Dual Boot Windows 7 and Vista Ultimate

DDJJ · #1 November 21st, 2009, 11:20 PM

Shrunk my Windows 7 hard drive to create space for Vista Ultimate. Got Vista Ultimate to install and dual boot the PC.

Downloaded EasyBCD and istalled. Downloaded iReboot and installed. Since the dual boot entries already seemed to be in place when I first opened up EasyBCD, I really didn't make any changes.

Rebooting back and forth between Win 7 and Vista didn't seem to be any faster than usual, so I downloaded and installed the EasyBCD beta 76. Doesn't seem to make any difference either.

Can anybody see what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!

Dan

Coolname007 · #2 November 21st, 2009, 11:23 PM

Hi Dan, welcome to NST.
What exactly is your problem??
You think it should be booting faster than it is?
iReboot is not supposed to make it reboot faster (at least not as far as the normal startup of the OS is concerned), though it will technically make it a little faster, since you wont have to select the entry in the boot menu. But the point of iReboot is to reboot directly into another OS, not necessarily startup that OS any faster than normal.

DDJJ · #3 November 21st, 2009, 11:26 PM

OK. Maybe I'm looking at this wrong. I was expecting it to be a LOT faster...I see what you're saying, except then what is the benefit of iReboot other than skipping the one entry in the boot menu? Thanks for the quick feedback!

Coolname007 · #4 November 21st, 2009, 11:29 PM

The benefit of using iReboot is the ability to reboot straight into another OS, so you can be busy doing something else while the computer is rebooting.

Normally, one would have to wait around for it to reach the boot menu at reboot, then select the entry, and choose to boot it. iReboot removes those additional steps, and allows you to directly reboot into another OS.

So, in short, I guess its a tool for the lazy or impatient (never used it myself, btw).

DDJJ · #5 November 21st, 2009, 11:33 PM

To save you some time, I think I'm answering my own question here. Since I do need to boot between OSs on a fairly frequent basis, iReboot does make that both a simpler and a little faster.

The irony is that I need to go back to Vista a lot because my hardware supports Virtual PC in Vista, but not in Win 7. So I was probably hoping for a reboot that was about as fast as bringing up a different OS using Virtual PC (whick I think is pretty darn fast most of the time!).

Anyway, thanks for the help. I will continue playing with this.

Dan

Coolname007 · #6 November 21st, 2009, 11:36 PM

Yeah, a virtual install will obviously be quicker in switching back and forth than a real install.
Why not use W7 in Virtual PC then?

DDJJ · #7 November 21st, 2009, 11:42 PM

Hadn't thought of that. On the other hand, I was not aware of the hardware problem when I installed W7 over Vista. At that point, I couldn't go back. Plus, I REALLY like W7 (not that I didn't like Vista, but...). Oh well...I'll think about adding a virtual W7 to my Vista install now. Cheers!

Coolname007 · #8 November 21st, 2009, 11:44 PM

If you installed W7 over Vista, how do you still have Vista? Or did you mean you installed it to a separate partition?
(Personally I hate Vista)

DDJJ · #9 November 21st, 2009, 11:52 PM

Installed it to a separate partition. Yes, the more I'm using W7, the more I'm recognizing issues in Vista.