What's wrong with a proper dual boot system? Install the older operating system first and then the newer operating system. You will then get a boot menu enabling you to choose which operating system you want to load."

this confused me somewhat, as i already have vista 32 installed on the 1st (older) drive.
does the poster mean to suggest not unplugging the 1st drive and carry on installing windows 7 onto the new hd?

i do like the idea of having a proper screen prompting me to choose which drive, instead of having to go into the bios every time i wish to choose between the two drives.

one other thing:

if i go ahead and begin installing windows 7, will there be a prompt asking me to designate what hd i would like to install it to, or do i have to go into the bios and select the new hd so it knows where to install it to?

(i had a horror moment whereby i thought if i went ahead with the installation it would install over the top of my current vista 32 os without warning!
i'm sure i would be warned beforehand by windows if such a situation arose, but still..).

better to be safe than sorry, so i thought i would consult earnestly with you guys/girls

Ploppy2k3 · 2 Jul 2014 at 19:24

leave the existing vista drive in pace and boot the win7 cd.

it will prompt you during setup to either "upgrade" or "advanced/custom" select the latter and choose the 2nd HDD for the install.

tada Dual Boot goodness

right after POST completes you will get a menu asking which to boot

One · 2 Jul 2014 at 19:29

Basically it just becomes a pain to fix a windows/grub boot screen whereas if both operating systems are unaware of each other then if the other breaks it doesn't affect it. If you plan on having it duel boot forever though then it's fine.

zola25 · 2 Jul 2014 at 20:26

If you use the first method, you don't have to go fully into the BIOS. On modern motherboards there's normally a boot menu pop up option. On my Asus board I can just press F8 during post to choose a boot device.

peter tron · 2 Jul 2014 at 21:23

right,

cheers for getting back to me guys.

i'll go right ahead

wazza300 · 2 Jul 2014 at 22:25

zola25 said:
If you use the first method, you don't have to go fully into the BIOS. On modern motherboards there's normally a boot menu pop up option. On my Asus board I can just press F8 during post to choose a boot device.

this

this is what I do,disconnect the other drive/install then connect other drive and use boot menu to choose which hdd/os to boot into

f12 on gigabyte f8 on asus

peter tron · 2 Jul 2014 at 23:49

yep,

i thought i would see a custom windows screen prompting me to choose between either drive, but after installing windows 7 and rebooting, it just automatically booted windows 7.

no big issue. i just have to hit f12 like you said, then choose my other drive.

worked fine.

now i need to install the correct network adapter drivers.

in the spirit of forum thread hygiene, i have just posted a new post over on the "Networks & Internet Connectivity" thread.
if anyone feels like lurching over there with me to continue advising it would be most appreciated

baz