How to update Vista(x64) to Win7(x64) on dual-boot computer?

There's no performance to be gained by turning off transparency when you have Core 2 Duo with 8 gb RAM. Even if the Display device was too old to support it you would still get a tolerable Basic theme that doesn't look like government filing cabinets. Be sure to turn on Win7 Aero to see for yourself.

Since it boots into Vista when you unplug the OSX drive then I think you can safely save a backup image of your current Vista install, then run the Win7 upgrade from Vista Desktop and it shouldn't change anything about the boot menu.

Macrium - Image your system is good imaging freeware with flexibilty. If you have a WD or Seagate HD in the mix the free premium version of Acronis is preferable.

Have you come across the settings for the OEM Dual Boot menu, either in BIOS setup or in either OS? Some camera snaps might be revealing.

When I press "help" during boot menu, this pops up.

I don't know if this is what Greg was asking for?

There will be another Fkey at boot (or ESC, DEL) to boot into BIOS setup to look at the various settings organized under tabs. See if you can find Boot menu options.

Bios pix.

[You might notice a fourth drive (external) that I had just turned on.]

1.=Leopard
2.=Vista

See if you can boot the HD's independently by choosing them from the BIOS Boot menu key. If so and that method suits you, you don't even need the OEM Boot Menu and can ignore or disable it if a way can be found - or you can keep using it.

Could you install EasyBCD to Vista and post back the boot menu information shown on View Settings tab? EasyBCD (click Download - no Name or Email required)

If it is using a standard BCD edit Boot Menu then you can change the name to Win7 on the Edit OS tab under Rename.



But more likely because OSX is involved it is using something special installed by your OEM either via the BIOS or BCD. It may be safest until this can be discovered to just leave Boot Menu as it is and Upgrade Vista to Win7 with OSX temporarily unplugged. It will probably still show the Windows as Vista if Easy won't Rename it for you.

Thanks for all of the info.

Just wondering if the Psystar boot-loader menu is launching from a partition on the OS X hard drive, and then when I choose Vista in the Psystar boot-loader menu it's handing off to the Windows booter, and if I upgrade the Windows OS to Win7, will the Psystar boot-loader be looking for something that isn't there on the Windows side anymore due to the upgrade? (Will updating Windows from Vista to 7 update my BIOS and/or Windsows boot-loader?)

Or am I still not understanding this process correctly?

If you'll post the requested screenshot we'll have a better idea.