Solved Dual Boot

[kpitao]

Hello all,

I need some information to help me change the setup on my pc. My current setup is like this:
I have a 250gb SSD for my system files (windows 7) but I have two partitions with dual boot:

Partition A 180gb with my main Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Partition B 70gb with Windows 7 Pro

I want to keep both windows but I want to add a second drive and move the partition B into the new drive.
Is that possible without losing any data? If so, how should I do it?


Thank you

 

[LMiller7]

That could only be reasonably done with a data drive. Doing that with a partition containing an OS would render it inoperable.

 

[kpitao]

hummm ok, so let me think outside the box; what if I do this:

• "clone" the drive;
• go to the second drive (new hd) change the boot file to "boot" from the Windows 7 pro (was the second partition on the old drive)
• go to the second drive (new hd) use a partition software to remove the first partition Windows 7 Ultimate (was the first partition on the old drive)
• then, go back to the original drive use a partition software to remove the first second partition (Windows 7 pro)
• finally manually change the boot file to redirect the dual mode to the second drive.

is this possible?

 

[AddRAM]

Why would you remove the Ultimate install ?

And why do you need 2 versions of windows on the same PC ?????

 

[kpitao]

Why would you remove the Ultimate install ?

And why do you need 2 versions of windows on the same PC ?????

I don't want to remove it; please see my first post; I have two partitions on my main HD; I want to add a second drive and move the the PRO into the second drive.

I need the PRO (second version) for studying

 

[kpitao]

No one?

 

[DavidE]

Post a maximized screen print of Disk Management resizing fields so all info can be seen.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/274797-disk-management-post-screen-capture-image.html

 

[AddRAM]

You said this right there in your post

"go to the second drive (new hd) use a partition software to remove the first partition Windows 7 Ultimate (was the first partition on the old drive)"

 

[DavidE]

That's because in Post #3 kpitao asked if cloning was a possible approach.
If the HD is cloned there will be 2 HD's, and each HD will have 2 OS's.
Ultimate would need to be removed from 1 of the HD's, and Pro removed from the other.
That would leave each HD with one OS, Ultimate on one, and Pro on the other.
It's probably doable, but it's not the way i would do it.

 

[kpitao]

You said this right there in your post

"go to the second drive (new hd) use a partition software to remove the first partition Windows 7 Ultimate (was the first partition on the old drive)"

At the end of my post I asked if it was "possible" .... no one answer that

 

[kpitao]

That's because in Post #3 kpitao asked if cloning was a possible approach.
If the HD is cloned there will be 2 HD's, and each HD will have 2 OS's.
Ultimate would need to be removed from 1 of the HD's, and Pro removed from the other.
That would leave each HD with one OS, Ultimate on one, and Pro on the other.
It's probably doable, but it's not the way i would do it.

Thank you David. You did understood. Which would be a better or easy way do it?

Thanks

 

[DavidE]

Please post the Disk Management screen print i asked for in post #7.
Without seeing that info, i don't want to suggest things that might be wrong.

 

[kpitao]

Post a maximized screen print of Disk Management resizing fields so all info can be seen.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/274797-disk-management-post-screen-capture-image.html

I will do it later on... I'm also upgrading my "data hard drives". When I finished with that, I will physically install the other drive and I will upload the print screen.

Thanks

 

[DavidE]

OK, no problem.
I prefer using imaging rather than cloning.
I've used it for many years, and i know it's reliable for me.

 

[kpitao]

below is the screen shot:




So, I wan to move the "home Premium"partition (from disk 0) to the Disk 3

Thanks

 

[DavidE]

Here is what i would do.

Create a Backup Image of the Win 7 Home Premium OS partition, save it on the E drive.
Create a Backup Image of the Win 7 Ultimate OS partition, save it on the E drive.
I prefer using Macrium Reflect (free) for backup images.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html

I would temporarily disconnect the M drive and the P drive, so there are fewer drives while doing this.

Create a Primary Partition the size you want for the Win 7 Home Premium you are moving to the new Hard Drive (Disk 3).
Mark this new partition as Active.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/71432-partition-mark-active.html
Restore the Win 7 Home Premium backup Image you created earlier to the new Disk 3/Partition.
Make sure Disk 3 is still set as Active after the restore.
Shut down the PC.
Disconnect Disk 0, your current dual boot HD.
Boot the PC with a Win 7 install disc, bootable flash drive, or System Repair Disc.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2083-system-repair-disc-create.html

Run http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html
You may need to run Startup Repair up to 3 times to get the Disk 3 to boot up.
The Startup Repair will create the necessary boot files on Disk 3 for Win 7 Home Premium.
Make sure you can boot up with Disk 3, and everything looks ok.

