Re: Installing 7 and drive Letters
- From: "R. C. White" <rc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 7 Nov 2009 23:23:20 -0600
Hi, Doug.
Congratulations on getting the hard part done! ;<)
Others have told you two ways to change the time to select OSes. There's a 3rd way for those who are comfy at the "DOS" prompt: In an Administrator:Command Prompt window, just type:
BCDEdit /timeout 5
(Change the "5" to the number of seconds delay that you would like, of course.)
BCDEdit.exe is like many old DOS commands and it intimidates many users. But when used properly, it gives us a lot of control over our multi-boot setup. There are a couple of 3rd-party apps to make the job easier but I don't recall their names just now.
RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64
"Doug" <DugGlissremoveme@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:eiWYlW3XKHA.3612@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
RC
I changed the names of the drives and booted from Vista the Win 7 DVD. It all went smooth. Now Vista and Win 7 both recognize Partition names and letters as the same.
One question. I know it is the wrong group. I have not installed and dual booted since XP. I forgot how to change how many seconds you have to select Vista or Win 7 on Boot .
Thanks Again for the help
Doug
"R. C. White" <rc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:#MbhO0wXKHA.3676@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxHi, Doug.
It's good to know that someone is reading my long posts. ;^}
And it sounds like you understand the general scheme of Windows dual-booting better than most users.
More comments inline...
"Doug" <DugGlissremoveme@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:#zA71buXKHA.504@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxI want to install Windows 7.I have 2 Hard Drives, both are portioned in 2 .
If I install windows 7 by booting into Vista, inserting the Windows 7 DVD and run setup.
This way I can assign drive letters that I will want to use consistently in both Operating Systems
Right! This is how I originally installed Vista into Drive V:, alongside WinXP, which was already using Drive D:. I long ago adopted the practice of having nothing in my System Volume except the startup files. All OSes are installed in my other volumes.
Recognize that your Boot Volume will not always be Drive C:. That is not a problem at all for Windows. It is a problem only for users who can't shake off the "Drive C: mindset". Applications will happily install themselves into X:\Program Files as easily as into C:\Program Files. ;<)
So decide which letters you want to use; boot into Vista and use Disk Management to create and format the volumes and assign those letters. Then insert the Win7 DVD and point it to the volume you've chosen.
I am a little bit confused after reading about installing Win 7. If I boot from Win 7 DVD it will assign the letter C: to its Boot Volume, no matter what drive I choose.
Yes. IF you boot from the DVD. When you boot from the Win7 DVD, it has no idea what Vista has assigned. If you boot into Vista, then insert the DVD and run Setup from the Vista desktop, it will see the drive letters that Vista has assigned and "inherit" those letters. So if you've used Vista to assign the letter E: to the first partition on your second HDD, you can point Setup to that partition (watch closely to be sure that you are picking the right partition on the right disk). When done, Win7's Boot Volume will be E:, its boot folder will be E:\Windows, and the Start Volume will still be whatever it was - probably still Drive C:.
Then it says to assign D: to the start volume. The other letters will be in sequence.
Yes. An OS can't have two Drive C:'s. If you want the Start Volume to remain Drive C:...see previous paragraph.
Does that mean I need to put Win & Boot Volume on the same drive as Vista's Boot Volume?? I do not think that is the case. I rather check first.
NO. The fact that the first partition on the first disk is now serving as both System Volume and Vista's Boot Volume is muddying the waters. And having that first partition assigned Drive C: is not making the water any clearer. But that IS the typical arrangement, rooted in computer hard-drive history and still the default configuration for most new computers with Windows pre-installed.
Win7's Boot Volume can be in any partition on any HDD in your computer. Only the Start Volume must be in a specific place. When the computer is powered on, all it remembers is what was programmed at the factory: Look for the Active partition on the boot device. Unless the user has changed the BIOS, that means the first partition on the first HDD - and this partition becomes the System Volume. The first physical sector on that partition holds the MBR (Master Boot Record), including the partition table. Load that and start executing its code - which will find the file bootmgr (no extension) in the Root of that partition, which will use the BCD (Boot Configuration Data) in the hidden \Boot folder to select from the existing Windows installations and jump to the Boot Volume where the chosen version is installed - which might be any partition on any HDD.
As of now I have First Drive Portioned in to C: and D:
Second Drive Portioned into E: and F:.
I want to install Win 7 on the second drive in part ion 1 which is E:
When I install from Vista I just have to check E: Drive and the Boot Volume will be on E: too. Hopefully I will have the choice to boot into Vista or Win 7??
Correct! Boot into Vista, insert the Win7 DVD, and point to "Big Win 7 (E:)" - also shown as partition 1 on Disk 1 - see my next comment. Setup will do the rest, including the dual-boot menu that will appear at your next startup.
I would also like to give the Drives Names:
Drive 1 Portion 1 Big Vista - Which is C:
Drive 1 Partition 2 Little Vista - Which is D:
Drive 2 Partition 1 Big Win 7 - Which is E:
Drive 2 Partition 2 Little Win 7 -Which is F:
Subtle correction: As you can see in Disk Management, physical disk numbering starts with zero; partition numbering starts with one on each physical disk. So your Big Vista is on Disk 0 Partition 1 and Little Win7 is on Disk 1 Partition 2. Call the physical device a "Disk" to give the greatly-overused term "drive" a little rest and reduce the confusion just a little. Disks are NUMBERED; "drives" (which really are "primary partitions" or "logical drives in the extended partition" or "volumes") are assigned LETTERS. (Well, usually; drives don't have to have letters. When installed on a virgin computer, Win7 Setup creates a small separate primary partition just for the Start Volume and does not assign a letter to it; this makes it harder for a user to accidentally delete that critical volume or to store apps or data on it.)
This way I will know exactly which is which, even if Vista calls Big Vista C and Little Vista D: Also if Win 7 calls it Big Win 7 H:
Right! By George, I think you've got it! Vista will also call it "Big Win 7 (H:)". And H:\Windows will be your Win7 Boot Folder!
I hope I explained myself??
Yep!
Thank You in advance
Doug
P.S. I previously read an answer to this from RC
Post back and let us know how this all worked out, Doug.
RC
.
- References:
- Installing 7 and drive Letters
- From: Doug
- Re: Installing 7 and drive Letters
- From: R. C. White
- Re: Installing 7 and drive Letters
- From: Doug
- Installing 7 and drive Letters
- Prev by Date: Re: Windows 7 and Windows Mail question
- Next by Date: Re: Windows 7 and Windows Mail question
- Previous by thread: Re: Installing 7 and drive Letters
- Next by thread: Re: Installing 7 and drive Letters
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
