Possible to Dual boot from one backup image?

AddRAM said:

As stated, you can not use a Home Premium key to activate Ultimate and vice versa.

A retail key or an oem key (not branded) will work to activate windows, it doesn`t matter. A retail disc and an OEM disc (not branded) are the same exact thing.

I agree with David, do not name partitions A or B :)

But if it has data pertinent to Windows...say it`s a games partition/drive then do not change it`s letter. A strictly data partition or drives letter can be changed and nothing bad should happen, but it`s best to setup your partitions and drives as soon as you can after installing Windows.

Nowadays, I really don`t think it would cause any issues on a Data partition, it`s a really old rule, and people just don`t do it.

All about drive letters and drive names | PCWorld

But there is one rule we can all agree on, never change the drive letter that windows is installed on, which will always be C, unless it`s installed from within windows where C of course will already be taken.

Thanks for clarifying the way keys are handled.
You're right, it's not strictly a data partition as the games and few bits of software are integrated into the OS. I should consider migrating stand alone media (docs/pics/videos/music) to a seperate partition in the future.
This begs the question as to how drive lettering will be handled for the second, dual boot copy of Windows 7. It's the C drive of course and I'm clueless as to how 2 C drives will reconcile, or if I assigning it a different letter will break the installation.

DavidE said:

You already have a bootloader in the System Reserved partition, you don't need to do anything special to create it.
In Disk Management you should see System Reserved as the Active, System partition, that shows where the bootloader is that was used to start Windows.
You should see C as the Boot partition that shows where Windows is running from.

That's why i wanted to see a DM screen print, to make sure it's the way i think it is from your description.

Yea, i understand about A being entangled and the work/risk involved trying to change the drive letter.
I've never used A for a drive letter, so i have no personal experience.
I've read others do run into problems.

If A is for games plus applications I'm not sure what you might run into if you "share/use" this partition with both OS's.
I install all programs on the C drive, the OS + Programs partition.
To me it seems if you use A for both OS's, you will have Games on your Work OS
I think if you update program xyz in OS1 it will no longer work in OS2.
I'm not a gamer, so i can't comment on that.

Data can be updated on a "Shared" drive, but i wouldn't share Installed Programs for different OS's.
I do have "Portable Apps" and "Data" partitions that i share/use for multiple OS's, but they are not Installed programs, they are Portable.

Thank you for answering that question.
I'm 99% sure that's exactly the way it is, but I'll definitely check.
You're absolutely right. The few programs are the biggest concern and only a moderate issue but it seems very sub-optimal.
I've learned much in a short period of time tonight it seems. I grow less satisfied with the current installation the more I'm learning. It's tempting to start from scratch again or at least an earlier backup...for the second OS partition at least, it makes sense. If I move the software off the A drive and use it for games, then create a new partition strictly for stand alone media, that may be well enough.

Witch version did you installed, Win 7 HP or Win 7 ultimate? Witch one is the OEM? Both are 64 bits?
If you have installed Win 7 HP OEM and has an image of the C drive:
- Running Win 7 HP launch the Win 7 ultimate installation (same bit version, 32 or 64) and do an upgrade. When it finish, you'll be running Win 7 Ultimate.
- With disk manager make a new partition for the Win 7 HP (~80G). Extract Win 7 HP from the image you created.
- Under Win 7 Ultimate, run Easy BCD and add the Win 7 HP to the boot loader.

AddRAM said:

It`s only C when you boot into it, the other Windows install will show up as another letter.

Don`t change it`s letter at all, there`s no need to.

I think I understand. If I restore a backup of C: alongside the existing C: drive, I think Macrium will automatically give it a different letter, but it seems that won't be an issue, as it will be assigned as the C: partition when in use.

Megahertz07 said:

Witch version did you installed, Win 7 HP or Win 7 ultimate? Witch one is the OEM? Both are 64 bits?
If you have installed Win 7 HP OEM and has an image of the C drive:
- Running Win 7 HP launch the Win 7 ultimate installation (same bit version, 32 or 64) and do an upgrade. When it finish, you'll be running Win 7 Ultimate.
- With disk manager make a new partition for the Win 7 HP (~80G). Extract Win 7 HP from the image you created.
- Under Win 7 Ultimate, run Easy BCD and add the Win 7 HP to the boot loader.

You're correct: W7 HP OEM is installed and backed up, W7 Ultimate Retail is unused, both X64. I've got to see about a bootable version of Easy BCD, it seems like it would be even more useful if on DVD/USB.

I wasn't sure a regular key was the same as an upgrade key. That's a great idea. I'm not familiar with the upgrade process...If it doesn't force Windows update back to square one and revert a lot of my customizations, I'll probably do that.

Thanks everyone, you've been a huge help. At this point I'm leaning towards wiping the drive and restoring a clean image of the up to date OS and starting from there, because I really like the idea of a separating gaming/media/portable apps into different partitions, but if I can manage to move the libraries and software off of A drive without screwing things up, I may go that route.

- To do an upgrade from Win 7 HP you run the Win 7 Ultimate installation setup while running Win 7 HP. When it finish, you'll be running Win 7 Ultimate.
- With disk manager make a new partition for the Win 7 HP (~80G). Extract Win 7 HP from the image you created.
- Under Win 7 Ultimate, run Easy BCD and add the Win 7 HP to the boot loader. You don't need to create a Easy BCD bootable disk. Install it on the Win 7 Ultimate and add to the Win 7 Ultimate boot loader a call to Win 7 HP. When you boot there will be two options: Win 7 Ultimate and Win 7 HP.