How To: Dual Boot Windows 7 and Windows Vista
If you have downloaded Microsoft’s new generation operating system,Windows 7 and want to install it , its not suggested you to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7, rather you can Install Windows 7 on a Dual Boot with Windows Vista.Multi boot or Multi booting (usually dual booting, but many operating systems can be booted from the same computer) is the act of installing multiple operating systems on a computer, and being able to choose which one to boot when switching on the computer power. The program which makes multi booting possible is called a boot loader.
Here is how you can Install Windows 7 on a Dual Boot with Windows Vista :
- In your Windows Vista computer, Go to Start in the Search Type in “Computer Management”, Expand the Storage section and select Disk Management.
- Now you`ll need to Shrink the Hard Disk Drive Volume in Windows Vista, so select the Hard Disk of your choice, right-Click and select Shrink Volume.
- After that a Window will pop-up asking you the space to shrink. Windows 7 requires 12GB of space to enter accordingly.
- Now in the Disk Management Window , you`ll see two partition : One which Windows Vista is installed and other in unallocated. Right-Click on Unallocated and Select New Simple Volume.
- Set the Volume Size and Click on Next. (Keep it same as the Maximum Disk Space above).
- In the Next step you`ll be asked to enter the Drive letter, File System(NTFS) and the Volume. Enter as per your preference and you`ll be done. Close everything and Install Windows 7.
- While Installing Windows 7 when you can asked to ” Where do you want to Install Windows?” select the drive you just created. Finish up the installation and the PC restart and now you`ll be able to see Windows 7 and Windows Vista in the boot menu.
Now once Windows 7 is fully installed, you`ll see that you wont be able to access the Windows Vista Partition now because both the drive are named as C.To solve this issue do the following :
- Go to Disk Management in Windows 7 (Same as that in Windows Vista).
- Right Click on the Blank Entry ( Windows Vista Partition) and then select Change Drive letter and Paths.
- Click on Add and then enter the letter you want to assign to that Partition.
- Save it and your Problem must be Solved.
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Written by Tony on January 18th, 2009 with
1 comment.
Read more articles on W7 How To? and W7 Tweaks.
#1. March 31st, 2009, at 5:28 PM.
I have created a machine with a dual-boot of Windows 7 and Vista. Works fine, except for my wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard. If I set the passkey for one OS it then stops working for the other one and vice-versa. So does anybody know how I can overcome this? Can I force both OS’s to use the same key or can I disable the passkey? I can’t seem to find any info about this anywhere.
Any help appreciated. Best regards,
Julian