windows and dual boot up?

Glaucus

Glaucus

Glaucus

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I want w7 32bit for a couple of things.

it's been a few years since I dual booted and just want to make sure.

w7 will sort out dual boot screen?
w7 will keep files/file structure on the 2nd hard drive I install 32bit version on to rather than a compulsory format?
will I have a problem with activation, 32bit and 64bit with same serial on same computer?
 
W7 will sort out the bootloader, yes.

I am not sure what you mean by the second question. Any partition you install Windows onto will need to be formatted unless upgrading an existing install. NTFS is the only option for filesystem.

As a technical exercise it could work. There will be differences in the installations [aside from architecture] but they may be slight enough for it to go unnoticed. Though if you switch often it may look like multiple reinstallations and trigger reactivation.

In legal terms you are breaking the terms of the license. It is one license for one Windows installation. Legally it is the same as trying to run Windows on two separate machines with one license.
 
Thnaks,

SiriusB said:
As a technical exercise it could work. There will be differences in the installations [aside from architecture] but they may be slight enough for it to go unnoticed. Though if you switch often it may look like multiple reinstallations and trigger reactivation.
Click to expand...

the second drive is NTFS, but has a lot of back up files and other stuff on which I don't want to lose. Would w7 just install around them, or would it need to wipe the drive.
 
AcidHell2 said:
Thnaks,



the second drive is NTFS, but has a lot of back up files and other stuff on which I don't want to lose. Would w7 just install around them, or would it need to wipe the drive.
Click to expand...

Shrink the partition on the drive to leave free space, install the new windows into the free space in its own partition.

Alternatively use vmware or virtualbox and install a virtual windows 7 32bit
 
You would need to wipe the drive, or create a partition on the drive. Tools such as Partition Magic or GParted will let you create partitions without losing data. Though it would be wise to back it up anyway.
 
Why not install W7 32bit to 1 hard drive and W7 64bit to the other hard drive.

No bootloader to stress with if anything goes **** up / Just set the bios to boot from your most used os / and then select F12 Boot Menu if you want to switch to the other os

If doing the above only have 1 drive installed at a time when installing each windows os
 
That answers precisely none of his questions! :p

Though it is my preferred method of dual-booting, some people prefer having a boot loader.
 
SiriusB said:
You would need to wipe the drive, or create a partition on the drive. Tools such as Partition Magic or GParted will let you create partitions without losing data. Though it would be wise to back it up anyway.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean. I've installed win7 to drives with files/ entire windows installations on them, and not had to either wipe or partition.

If there is an existing Windows installation win7 just renames it to windows.old. All other folders are entirely unaffected.

Why would you need to wipe or partition a drive to install Windows? To my knowledge, you've never +had+ to do this, ever.
 
Hmm, interesting. I have never installed to a partition that already contained data, so it is news to me. I would probably still backup the data before you attempt it.

I love this place. Learn something new every day! :D
 
As to the legality, I'm reading something interesting via Google. So far, there are a lot of people saying that within Europe, it +is+ legal to install multiple copies - even on multiple machines - provided you only use one of those copies at any one time.

Apparently, so I'm reading, this is a provision under EU law.

One such link:
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/windows-7-e-your-questions-answered-49302789/

"Unlike the rest of the world, everybody in Europe gets to install 7 E on more than one machine, providing it's not running on more than one machine at a time, and we don't have to pay extra for the privilege, unlike our non-European cousins."
 
That article specifically states Windows 7 E, the silly non-IE version. I suspect most people in the UK, including AcidHell2, have the standard 7 editions.
 
I'm almost sure that Microsoft cancelled that after a deal was made with Europe.
Also the UK was not to get the upgrade version, but we did.
 
Well, EULAs aren't law, anyhow. Even if you do violate the EULA by switching between 32-bit and 64-bit at will, it is unlikely anyone but MS would ever take a dim view of it.

Frankly, I vote we use a bit of common sense instead of trying to obey some 100-page EULA that most likely isn't legally enforceable.
 
The EULA aside, constant switching is bound to trigger reactivation in one or both machines. After so many times you are forced to call to activate. Might only take 5 minutes, but I certainly wouldn't want to do that every time I switched OS.

Plus in theory MS could deactivate that Product Key if it suspects foul play.

I am not saying he shouldn't try it, but it is considered wrong and you're breaking the terms of your license. The decision is his, we are merely supplying him with the facts.
 
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