How To Dual Boot Windows 7 And Windows Vista

Everton | Sep 07, 2009 | Comments

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In my opinion there is no reason why users should wait a few months for Windows 7 to bed in before upgrading, or for Windows 7 SP1 to be released as the product is good to use now.  I’ve been using the Windows 7 RTM build on all my machines as my main OS for a few months now without any issues at all.

But, there are some people who will want to be more cautious and not fully leave Windows Vista or XP behind.  If you have a big enough Hard Drive, then you can create a new disk partition to install Windows 7, so that when you start your machine you will be given the option of choosing Windows 7 or your older (inferior) OS.  This is also a way to ensure you don’t delete any old files until you are sure Windows 7 is working fully.

To create a New Disk Partition to Dual Boot Windows 7:

  • Open Control Panel and go to Administrative Tools and then Computer Management
  • Click on Disk Management (under Storage). In order to install Windows 7 you need to shrink one of your existing disk partitions to make room for Windows 7 – I recommend freeing up at least 40GB
  • Right-click on your biggest partition and click on Shrink Volume.  In the popup window enter the amount you want to shrink the disk by in the ‘Enter the amount of space to shrink in MB’.  Remember 1GB is roughly 1000MB, so enter 40000 if you want to create a 40GB partition
  • After you’ve done this, ‘Unallocated’ space will appear in Computer Management.  Right-click on this space and select ‘New Simple Volume’.  this will create your new partition
  • To install Windows 7 to your new partition just boot your PC with the Windows 7 installation disk, and install it to the new partition.
  • Once finished, when you boot your PC you will be given a choice of which OS to boot into

If in the future you want to delete one of the OSs, just follow the instructions above, but in Computer Management delete the unwanted partition and then right click on an existing partition and choose Extend Volume to add the freed up space.

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About the Author: Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and currently runs the Portal and online operations for one of the largest ISPs in the UK.He also writes for Windows 8 News, Connected Internet and One Tip A Day.

  • Name
    YOUR NEW LOGO SUCKS BTW!
  • MAC FANBOY - TROLL.. He's Still Venting From His Snow Leopard Let Down!... Even Laporte Says It's A Service Pack!..
  • mikehalsey
    I don't think that's a very helpful comment :(
  • I don't think that's a very helpful comment. :(
  • nk
    Remember, if you have the free space but still cannot shrink the partition, you must first consolidate all your files to the beginning of the disk. Some files get allocated on the end of the partition and Windows' Disk Manager will not move the files for you.

    There are many free tools to do so, and one of them is JKDefrag ( http://kessels.com/JkDefrag/ ).
    Its interface is very simplistic, but there are many command-line options, one being "-a 5" which moves all files to the beginning of the partition.
  • I Like Piriform's Defraggler.. Still not as advanced as JKDefrag but JKDefrag is over my head IMO.. It seemed slow and hard to control.. Tested approx a year ago..
  • nk
    I cited JK 'cause it's what I use. It's lightweight and it seemed pretty fast to me.

    I agree with you about it being hard to control. Its interface doesn't have any buttons at all, and you must rely on command-line options to control it, which is bad since most Windows users dislike typing commands.

    I never tried Piriform's, but from searching a bit, it seems the equivalent option is the "Action > Advanced > Defrag free space (allow fragmentation)".
  • Now comes my real question... Can you put 7 on and the load Vista after? Problems with bootloader etc I guess?
  • nk
    I think it shouldn't be a problem, since they use the same bootloader (although different versions). Probably you may have to add Windows 7 entry manually.

    If something goes wrong, you can simply load Windows 7 repair console and fix the bootloader using the "bootrec" command-line tool.

    Just be sure to backup your original boot configuration data (bcdedit /export C:\backup\BCD) before doing anything.
  • If you don't want to worry about partitioning all together you can also install the OS into a Virtual Hard Drive. There are many guides out on the internet on how to do this I think there is even an article on this site. Look up install Windows 7 into a VHD.

    I did a VHD install on a family computer from Dell since it already had five partitions. Works great and gives the family a chance to demo the new OS.
  • mohammadmotiurrahman
    Wounderfull, Now I am also here with Software Testing and have tested that this is the best way to increase partition size and space.

    Thanx n Regard
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