Dualboot set up system crashed BIG time

[BarrieNoodles]

I tried to set up a dual boot system ( Vista Ultimate and Win 7 Pro) this aft and my computer he miraged and froze up.
Finally got it working again but I don't know how, just luck.
I followed the recommendations and made copy of Win 7 on ISO disk, I think it works but I'm not sure, and I unplugged the drive which has Vista on it and tried to boot. My computer froze solid even before it loaded OS file.
Why do I need to unplug my C: drive? Is that the only way to do a clean install?

 

[BarrieNoodles]

To ad to the above post.
I have to do a clean install because you can't upgrade Vista Ultimate to Win 7 Pro.

 

[DocBrown]

If you want Vista & win7 on the same C: HD, then you will need to create a blank partition on C: for the win7 OS. If you want each OS on a different HD, it works best if you dis-connect the first HD with the OS on it.

 

[BarrieNoodles]

Thank for the quick reply DocBrown. Ihave lot of space on my C: drive so there is no problem to add a partition or two. I just thought that installing Win 7 on its own drive and partition was cleaner since I have a new 1TB 2nd HD. I don't know why my computer crashed when I unplugged the C: HD and I don't want to go through the problems getting it working again.
Is it OK to have both Vista and Win 7 on the same drive on separate partitions to dual boot. I really don't care, long as I can booth both OS.

 

[DocBrown]

Did you read Brink's Tutorial yet ?

:ar: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/5166-dual-boot-installation-windows-7-vista.html

 

[myzr7]

noddles. When you had both hard drives plugged in could you see your 1TB drive listed as a drive with a drive letter? Other than that can you put your win7 install disc in while booted into Vista and have set up exe start?
i think you have a bad install disk to make it crash like that. Good luck to you with dual boot, thats how I have had mine set up for a year now. Vista and win 7 no problems at all.

 

[gregrocker]

When you unplug the Vista HD to install Win7 to the new HD, you have to boot from the Win7 install DVD.

It sounds like you are not getting the prompt to boot the Win7 DVD so it is trying to start an empty HD.

I see in your other thread here that you may have an .exe which you either need to create into an ISO or download the ISO to burn the Win7 DVD using ImgBurn at 4x speed.

Then follow these steps to make sure your BIOS is configured to boot from DVD drive first: Boot from CD - How to Boot your Computer from a Bootable CD or DVD - Boot to CD

You will need to partition the HD using the Win7 DVD Custom>Drive options, then format before install.

When Win7 is installed, plug back in the Vista HD and boot it by tapping the one-time BIOS Boot Menu key which on Dell is F12, then select the Vista HD to boot. This keeps the HD's independent to come and go as you please.

Or you can leave Vista HD plugged in and run the Win7 installer from Vista or boot to install Win7. This will configure a Windows-managed Dual Boot which interlocks the HD's and makes either harder to remove later.