How to Dual Boot Windows 7 with existing Windows VistaIf you have Windows Vista as the primary operating system and now looking forward to upgrade to Windows 7. The Windows Vista image loaded on the laptop often creates only a single big partition that has all the Windows files/folders and users data. Now, if a user wants to install Windows 7, he / she have to install using the upgrade method.
There may be scenarios wherein, users may like to retain existing Vista OS, for testing / application compatibility reasons, in this case users can follow the below steps to have dual boot options without disturbing their older operating system (say vista), just by creating a new partition and then install Windows 7 onto that partition. By doing so, users can have Windows Vista on the first partition and can have Windows 7 onto the second partition.
Steps to Follow:Step 1: Start
Windows Explorer. Right click
My Computer and click
Manage or click
Start ->
Run ->
compmgmt.msc
This will start Computer Management MMC Snap in.
Step 2: In this screenshot you can see there is Disk 0 with capacity 149.05 GB
There are two partitions
First Partition – BitLocker Created system partition 1.46 GB
Second Partition – Windows Vista of size 147.59 GB
So, in order to install Windows 7 we need to have another partition. We will now create a new partition on which we can install Windows 7.
Note: In some cases you may not find the first partition i.e. BitLocker Created system partition. This is created when you have deployed the MS IT BitLocker Supported Image or users have run the BitLocker Preparation Toolkit on their machine.
Step 3: Right click on the C: Drive i.e. 147.59 GB and click on Shrink Volume
Step 4: Select the amount of space to shrink in MB, below by default selected approximately 74.5 GB. Users can select more or less size depending upon their needs, Click
Shrink. This will create new partition with
unallocated space
Step 5: Right Click on the
unallocated partition and click on
New Simple Volume.
This will launch
New Simple Volume Wizard. Click
Next.
Step 6: Specify Size. We will keep it 30000 MB (30 GB). Click
Next.
* In the assign drive letter option select
D or
E (depending upon the free letter,
G in this case)
* Click on
Next * In the Format Partition
Select Volume Label and select
Perform a quick format option.
If users need, they can change the default Allocation Unit Size or Enable file and folder compression.
Lastly, after the wizard is completed, it will show a brief summary of the options selected. Click on
Finish, this will create the new Primary Partition of 30 GB with the selected Label and Drive letter.
Step 7: Now, pop in your Windows 7 DVD and boot the computer from DVD. At the time of installation select ‘Custom Installation.’ Select the newly created partition to install Windows 7.
Ignore the remaining unallocated space that we did not utilize. Click on
Next
After the installation you will see Windows 7 as default OS and also the Windows Vista entry in the
Windows Boot Manager.
Enjoy...
