Dual Boot Windows 7 with Vista or XP [How To]

By Rich on January 12, 2009 (6 Comments)

Hunky Dork has the following question:

I run only one PC. I have Vista and am very happy with it.
I’d love to try 7 but I fear a lot of progams game etc would not work yet on it.
Is there a way to install Windows 7 on dual boot as a second OS ? ? ?
Keep up the good work
Hunky Dork

Thanks for the question. In this guide, you’ll learn how to dual boot Windows 7 with Vista or XP. I’ve decided to link to Lifehacker’s guide on the procedure as it’s very clear and easy to follow.

Note: Before following the procedure below, consider Good_bytes’ procedure in the comments.

Dual Booting Windows 7 with Windows XP or Vista

Step 0: Download the Windows 7 Beta and Burn It to a DVD

Assuming you’ve already downloaded a fresh copy of Windows 7, you’ll need to burn it to a DVD in order to do a fresh installation. To handle this task, grab a copy of the most popular CD and DVD burning tool ImgBurn, burn the ISO to a DVD, and move right along to step 1.

Step 1: Partition Your Hard Drive

Before you go installing Windows 7, the first thing you need to do is create a new partition on your hard drive to hold the new installation of Windows. Partitioning your hard drive will vary depending on whether you’re running XP or Vista—namely because Vista has a partition tool baked in, XP does not.

Continued at Lifehacker

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Rich is the owner and creator of Windows Guides; he spends his time breaking things on his PC so he can write how-to guides to fix the problems he creates.

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Comments

Good_Bytes
I got a better way (tested only under Vista, do it at your own risk)
– Defrag your HDD, if it’s not.
– Use Windows Disk manager and partition your HDD.
– Now within Windows, run Windows 7 setup via the disk. It well get all the updates first of Windows 7, and then start the setup (just make sure you select the correct partition. DO NOT DO UPDATE). During this time you can do other things on your system. Once done, you will be prompted to restart your computer to finish the setup. System will restart, setup will finish. Windows 7 might restart another time, as it installs drivers such as your wireless card or other drivers
Good_Bytes
I got a better way (tested only under Vista, do it at your own risk)
– Defrag your HDD, if it’s not.
– Use Windows Disk manager and partition your HDD.
– Now within Windows, run Windows 7 setup via the disk. It well get all the updates first of Windows 7, and then start the setup (just make sure you select the correct partition. DO NOT DO UPDATE). During this time you can do other things on your system. Once done, you will be prompted to restart your computer to finish the setup. System will restart, setup will finish. Windows 7 might restart another time, as it installs drivers such as your wireless card or other drivers
- http://mintywhite.com/tech/ Rich
  Thank you Good_Bytes! I’ve edited the post to let people know of your procedure.
Good_Bytes
I got a better way (tested only under Vista, do it at your own risk)
– Defrag your HDD, if it’s not.
– Use Windows Disk manager and partition your HDD.
– Now within Windows, run Windows 7 setup via the disk. It well get all the updates first of Windows 7, and then start the setup (just make sure you select the correct partition. DO NOT DO UPDATE). During this time you can do other things on your system. Once done, you will be prompted to restart your computer to finish the setup. System will restart, setup will finish. Windows 7 might restart another time, as it installs drivers such as your wireless card or other drivers
- http://mintywhite.com/tech/ Rich
  Thank you Good_Bytes! I’ve edited the post to let people know of your procedure.
Rich
Thank you Good_Bytes! I’ve edited the post to let people know of your procedure.

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