Windows 7: 1 laptop 2 hard drives( vista on one and win 7 on the other)

Hi All,

I have a question that i have spent hours on line trying to find an answer for, with no luck. I have a laptop with two hard drives, win 7 x64 on one and vista x64 on the other. I am able to boot and run each operating system just fine. The problem is that whichever Os I'm in if I go to My computer I can see and access the other OS. Is there a way to avoid that. The drive with win 7 is dedicated for graphic arts programs, movie editing and the like. So it only connects to the internet for SOME windows updates and all my editing software updates as well as being setup to use the least amount of background resources. The Vista drive however is for everything else( web surfing, email, office documents....etc.) Bottom line, the Goal is two keep the win 7 drive from getting viruses or other problems that can occur from everyday use on computers.

I have read in other forum posts to just use one drive at a time(swap as needed) that however is not really an option. I also read that the best thing to do is go to computer management, disk management and hide each drive from the other.

Can the drives be truly 100% independent of each other and still be installed at the same time, if so Please explain how or supply a link for instructions.





Thanks in advance

No, that is a poor option.


Realistically that's the easiest way to to do it. It will certainly stop any 'user level' accidents.

Not truly 100% - since you'd be able to 'find' the drive through diskpart/computer management at any time, so the OS pretty much knows the other drive is always there so to speak.

Hiding the drives + a good Anti virus and regular scans should be more than sufficient to keep the drive with Seven safe.

Wow, Thanks for the VERY quick reply. Can you explain or link instructions on hiding the drives.


thanks in advance

Remove the other OS's drive letter in Disk Mgmt: Drive Letter - Add, Change, or Remove in Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums