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- Joined
- 8 Jan 2010
- Posts
- 25
Hi, this may be an odd question, I'm not sure myself.
I'm currently running a dual boot system of Win XP MCE and Win Vista. Each OS are on separate hard disks and each of these hard disks has 2 partitions.
As stated, I'm looking to start using Windows 7. However I want to be able to test it thoroughly before ultimately using it on it's own. In other words, eventually, I just want to be running win 7 and no dual boot.
Here's what I want to do. I'm going to retain my dual boot drives. These 2 drives I won't be using in my win 7 installation, although I do have a further query on that i'll come to later.
I'm going to install win 7 on a new blank HDD. So i'll remove my current 2 HDD's completely but keep them intact. Once I've installed windows 7 on my new HDD I will have
HDD 1 and HDD 2 which have my XP/Vista dual boot
then
HDD 3 which will have win 7
Can I then cold swap these HDD's without causing problems? So when I'm done playing with Windows 7 on HDD 3 I can simple, (physically) remove HDD 3 and re-insert HDD 1 and 2 and it will revert back to my old dual boot system and vica versa?
I'm just looking to find out if this will cause any software/hardware issues other than the inconvenience of physically swap drives like this.
You're probably wondering why the hell I would do this, or do it like this. Well to clarify on the above. I will eventually be using just windows 7. However I want to test it first and I intend to install it on a bigger faster drive and eventually drop my current drives which house xp/vista boot. As I won't be 100% ready or dedicated to switching permanently to windows 7, even after installing it, I need to maintain my current system and have it on standby should i need it.
Unfortunately I don't have the time to complete the entire procedure of upgrading in one sitting so i'll be doing in in stages which will most likely span a long period of time (i.e. months). But, I'd like to get it started so I want to try win 7 and have it ready on a new drive. Then when I feel I'm set, revert back to my current system, ensure all necessary backups are created or clone the drives intact to image files for fail safe etc.. Eventually I'll clean my current drives completely and sell them.
Going back to what I mentioned earlier, regarding the "exception". If I did as above, maintain HDD1 and 2 with xp/vista dual boot and HDD3 with win 7 could I, if needed, using 2 examples here;
1) Slave HDD1 and 2 to HDD3. So that I'll be booting only to windows 7 but be able too access all my content on HDD1 and 2 without causing any software issues, specifically boot issues, should i then later need to boot to winxp/vista
2) Visa versa, Slave HDD3 to HDD1 and 2. So that i'll be booting to win xp or vista and have the win 7 drive accessible as a slave without causing any software issues, specifically boot issues, when i later go back to a windows 7 boot only system?
AND, hi, first post
Apologies for lengthy question, wasn't ceratin how to phrase it, so I hope it makes sense, feel free to probe for further clarification. I know my method probably sounds odd but I have my reasons as above, just need ot know it's doable without any potential issues.
My head's telling me the simple answer to all of this is, "Yes". Just need to make sure.
Edit: Another query to add. Is there a way to set this up in the BIOS so I don't need to cold swap? Obviously that could depend a lot on the motherboard and BIOS in question but asking in general if it's supported at all. Could I say for example, temporarily nullify the MBR on the current system (HDD 1 and 2) add HDD 3 as primary drive, install win 7 to it and still access content on HDD1 and 2 whilst not efffecting the MBR as it is on any drive. Then (with magic BIOS fiddling) revert back to HDD1 and 2 for xp/vista and nullifying the MBR on HDD3 so win 7 is temproarily no longer recognized but the disk content can be accessed?
I'm currently running a dual boot system of Win XP MCE and Win Vista. Each OS are on separate hard disks and each of these hard disks has 2 partitions.
As stated, I'm looking to start using Windows 7. However I want to be able to test it thoroughly before ultimately using it on it's own. In other words, eventually, I just want to be running win 7 and no dual boot.
Here's what I want to do. I'm going to retain my dual boot drives. These 2 drives I won't be using in my win 7 installation, although I do have a further query on that i'll come to later.
I'm going to install win 7 on a new blank HDD. So i'll remove my current 2 HDD's completely but keep them intact. Once I've installed windows 7 on my new HDD I will have
HDD 1 and HDD 2 which have my XP/Vista dual boot
then
HDD 3 which will have win 7
Can I then cold swap these HDD's without causing problems? So when I'm done playing with Windows 7 on HDD 3 I can simple, (physically) remove HDD 3 and re-insert HDD 1 and 2 and it will revert back to my old dual boot system and vica versa?
I'm just looking to find out if this will cause any software/hardware issues other than the inconvenience of physically swap drives like this.
You're probably wondering why the hell I would do this, or do it like this. Well to clarify on the above. I will eventually be using just windows 7. However I want to test it first and I intend to install it on a bigger faster drive and eventually drop my current drives which house xp/vista boot. As I won't be 100% ready or dedicated to switching permanently to windows 7, even after installing it, I need to maintain my current system and have it on standby should i need it.
Unfortunately I don't have the time to complete the entire procedure of upgrading in one sitting so i'll be doing in in stages which will most likely span a long period of time (i.e. months). But, I'd like to get it started so I want to try win 7 and have it ready on a new drive. Then when I feel I'm set, revert back to my current system, ensure all necessary backups are created or clone the drives intact to image files for fail safe etc.. Eventually I'll clean my current drives completely and sell them.
Going back to what I mentioned earlier, regarding the "exception". If I did as above, maintain HDD1 and 2 with xp/vista dual boot and HDD3 with win 7 could I, if needed, using 2 examples here;
1) Slave HDD1 and 2 to HDD3. So that I'll be booting only to windows 7 but be able too access all my content on HDD1 and 2 without causing any software issues, specifically boot issues, should i then later need to boot to winxp/vista
2) Visa versa, Slave HDD3 to HDD1 and 2. So that i'll be booting to win xp or vista and have the win 7 drive accessible as a slave without causing any software issues, specifically boot issues, when i later go back to a windows 7 boot only system?
AND, hi, first post
Apologies for lengthy question, wasn't ceratin how to phrase it, so I hope it makes sense, feel free to probe for further clarification. I know my method probably sounds odd but I have my reasons as above, just need ot know it's doable without any potential issues.
My head's telling me the simple answer to all of this is, "Yes". Just need to make sure.
Edit: Another query to add. Is there a way to set this up in the BIOS so I don't need to cold swap? Obviously that could depend a lot on the motherboard and BIOS in question but asking in general if it's supported at all. Could I say for example, temporarily nullify the MBR on the current system (HDD 1 and 2) add HDD 3 as primary drive, install win 7 to it and still access content on HDD1 and 2 whilst not efffecting the MBR as it is on any drive. Then (with magic BIOS fiddling) revert back to HDD1 and 2 for xp/vista and nullifying the MBR on HDD3 so win 7 is temproarily no longer recognized but the disk content can be accessed?
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