Windows 7: How to move my systems on partitions?

deskareas · 06 Jun 2009

i have 2 system partitions.

vista 50gb, 2 years evolved
seven RC1, working stable enough

both on the same hd.
how to i toggle them?

i guess bootmanager than will not exist anymore.

thanks!

Dwarf · 06 Jun 2009

Hi deskareas,

Can you elaborate on what you mean by how to i toggle them?

All my OSes are on 1 HDD (actually 2, in a RAID0 array), and I just select the one I want when I boot up (the default being W7 64-bit).

deskareas · 06 Jun 2009

i remember that its good to have the main system partition as first one a hd.
or am i wrong?

Dwarf · 06 Jun 2009

I am still a bit confused as to what you want. Here is my partition information, if you want to use it as a comparison.

How to move my systems on partitions?-capture.png

Code:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7100]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.
C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier              {bootmgr}
device                  partition=D:
description             Windows Boot Manager
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {globalsettings}
default                 {current}
resumeobject            {427d3ea8-4d34-11de-af38-d2fd5eee9bdb}
displayorder            {current}
                        {427d3ea1-4d34-11de-af38-d2fd5eee9bdb}
                        {04e874fd-4cc5-11de-a4b6-9306ff4e7520}
                        {0db4c38a-4bf4-11de-8a82-d3a442d052a3}
toolsdisplayorder       {memdiag}
timeout                 10
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {current}
device                  partition=C:
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows 7 RC 7100 64-bit
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence        {427d3eaa-4d34-11de-af38-d2fd5eee9bdb}
recoveryenabled         Yes
osdevice                partition=C:
systemroot              \Windows
resumeobject            {427d3ea8-4d34-11de-af38-d2fd5eee9bdb}
nx                      OptIn
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {427d3ea1-4d34-11de-af38-d2fd5eee9bdb}
device                  partition=F:
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows 7 RC 7100 32-bit
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence        {427d3ea2-4d34-11de-af38-d2fd5eee9bdb}
recoveryenabled         Yes
osdevice                partition=F:
systemroot              \Windows
resumeobject            {427d3ea0-4d34-11de-af38-d2fd5eee9bdb}
nx                      OptIn
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {04e874fd-4cc5-11de-a4b6-9306ff4e7520}
device                  partition=E:
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows Vista Ultimate SP2 64-bit
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
osdevice                partition=E:
systemroot              \Windows
resumeobject            {04e874fe-4cc5-11de-a4b6-9306ff4e7520}
nx                      OptIn
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {0db4c38a-4bf4-11de-8a82-d3a442d052a3}
device                  partition=D:
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 32-bit
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
osdevice                partition=D:
systemroot              \Windows
resumeobject            {0db4c38b-4bf4-11de-8a82-d3a442d052a3}
nx                      OptIn
C:\Windows\system32>

I installed my OSes in the order that they are displayed, so my Vista 32-bit partition is actually where the boot manager is located (hence why it is labeled as System and Active).

deskareas · 06 Jun 2009

would your windows 7 be faster when it is on first partition on a harddisk?

Dwarf · 07 Jun 2009

It makes very little, if any, difference as to whether an OS is the first partition, or indeed the last partition, on a HDD. It does take slightly longer to boot up, but that's because the system has to display the available OSes and wait for a response from you as to which you want to start. Note that the default (which is the last OS installed) will automatically start after 30s unless you select another OS, in which case you will need to press enter/return in order to start. You can also press enter/return to start the default OS, just to shave a few seconds off the boot time. Note that the default OS is the only one that will start automatically. Personally, I find that 30s is an excessive amount of time, and I change this to 10s. This reduces the boot up time considerably, yet still gives me sufficient time to choose an alternative OS.

I have not noticed any significant differences in speed between running a single OS (as I used to) or running any of my OSes currently installed.