Dual OS

[Ricardo]

just wanted to ask; In most of the posts I've read involving dual OS systems, people have two different OS's, eg. W7 and XP. I used to run 2 XP installations with no problems (until something corrupted it all - fixed now though and passed on to a worthy cause) Now i have a new PC. Is it OK to run 2x win7 64 OS's? I tried to install XP as my second OS with W7 64bit, but it gets blocked by the newer OS.

[astroman]

I'd install them on swappable drivebays anyway, though HD prices seem to rise with Thailand's flood atm...

cheers, Tom

[spacef]

you could also install them on two different drives (or different partitions of different drive) and when you want to boot one or the other, you just change the boot drive in the bios.
that way there should be no installation problem, because one of the OS is always inactive, and installation is done seperately, on completely different drives so there can be no conflict.
That's how i managed to get xp work again and bring the updates for modular mixer with my prehistoric (but lovely) 32 bit sdk .
I used another method once (may be the same you tried) but w7 could not boot anymore.... i find it better to have them seperated and on drives "far" from each other...
Weird to have twice the same OS in the same computer though....

[Ricardo]

[quote="spacef" Weird to have twice the same OS in the same computer though....[/quote]

That's what I mean. Why is it weird to have 2x the same OS. I notice people have different OS's. Is there a reason, apart from licensing?
BTW, I intend to install on separate HDD as before.

[spacef]

Why is it weird to have 2x the same OS. I notice people have different OS's. Is there a reason, apart from licensing?
BTW, I intend to install on separate HDD as before.

well, just a question of confort and not to have to reboot to use this or that app, and w7 is solid enough to bear a very wide range/volume of apps, drivers, services etc....
I am just curious to know what is the application of it, that's all...


Yes you are right about me not being clear enough: not only it shoulmd be installed on different drives, but each installation should not make use of the other system... that's how i could make it work myself, without risking any conflict between the two OS... but if something else works for you, why not....

[Ricardo]

well, just a question of confort and not to have to reboot to use this or that app, and w7 is solid enough to bear a very wide range/volume of apps, drivers, services etc....
I am just curious to know what is the application of it, that's all...

Thanks spacef: I intend to use one OS for Audio only, without any other junk installed, and one for normal day to day use. As I said earlier, my PC already has W7 and won't permit me to install XP as it sees it as an older version of windows. I may have to install XP first and see what happens when I try to install W7 again, but I suspect that it may also be a BIOS issue, as XP is old (but good) and my new PC is all new hardware and software. But my tech knowledge is limited so i'm only guessing..........

[spacef]

ok, I understand.

I Think the solution is "simple"

1/ install an OS the normal way, check that it works etc.
2/ once it is done, go to your bios and see the hardisk options, and if you can change the boot drive
3/ change the boot drive: now the pc boots on an "empty" disk with no OS, (so in fact, it does not boot)
4/ make pc boot from CD and install another OS on that disk that you selected in 3/ and which has no OS
5/ now, you have two OS, on two different drives and each os was installed in a way that it cannot "see" the other os (or at least, it will just detect a collection of files, but will not activate any of them as system files).
6/ to boot one OS or the other, you have to go in the bios , and select one of the drive as a boot drive
7/ you could install more OS on other drives

I don't know if I am very clear. The aim is to install each OS as if it was the only OS in the computer. Also, windows folder like "my document" etc are not shared between the two OS.
Each OS is "invisible" for the other OS...

What is sure is that it will work, but if you want to boot one or the other OS, you have to go in the bios and select the drive where is this OS, which is a little effort sometimes....
Also, the bios does not detect partitio,ns, but only hard disks, so if you have disk of the same brand, capcity, serie, it can be confusing.
Fortunately, none of my hard disk are the same model or series, so it is a bit easier to select drive, which,n in the bios, are like "WD4500-844896153XXV, or OCZ-128-89845665 or stuff like that...

below is a pic of what i see in my win7 ; if i need to boot XP, i must restart PC, go to the bios, and change the priority of boot drives in order to make the disk "system XP" as the primary boot drive.
You should find all info about drive booting in the motherboard manual. On my asus, it was a bit complicated to get it at first (remembering on which drive is XP, finding which menu allows to select the boot drive etc) , but now i do it quickly...
That's the only method that worked for me and prooved solid over time (been 2/3 months now). I pay particular attention to never mix files made in a OS with file made with another OS , never share a windows folder like my docs, programs etc between the two os, because the first time i tried to install on the same drive, it just didn't work anymore (which is annoying when you just finished installing all drivers and softs that you need. as i don't know what caused this, i now prefer to keep them completely seperated, and it worked fine so far.

there may be other methods....

I hope it helps.

ps; in the pic, the drive "SystemXP" was named like that in w7, before XP was installed on it. Now, I never touch this drive when i am running w7.

[Ricardo]

wow. looks a little complicated at first glance but will definitely have a look at this. I'm still learning about this new PC of mine. I'm used to Intel MoBo, but now have a gigabyte, so it's all a big learning curve. Thanks for that explanation, I really appreciate your help. I think now I will try a few options and see which works the best. I'll try to remember to post my answers, to conclude this thread. Thanks again. (and thanks tom for your response as well)

[spacef]

here is another trick that is inspired by Astroman's post above, and that wouldn't require going to the bios when you want to boot the other os.

- You install one OS on your regular C drive, and the other on a usb drive
- You set the bios to boot in priority on the usb drive, and second priority, boot from your regular c drive.
- Now, when the usb drive is off, it will always boot from C, and when the usb drive is on, it boots from the usb drive.
- so it's just about rebooting with the usb drive on or off as you need.
- easy business, haven't tried, but it should work just fine (just like when you boot from cd when you want to install a new os).

[firubbi]

I'd install them on swappable drivebays anyway, though HD prices seem to rise with Thailand's flood atm...

cheers, Tom

Flood also effect us. bought a 750GB usb 3 for $150. thought it has amazing speed

[Ricardo]

I'd install them on swappable drivebays anyway, though HD prices seem to rise with Thailand's flood atm...

cheers, Tom

Flood also effect us. bought a 750GB usb 3 for $150. thought it has amazing speed

Is it fast enough for an OS or even a DAW? Let me know, I've been thinking about that. I have USB 3 capability.

[garyb]

sure fast enough.
if only usb was a truly reliable connection...

[firubbi]

my os is intel ssd and samples are in the usb3. its dam faster then ssd. i wish if i can install everything on it