I am trying to install Win 7 on computer that already has Win 7 Ultima

Sky · 25 Aug 2012

I have a 4+ year old Dellxps435 which has Win7 ultimate as OS.This disc has so many problems I decided to install brand new Win ultimate on another disc. My problem is that I want to copy some info from the original disc which is still in the computer giving me 2 bootable discs. Is there some way I can make the original disk unbootable but temporarily keep it in machine until I finish copying desired material ?

I have no skills at this kind of problem and hope there is a way to accomplish what I want to do.

Thanks in advanced for any help.
Sky

beret21 · 25 Aug 2012

You question is a confusing me can you rewrite it ????

Sky · 25 Aug 2012

Basicly I have to Windows Ultimate OS discs in one computer. One is brand new and the other is the original which will be remove when I have copied some info from it. Proble is if I turn on computer both discs will probably boot at the same time. I am trying to find a way for original disc to NOT on start-up boot but let me copy information off it for a few days before I remove it.

I agree that my original post was confusing. Hope this makes it a little clearer. Thanks for reading it.
Sky

bigmck · 25 Aug 2012

Can you use your Snipping Tool to post a snip of your expanded Disk Management so we can see exactly what you have. Use this tutorial if you are not sure of how to do that. Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums Thanks

Bare Foot Kid · 25 Aug 2012

From what I understand from the posts above, the info below should be a help.

Information

The easiest way to do away with boot issues between separate Operating Systems (OS) is to use the BIOS one time boot menu to select which OS to boot at system startup, each motherboard has an individual hot-key to tap during system start-up to access this menu.

If you have 2 separate Hard Disk Drives (HDD) and have one OS installed to one HDD and you want to install another OS to the second HDD, disconnect the HDD with the first OS installed on it and leave only the HDD you want to install the second OS to connected.

Install the second OS to the connected HDD and when complete and the system is booting good, power down and reconnect the first HDD with the first OS on it.

This way the OSs will boot independently of each other and there will be no boot conflicts between the 2 separate OSs to have to sort later.

Then set the BIOS to boot the HDD / OS you want as default and if you want to start the other (new) OS you use the BIOS one-time boot menu to select that HDD / OS to start when the PC is started.

Asus - F8
HP/Compaq - Esc
Sony - F2
Acer – F12
Packard Bell
Gateway - F10
eMachnes - F10
Gigabyte – F12
Toshiba - F12
Dell - F12
IBM/Lenovo - the blue Thinkvantage button

python134r · 25 Aug 2012

Ok, you wish to install windows to a another hdd while you also wish to keep data from the other drive, correct? The information given by Bare Foot kid is correct.

After the new install you can use the other drive for data only, once you're done you can transfer the wanted data to your new install drive, reformat the other drive and have it used for data storage. Once you reformat the drive it will be a clean new drive without the old OS or data.

AddRAM · 25 Aug 2012

Your latest install will always boot 1st by default. It will boot into your latest install and then you can explore the older drive.

You should now have a bootscreen showing both W7 installs with a 30 second timer, just hit enter to choose the OS that`s already highlighted.

gregrocker · 25 Aug 2012

Don't install the new OS while the old HD is plugged in, or it will configure a Dual Boot while placing the boot files on the older HD so that the new install can't boot on its own.

Instead unplug the old HD while you're installing WIn7 to the new HD. Afterwards when you plug it back in, boot it using the one-time BIOS Boot menu described earlier by Bare Foot Kid.