Thinking of installing Windows 7

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  1. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #21

    jm1 said:
    Sorry, I missed that post. Thanks for all of your help! Is the backup to the external hard drive the same procedure as imaging it to the DVD? If so, can there be other files on the external hard drive, or can the image be the only one on it? Thanks once again!
    You typically do not image to DVDs. The images can be quite big - e.g. 10 to 50GBs depending on the system size. The compression is a little less than half. You image to an external disk where you define a folder for the images. I have external disks with many images from 3 different systems in 3 different folders and other data folders too. An image is nothing else than a file - just a bit big.
    You do, however, need the recovery CD that you burn from the imaging program - this is the first step and takes only a couple of minutes. When you need to pull an image in, this recovery program is being loaded from the CD/DVD reader (need to set up the BIOS boot sequence accordingly). It contains a small Linux distro and a program that rewrites the image to the OS disk - even if that is a new disk because the old one was kaputt.
    PS: when you buy your external disk, I advise to buy at least 640GBs. Then you can image galore and still have space for other stuff.
    When you have time, watch the video tutorial. I think things will become clear. I will go to bed now (it is past 1AM) but I will be back tomorrow to answer any further questions.
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  2. jm1
    Posts : 82
    Windows 7 Professional
    Thread Starter
       #22

    Okay. Will I have to burn the recovery software to a DVD, or can I burn it to a CD? Currently, my files and applications occupy about 34.1 GB of space. When I install Windows 7, I'll take your advice and make an image of that as well. How much space would a clean install of Windows 7 take on the external drive? Also, I have to factor in the space for Microsoft's Easy Transfer file. Will a 160 GB hard drive work okay? Thanks once again for your help.
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  3. Posts : 9,606
    Win7 Enterprise, Win7 x86 (Ult 7600), Win7 x64 Ult 7600, TechNet RTM on AMD x64 (2.8Ghz)
       #23

    A CD only has space for 700mb, a DVD has space for 4.7gb. Windows 7 cannot be installed & booted from an external HD. It has to be installed on an internal HD or a partition of an internal HD of usually 16 to 18 gb of free space.
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  4. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #24

    1. the Macrium recovery disk you should burn to CD. It takes little space
    2. your 34Gb XP should an image of about 18 to 19GB
    3. A newly installed Win7 should make an image of about 10GB
    4. No idea what you do with "easy transfer". I would not use it. Just copy your own files to a folder on the external disk
    5. A 160GB external disk will do for a little while, but for serious imaging it is a bit small.
    6. If I add up all your immediate space requirements on the external disk, you need about 35GB total (say 20 for XP image, 10 for Win7 image and 5 for your own data) - just a rough estimate. Make sure you create a named folder for each of those on the external disk. Then you know which is which. I hate single files with unreadable names floating around on the disk. Especially the images. They have those long numbers and later you may not be able to keep the XP image and the Win7 images apart.
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  5. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #25

    DocBrown said:
    A CD only has space for 700mb, a DVD has space for 4.7gb. Windows 7 cannot be installed & booted from an external HD. It has to be installed on an internal HD or a partition of an internal HD of usually 16 to 18 gb of free space.
    He was asking about the Macrium recovery disk. For that a CD is ample. Note: the whole discussion is about imaging.
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  6. jm1
    Posts : 82
    Windows 7 Professional
    Thread Starter
       #26

    Thanks once again for your help! The Windows Easy Transfer tool looks somewhat convenient. Unfortunately my files are scattered everywhere. I ran the tool today and it says it will back up all of my user accounts and settings, and seems to look in every corner to find files that need to be transferred. Then, it creates one simple file, so when I get into 7 all I have to do is run that program and point to that file. Does it sound okay? Also, what's the real difference between the BartPE and the Linux recovery disk?
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  7. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #27

    jm1 said:
    Thanks once again for your help! The Windows Easy Transfer tool looks somewhat convenient. Unfortunately my files are scattered everywhere. I ran the tool today and it says it will back up all of my user accounts and settings, and seems to look in every corner to find files that need to be transferred. Then, it creates one simple file, so when I get into 7 all I have to do is run that program and point to that file. Does it sound okay? Also, what's the real difference between the BartPE and the Linux recovery disk?
    1. Again !!! I would not use the easy transfer. But you do what you think is best. I predict you'll have problems.
    2. Use the Linux version. BartPe is another little Windows based OS. I find it messy. The Linux version works best for me.
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  8. jm1
    Posts : 82
    Windows 7 Professional
    Thread Starter
       #28

    Okay. Thanks! I'll keep this all in mind. Taking the image of XP and 7 sound like a great idea! I am assuming I will probably love Windows 7, but you never know. Thanks once again!
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  9. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #29

    jm1 said:
    Okay. Thanks! I'll keep this all in mind. Taking the image of XP and 7 sound like a great idea! I am assuming I will probably love Windows 7, but you never know. Thanks once again!
    By the way, I am not 100% sure whether the XP recovery disk will work for Win7 too. I suggest to burn a recovery disk when you are in XP and burn one when you are in Win7. Just to be sure.
    You will also notice that the user interface of Macrium in XP is slightly different than in Win7. But the differences are minor and I am sure you can deal with it.
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  10. jm1
    Posts : 82
    Windows 7 Professional
    Thread Starter
       #30

    I watched the tutorial! Great demo! A couple of questions, in the scenario if I was restoring XP, would I choose Active, Primary, or Logical from the Rescue disk. Also, on the step where replacing the destination drive Master Boot Record, would I choose Do not replace, Replace with the Master Boot Record from the Backup (Recommended), or Replace with the standard XP Master Boot Record? Thanks once again for your help!
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