Making a copy of Win7 system to 2nd partition & enabling dual-boot ?


  1. Posts : 4
    Win7 Home Premium x64
       #1

    Making a copy of Win7 system to 2nd partition & enabling dual-boot ?


    Hi, I need some advice. I'm helping my brother to set up a dual-boot of Win7 & Win7.
    The reason for this strange setup is because my brother wants to have his own Win7 system, separately from his son who keeps causing trouble with trojans/viruses & online games. I have several questions before I do this.

    What is the fastest way of installing the OS twice with some basic applications on it?
    Is it possible to just re-image the first installation to the 2nd partition & make some changes on it to avoid reinstalling everything twice ? It would save time a lot.
    But then, what changes should I make to the system to make it dual-boot? Will that be complicated or even possible ?

    Thanks
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,346
    Windows 7 Professional x64
       #2

    Serville said:
    Hi, I need some advice. I'm helping my brother to set up a dual-boot of Win7 & Win7.
    The reason for this strange setup is because my brother wants to have his own Win7 system, separately from his son who keeps causing trouble with trojans/viruses & online games. I have several questions before I do this.

    What is the fastest way of installing the OS twice with some basic applications on it?
    Is it possible to just re-image the first installation to the 2nd partition & make some changes on it to avoid reinstalling everything twice ? It would save time a lot.
    But then, what changes should I make to the system to make it dual-boot? Will that be complicated or even possible ?

    Thanks
    I would suggest creating a separate limited user account. Much easier and will accomplish the same thing. The following link will provide details;

    Setting up user accounts in Windows 7

    You can also do your own search and find several articles on "how to set up a limited user account".
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 960
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 - 64 Bit
       #3

    Hi Serville. If you want to stay Virus free download Malwarebytes, and MSE. Along with NoScript and FlashBlock for your Browser.

    I also recommend Linux as it is safer than Windows.

    Anyway, to do this you need to Shrink one of your Partitions and install it in the Empty Partition.

    Can you please upload a screenshot of your Disk Management?

    Sir George's suggestion is also helpful. Viruses can travel through the OS's aswell.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 240
    Win 8 RP, Win 7, XP
       #4

    If you make a copy of Windows 7 partition to another partition some links in the file system will still point to the old partition.

    This means that there are links like
    "partitionX\folder_path" embeded in the file system.

    You have to edit registry manually to correct this (remap partitions) - only for experienced users(very experienced) as editing critical registry data is dangerous !

    Not sure about licensing issues when installing same system twice on same computer.

    Dual-boot is not a problem here as every boot loader entry has a concrete physical partition as base address.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 5,795
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
       #5

    You definitely don't want to dual boot the same OS....aside from technical issues, you'd need a second license. User accounts were created for this very purpose. Have him create a basic user account for his son.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 4
    Win7 Home Premium x64
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Thank u you all for the advice.
    Apparently it involves some licensing issues, so I think I will cancel the idea of dual-boot the same OS. I think I will just create user accounts for them, and make a set of windows backup in case of severee damage. I think that will make more sense too.
      My Computer


 

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