w7 vista dual boot

[bpugsley]

I installed the w7 upgrade to a cloned hd over vista business.

I would now like to dual boot between the original vista business hd and the currently primary hd with the w7 installation.

Help appreciated.

Regards,

Ben

 

[Satchmo Bevins]

Help appreciated.

Regards,
Ben

Hi Ben! Welcome!

I have never done a dual boot so I haven't a clue, but HERE is an article from Lifehacker to get you started.

Hell, I might even try it.

Cheers!

 

[bpugsley]

Will check it out, but it doesn't seem to address the case where I have the second OS already installed on a Separate HD.

Ben

 

[Satchmo Bevins]

But it does say this:

"This isn't the only way to set up a multi-boot system by any means, but it's how I pulled it off."

Which leads me to search for other ways. I'll post if I find any.

 

[SIW2]

It is not clear which one you are currently booting into.

Assuming it is Vista,

Boot into Vista.

Open an elevated cmd prompt and type: ( press enter after cmd - replace D with the 7 drive letter as seen from Vista )

bcdedit /copy {current} /d "Win 7"

A {GUID} will be returned, use that , including brackets , in the commands below:

bcdedit /set { the-guid-you-got} device partition=D:

bcdedit /set { the-guid-you-got} osdevice partition=D:

The description between " " can be anything you like.

Close cmd prompt. That's it.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Hello bpugsley welcome to the site :ciao:

Have you concidered using a third party Boot Manager. After installing the Boot Manager you will have an option to boot to Multiple Drive. Check out this link VistaBootPro

I have personally used BootUS to triple boot Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. If you have any questions I can help you with let me know.

P.S. Some of the freeware Boot Managers do not allow booting to multiple drives. They only allow Booting to multiple partitions.

 

[BetaMan]

So, you mean to say that you have two hard drives, one with Vista and one with 7 and you would like to dual boot between them, right?

If so, all the work is done for you! This is how to switch to your Vista hd:

1. Restart
2. Once you get to your BIOS POST Screen, press the button that it says to enter "boot devices" or something like that. It should be something like F8, at least that's what it is for me.

3. Select the hd that has Vista on it, press enter and enjoy your dual boot!

Any yes, I've done this. I had it going for my 7/XP hard drive and my OSx86 Leopard hard drive, until leopard MSODed (Mac Screen Of Death). Well, I hope I helped!

 

[SIW2]

If you prefer, you could use a front end GUI for bcdedit - like VistaBootPro that Clifford suggested.

You may prefer Easybcd - as it is free - and it is excellent.

http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

My own preference is to edit bcd manually .

 

[Satchmo Bevins]

We can embed video in a post?

Wow! I need to read more.

 

[BetaMan]

Haha, actually that was just a GIF image I found. Like my avatar.

 

[Satchmo Bevins]

Haha, actually that was just a GIF image I found. Like my avatar.

LOL....I was all like "Sweeeet!!" Now, I'm bummed out a bit. But it's cool.

It'd kinda be nice to do that, though. I'd make helping someone out a bit easier.

But now that I think about it for more than 3 seconds, I can just upload to my Youtube and link it to here for them.

Some days......

 

[BetaMan]

Lol yeah cause when you hit add URL and paste a youtube link, it actually shows the video. Like this.


[ame="[MEDIA=youtube]tFKwFyLyb6Y[/MEDIA]"]Bill Gates - Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 Demo[/ame]

 

[Satchmo Bevins]

Lol yeah cause when you hit add URL and paste a youtube link, it actually shows the video. Like this.

COOL!

What does that do to Ian's bandwidth bill, though?

I'd hate to cut into his Guinness budget. :lol:

 

[Ian]

What does that do to Ian's bandwidth bill, though?

I'd hate to cut into his Guinness budget. :lol:

Don't worry, the vids are still hosted on YouTube The Guinness is safe :lol:

 

[Satchmo Bevins]

Don't worry, the vids are still hosted on YouTube The Guinness is safe :lol:

Brilliant!!!!

 

[BetaMan]

Heehee! Hey did anyone actually watch that?