Shut down the PC.
Reconnect Disk 0.
Boot the PC.
You should be able to use the one time boot option to choose which HD you want to boot with.
Make sure you can boot from each HD.

Boot up with Disk 3, or boot with a Partiton Wizard free bootable CD.
Bootable Partition Manger | MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable Edition
Delete the Win 7 Home Premium partition on Disk 0.
Resize the Disk 0 Win 7 Ultimate partition to use the unallocated space.

Reboot the PC with Disk 0 Win 7 Ultimate.
Install EasyBCD free (you don't have to register to download).
EasyBCD - NeoSmart Technologies
Run EasyBCD and delete the entry for Win 7 Home Premium that is no longer on Disk 0.

You could now also add a new entry for the Win 7 Home Premium that is on Disk 3.
If you don't add the new entry you will have to use the one time boot menu to override the default bios boot device.

Reconnect the M drive and the P drive, if you disconnected them.

You should now have a dual boot PC where you can boot from either HD.
If either HD fails or either OS gets corrupted, you should still be able to boot the PC with the other HD/OS.

 

[kpitao]

Thank you for the instructions David. However the Macrium software is not free anymore. From the this post http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html ... but there's a link on the post for WinPe CD; I guess I can use that right? Because it says there that can also be used to make images.

Thanks

** update: link for download was dead, found a new link, still free.

 

[DavidE]

Yes, you could download a Macrium Rescue ISO and burn it to a bootable CD.
You can also create your own rescue media if you installed Macrium.
If you're going to continue using Macrium, you should create a Rescue CD or flash stick in case your OS HD's crash.

Kari has a link to the latest Rescue ISO's available here:
http://www.sevenforums.com/3154375-post1568.html

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[CNA]

It is not possible to just copy and paste 1 Partition to New HDD, but somehowhow you can do it if you are a Tech expert.

 

[kpitao]

Here is what i would do.

Create a Backup Image of the Win 7 Home Premium OS partition, save it on the E drive.
Create a Backup Image of the Win 7 Ultimate OS partition, save it on the E drive.
I prefer using Macrium Reflect (free) for backup images.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html

I would temporarily disconnect the M drive and the P drive, so there are fewer drives while doing this.

Create a Primary Partition the size you want for the Win 7 Home Premium you are moving to the new Hard Drive (Disk 3).
Mark this new partition as Active.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/71432-partition-mark-active.html
Restore the Win 7 Home Premium backup Image you created earlier to the new Disk 3/Partition.
Make sure Disk 3 is still set as Active after the restore.
Shut down the PC.
Disconnect Disk 0, your current dual boot HD.
Boot the PC with a Win 7 install disc, bootable flash drive, or System Repair Disc.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2083-system-repair-disc-create.html

Run http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html
You may need to run Startup Repair up to 3 times to get the Disk 3 to boot up.
The Startup Repair will create the necessary boot files on Disk 3 for Win 7 Home Premium.
Make sure you can boot up with Disk 3, and everything looks ok.

Shut down the PC.
Reconnect Disk 0.
Boot the PC.
You should be able to use the one time boot option to choose which HD you want to boot with.
Make sure you can boot from each HD.

Boot up with Disk 3, or boot with a Partiton Wizard free bootable CD.
Bootable Partition Manger | MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable Edition
Delete the Win 7 Home Premium partition on Disk 0.
Resize the Disk 0 Win 7 Ultimate partition to use the unallocated space.

Reboot the PC with Disk 0 Win 7 Ultimate.
Install EasyBCD free (you don't have to register to download).
EasyBCD - NeoSmart Technologies
Run EasyBCD and delete the entry for Win 7 Home Premium that is no longer on Disk 0.

You could now also add a new entry for the Win 7 Home Premium that is on Disk 3.
If you don't add the new entry you will have to use the one time boot menu to override the default bios boot device.

Reconnect the M drive and the P drive, if you disconnected them.

You should now have a dual boot PC where you can boot from either HD.
If either HD fails or either OS gets corrupted, you should still be able to boot the PC with the other HD/OS.

It took me a little while but everything went ok; now I have my both partitions on different drives.

Thank you David