Dual Boot Vista / Windows 7


  1. Posts : 6
    Windows 7
       #1

    Dual Boot Vista / Windows 7


    I have set up Windows 7 to dual boot with my Vista, but can not find a way for W7 to access "My Documents" which are on Vista.
    Ideally I want both operating systems to be able to access, edit, and add to "My Documents" and personal files.
    Can anyone please help ?

    Regards, Bill.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 28,845
    Win 8 Release candidate 8400
       #2

    BillRob said:
    I have set up Windows 7 to dual boot with my Vista, but can not find a way for W7 to access "My Documents" which are on Vista.
    Ideally I want both operating systems to be able to access, edit, and add to "My Documents" and personal files.
    Can anyone please help ?

    Regards, Bill.
    Hi and welcome

    When you attempt to acesss the docs from win 7 what error messages do you get?

    Ken J
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 1,607
    Windows 7 x64 finally!
       #3

    Bill, take a look at this tutorial. Is this what you want, that is, having your default My documents folder as the same location for both OS's?
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 6
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Thank you for the welcome response. I do not feel very confident with this as I have limited experience in computing.
    As things are at the moment, when I open in Vista this is what “Computer” indicates:-


    Boot C – 72.8 Gb free of 268
    Windows 7 – 17.1 Gb free of 29.2
    Back up M - 252 Gb free of 465


    My “User” file is on Boot C


    Back up is on a second hard disc and Windows 7 is a partition on the main disc.


    When I open in Windows 7 “Computer” shows:-


    Windows 7 C - 17.1 Gb free of 29.2
    Boot (D) - 74.2 GB free of 268
    Back up (E) 252 Gb free of 465


    What I want to do is get Windows 7 to look to Boot D for my “User” file and share it with Vista.


    I don't know is this is possible, but if it is not, then dual booting is less attractive.


    Regards, Bill.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 1,607
    Windows 7 x64 finally!
       #5

    Tks Bill
    1) Why do you need dual boot? If you perform a file migration to Windows 7, or an upgrade install (less recommended) you can go on with Windows 7 alone, it will give you better features and performance than Vista
    2) For you to have Windows 7 to look at the existing files in the D drive (when in 7) you will have to follow that tutorial to change your default User location to the new one.
    Again, I think you will be better off migrating to Windows 7 completely. Please look in this tutorial about using the Windows Easy Transfer tool to transfer your files and this for Upgrade install
    Let us know if we can help further
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 2,736
    ...
       #6

    BillRob said:
    Thank you for the welcome response. I do not feel very confident with this as I have limited experience in computing.
    As things are at the moment, when I open in Vista this is what “Computer” indicates:-


    Boot C – 72.8 Gb free of 268
    Windows 7 – 17.1 Gb free of 29.2
    Back up M - 252 Gb free of 465


    My “User” file is on Boot C


    Back up is on a second hard disc and Windows 7 is a partition on the main disc.


    When I open in Windows 7 “Computer” shows:-


    Windows 7 C - 17.1 Gb free of 29.2
    Boot (D) - 74.2 GB free of 268
    Back up (E) 252 Gb free of 465


    What I want to do is get Windows 7 to look to Boot D for my “User” file and share it with Vista.


    I don't know is this is possible, but if it is not, then dual booting is less attractive.


    Regards, Bill.
    Hi Bill;

    I would suggest to you that you need to boot into Vista and right click on your "My Documents" folder and manually set the permissions to "share" with everyone.



    Then boot into 7 and you can create a shortcut to the "My Documents" folder in your "user" in Boot D, to make access to it easier in 7.

    Please let us know if you need any help with this?

    Cheers!
    Robert
      My Computer


 

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