I would like to hide my Windows 7 partition ?

[JordanJP]

Ok let me explain what I would like to do in simple terms,

Currently I've got Windows 7 Home Premium installed on my laptop. My goal here is to do two things :

1) I would like to create a separate partition and install Windows XP beside Windows 7.

2) I would like to somehow "hide" my whole Windows 7 partition and have my system automatically boot into XP when the computer is turned on.

The reason I want this is simple, I want to prevent certain relatives from seeing my sensitive data on my Windows 7 account. I would also like to be able to prevent them from knowing that I've got Windows 7 installed in the first place, that's basically what it all comes down to.

How would I go about doing this ?


Thanks


Jordan

 

[logicearth]

That is such a complicated way to solve such a simple problem...Why don't you want them to know you are running Windows 7? Why even let them use the computer without supervision?

 

[JordanJP]

well it's complicated on my end as well,

What would be a simple solution to this ?

Like I said for me it's a question of "Data Protection", my goal is to just prevent my Data from being see by unauthorized people.

 

[logicearth]

Well it is very simple, don't let them use an account that has permission to access that data. Create a new standard user account they can use. Then for your data to be extra sure they cannot see it, add the account's name to the ACL with DENY all permissions. Done done.

 

[1Bowtie]

Why not dual boot and password protect Win 7. No password no get in.

Smitty

 

[whs]

You can also encrypt your sensitve files. That's the safest way - I think.

 

[dave1812]

Ok let me explain what I would like to do in simple terms,

Currently I've got Windows 7 Home Premium installed on my laptop. My goal here is to do two things :

1) I would like to create a separate partition and install Windows XP beside Windows 7.

2) I would like to somehow "hide" my whole Windows 7 partition and have my system automatically boot into XP when the computer is turned on.

The reason I want this is simple, I want to prevent certain relatives from seeing my sensitive data on my Windows 7 account. I would also like to be able to prevent them from knowing that I've got Windows 7 installed in the first place, that's basically what it all comes down to.

How would I go about doing this ?


Thanks


Jordan

you've been given some good ideas already. just to add another option, you could use the free/awesome program Truecrypt to create a container for all your sensitive data, or encrypt the partition with it. Unless someone knows the password they won't get diddly squat from the protected area(s). TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption Software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux

 

[Frostmourne]

If you are not careful True Crypt is insecure - fragments may be left if the disk is defragmented. Passwords can be cracked too. I would encrypt the disc with BitLocker if you have 7 Ultimate.

 

[gregrocker]

Why not dual boot and password protect Win 7. No password no get in.

Smitty

Says he doesn't want them to know he has Win7 - maybe worried they'll want him to put it on their computers? Mine all do.

To answer OP:

Yes, just install Win7 in typical dual boot it configures flawlessly when last installed.

Now go to Start>right click Computer>Properties>Advanced>Startup&Recovery>Settings. Set Previous version of Windows as default and turn boot menu timeout off. (If not avail then set same in XP.)

Return there to access Win7.

Remember: They can see and access your files through Explorer. Better to set up Guest in User Accounts which restricts them to their own files and no installs to turn on while they are visiting, password yours.

 

[reghakr]

I simply don't get it

I won't say anything further about hiding data.

 

[irate pacifist]

there is another good reason for wanting to hide the other os partition. i have dual booted 98 and xp, xp and vista, vista and vista, vista and 7, and now 7 and 7. i just did a new install of 7 on a new partition and i do not want the other 7 to be able to see this 7 and visa-versa. the reason for this in my case is that i have programs that when they are installed and or run will make changes on both partitions if the program see the other partition. i am in the process of building up the new 7 install so i can delete this on because of a couple of problems i can not get rid of. so to save me the bleed-over headache i would like to make sure that there is no way for either 7 to see each other and still have the option to boot from either during bootup.

 

[Tepid]

A. Those programs are then crappy and can't distinguish between partitions,, I wouldn't use them anyway, purely based on that fact alone. I would see that as bad programming.

Unless you are speaking of something like CCleaner, which might do something like what you speak of. But that would be by design, but I do not think that even CCleaner would jump partitions.

