Upgrade dualbootVista32/XP ->Vista32/Win7-64bit

bengo

Member
Hi, I've searched the site for a clear answer, but could not quite find one. I've got two HD's, one with Vista32 and the other with XP on it. The bootstuff is on the Vista-install. I'd like to replace my XP with a fresh install of Win7-64bit. How would I go about this best ? Thank you.
 
Format the XP HDD and repartition it as you want it.
You can Install W7 to the space allocated for it with Vista visible as "system", in which case it should add itself automatically to the existing Vista BCD and have no boot files on the W7 HDD.
My personal preference would be to partition the HDD as required, disconnect Vista temporarily, Install W7 to the allocated partition, and after it has successfully completed and is booting as a single system, reconnect the VIsta HDD, boot W7 and use EasyBCD to add an entry to the W7 BCD for Vista.
That way you will get a dual-boot controlled by the newer boot manager, and you will also retain an emergency fallback.
Should the W7 HDD ever crash and burn, a simple BIOS change will resume the status quo ante and Vista will still boot from the previous untouched BCD ( from which you can just delete the XP BCD entry using EasyBCD "Edit boot menu")
 
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