I would recommend Bitlocker or Truecrypt for data encryption.

Also,, there is a ton of info on the net about hiding partitions if you search for it.

 

[gregrocker]

I know of no programs which will bleed over into another partition without being directed.

The partitions are blind to one another except when the installer is first running to set up a dual boot.

 

[whs]

I know of no programs which will bleed over into another partition without being directed.

The partitions are blind to one another except when the installer is first running to set up a dual boot.

Hmm, Greg - unfortunately there are. The other day I uninstalled AOL on my Win7 and it also uninstalled AOL on my Vista - even though they are on seperate disks and not double booted. The uninstaller just inspected all the disks/partitions to find anything that said AOL and deleted it. It was no big deal to reinstall it, but I was baffled.

 

[Tepid]

I know of no programs which will bleed over into another partition without being directed.

The partitions are blind to one another except when the installer is first running to set up a dual boot.

Hmm, Greg - unfortunately there are. The other day I uninstalled AOL on my Win7 and it also uninstalled AOL on my Vista - even though they are on seperate disks and not double booted. The uninstaller just inspected all the disks/partitions to find anything that said AOL and deleted it. It was no big deal to reinstall it, but I was baffled.

I rest my case on point A of my previous post.

 

[surfasb]

I know of no programs which will bleed over into another partition without being directed.

The partitions are blind to one another except when the installer is first running to set up a dual boot.

Hmm, Greg - unfortunately there are. The other day I uninstalled AOL on my Win7 and it also uninstalled AOL on my Vista - even though they are on seperate disks and not double booted. The uninstaller just inspected all the disks/partitions to find anything that said AOL and deleted it. It was no big deal to reinstall it, but I was baffled.

That has to be an odd instance. Because that would mean the AOL uninstaller had to be aware that there were TWO partitions, which is unlikely....

And the Uninstaller isn't written that way. It essentially takes the Install log and rolls back those changes.

 

[whs]

Well, there is theory - and then there is real life. During the uninstall I was already amazed that it took unusually long. It must have been wading over my 5 partitions on the 2 disks sniffing out the AOL's. But as I said, it was not a big deal to fix it.

 

[MacGyvr]

I know of no programs which will bleed over into another partition without being directed.

The partitions are blind to one another except when the installer is first running to set up a dual boot.

Hmm, Greg - unfortunately there are. The other day I uninstalled AOL on my Win7 and it also uninstalled AOL on my Vista - even though they are on seperate disks and not double booted. The uninstaller just inspected all the disks/partitions to find anything that said AOL and deleted it. It was no big deal to reinstall it, but I was baffled.

Absolutely not possible. AOL uninstall asks you what to remove before it does anything.

 

[MacGyvr]

Hmm, Greg - unfortunately there are. The other day I uninstalled AOL on my Win7 and it also uninstalled AOL on my Vista - even though they are on seperate disks and not double booted. The uninstaller just inspected all the disks/partitions to find anything that said AOL and deleted it. It was no big deal to reinstall it, but I was baffled.

I rest my case on point A of my previous post.

tepid if you cannot be helpful please do not post.

edit:

i know that there use to be a program for selecting which os to boot into. you had the option of having the os that you were booting into see the other ps(s) or have the other os(s) remain completely hidden from the os you were booting into. windows would not even see it in computer management.

Google

 

[gregrocker]

I know of no programs which will bleed over into another partition without being directed.

The partitions are blind to one another except when the installer is first running to set up a dual boot.

Hmm, Greg - unfortunately there are. The other day I uninstalled AOL on my Win7 and it also uninstalled AOL on my Vista - even though they are on seperate disks and not double booted. The uninstaller just inspected all the disks/partitions to find anything that said AOL and deleted it. It was no big deal to reinstall it, but I was baffled.

Now, that doesn't surprise me at all. AOL software is such a mess I wouldn't be surprised to see it do just that.

However, when I've helped my friends with AOL on dual boots in the past, it never bled into the other partition, so maybe they were just lucky.

IMO AOL is second in annoyance only to Norton.