An additional drive with Windows 7

[Bobcock]

I fancy trying Windows 7.

I don't wanbt to dismantle my PC in case I don't want to continue. I've built my own PC's for the last 10 years but I wouldn't call myself that great at IT so I have the following questions if anyone does know, they should be quite simple, I'll figure the details for myself.

I just wanna buy a new HDD, install W7 and set it up as a bootable option. From there I can try the programs I use most on it and see if they work.

Q1. Which version of 7 should I buy? a home 32 bit version or a pro 64. I usually use Pro versions because they seem to be better with my bigger applications, but I'm assuming all software i run now will be 32 bit so I should buy a 32 bit.

Q2. Readily available and easy to use from Panthip? Or has MS finally found a reliable way to stop piracy.

Q3. Is it easy to set up two drives so that I am asked which one to use when booting up. (I'll do some full research on how at the time)

Q4. I have a AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+ 2.61 GHz, 2GB RAM. Enough to handle this?

The current system is XP Pro SP2.

Cheers

[Butterfly]

why change when everything else work ? do not fix when it's not broken or else you will be sorry

if you need an OS to to toy around, I would recommend trying MacOS X, or better yet, those legacy OS like Apple IIe emulators, C128, and even Amiga

a lot of endless hours of fun

[Marmite the Dog]

Q1. Which version of 7 should I buy? a home 32 bit version or a pro 64. I usually use Pro versions because they seem to be better with my bigger applications, but I'm assuming all software i run now will be 32 bit so I should buy a 32 bit.

Why not DL a torrent? This one looks OK

Q2. Readily available and easy to use from Panthip? Or has MS finally found a reliable way to stop piracy.

Should be able to buy from Pantip - There are 2 cracks available. Read this.

Q3. Is it easy to set up two drives so that I am asked which one to use when booting up. (I'll do some full research on how at the time)

Yes. Read this.

Q4. I have a AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+ 2.61 GHz, 2GB RAM. Enough to handle this? The current system is XP Pro SP2.

Yes, and it'll be quicker than XP. The only think that may be missing (if you have an archaic VGA card) is the Aero effect. Not a huge loss, but it's quite nice.

I run W7 on a 1.5Gb laptop, an 8 year old desktop and my 2 year old main PC and they all run better on 7 than with XP.

[Bobcock]

I have a very good graphics card due to my photography and use of 3D modelling software at work.

Cheers Marmers.

[Bobcock]

Oh marmers would I need to install a 32 bit version to continue using most of the software I have or is that not necessary?

[Bobcock]

why change when everything else work ? do not fix when it's not broken or else you will be sorry

Because when the political crisis is over what else am I going to sit in the pub and waffle on about?

[Muadib]

All your 32-bit software will work fine on the 64-bit version of Win 7... Plus your machine will be able to address more than 3 gb of RAM...

[Wallalai]

There is a tutorial here for "Dual boot with Windows seven & Win XP". And maybe more in the forum to help you.

Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP - Windows 7 Forums

[Bobcock]

OK, I've followed the instructions and now have a dual booting PC, I'm talking to you live from Windows 7. I used a second 500GB HDD for the Windows 7 installation.

I have two further questions which will seem a little dumb, but I'll ask them anyway.

1. It seems to me that whichever one you boot into has it's drive automatically set to C:/, with the other set to D:/ is that correct?

If that is the case, presumably it is easy to shed one of them as it would just revert to being C and there would be no problems.

2. I am assuming they are completely seperate systems and any program that is currently installed on Windows XP would have to be re-installed on Windows 7?

So for example my iTunes which is currently on XP (ass all programs, I've installed nothing yet) could only be accessed through XP. If i wanted to transfer it to W7 I would have to install, copy the Library across to the correct place and start again from there?

[Bobcock]

By the way marmers, i downloaded your torrent, I ain't never seen nuttin' so fast..... .45MB per second, just about 2 hours fer the whole thing. I didn't think speeds like that were available....5555

[melvbot]

I cant be arsed digging around for the specs

Ive got a P4 2.6ghz with about 512mb RAM but only a 20gig HDD, any idea if it will fit/run on it?

[slackula]

By the way marmers, i downloaded your torrent, I ain't never seen nuttin' so fast..... .45MB per second, just about 2 hours fer the whole thing. I didn't think speeds like that were available....5555

It seems to get like that on public holidays & long weekends, I guess it's because all the govt. office workers are at home instead of playing games on sanook.com.

I downloaded three seasons of Desperate Housewives (for the Mrs ), ~22GB, in about 10 hours, normally it would have taken weeks.

[Marmite the Dog]

2. I am assuming they are completely seperate systems and any program that is currently installed on Windows XP would have to be re-installed on Windows 7?

Yes.

Ive got a P4 2.6ghz with about 512mb RAM but only a 20gig HDD, any idea if it will fit/run on it?

Easily - if it runs XP, it'll run W7.

[Bobcock]

Thanks, I'm just going to install program by program onto W7 until I make XP redundant on my machine. Other than having to look for a few things I like W7 and it seems to make things I've tested faster so far (new installation of course it would)

So Marmite, out of interest, why do you maintain 2 OS?

[Norton]

Desperate Housewives

Did she like it? If so will download for my wife. With Isaan internet should be done in a couple of weeks.

Will try Marmers torrent as well.

[bsnub]

Windows 7 is the shit. Don't let the haters stop any of you who are thinking of upgrading. Marmers links are spot on. I have downloaded the same torrent and have been running it for months, furthermore I have not paid for any software in sometime. I have some invites left to send if anyone wants to join demoniod.com and also have some access to some very nice private torrents sites if anyone is interested. Very fast d/l speeds...

[at]Bobcock

Dump xp and free up that drive space!

If any of you are having trouble do not hesitate to send me a PM. I can help trouble shoot almost any issue with a torrent be it a game, windows, or an app. There is a procedure to follow when installing cracked software. Photoshop anyone? Hahaha!!

[slackula]

Did she like it? If so will download for my wife. With Isaan internet should be done in a couple of weeks. Will try Marmers torrent as well.

Short answer: She loves it.

I don't want to threadjack Bobcock's thread so PM sent.

[bsnub]

Did she like it? If so will download for my wife. With Isaan internet should be done in a couple of weeks. Will try Marmers torrent as well.

Short answer: She loves it.

I don't want to threadjack Bobcock's thread so PM sent.

Then why even post this?

[Bobcock]

bsnub

Program by program I will, once it's done I'll have a nice empty 400GB drive to fill up with more pics (though I actually keep all those on two 1TB external drives)

[DaffyDuck]

The real question is - do you currently have more than 3GB of RAM in your system?

If you do, and you actually want to use it, you'll need the 64-bit version of the operating system. Your 32-bit programs will continue to work just fine, as long as you run latest versions.

Get yourself an external hard drive (eSATA or FireWire interfaces, as they would be faster), plug it in, and install Win7 on the external drive.

Now, you can try it out, without needing to fear wiping out your existing installation, and you can always go back to it, if need be.

Done.

[Norton]

eSATA or FireWire interfaces, as they would be faster

I have only USB. Too slow?

[Bobcock]

DD

I've already done it on a spare 500GB internal HDD that I had lying around.

If it didn't work I'd just take that out.

I have 2 GB RAM and I installed the 64 bit version in case I want to upgrade.

So far so good, i'll just install the programs at my leisure and when finished format the XP drive.

[Marmite the Dog]

So Marmite, out of interest, why do you maintain 2 OS?

I used the old PC to test the OS and the 'pirate' features and had no problem. The reason I have XP on the old PC is that the DVD drive couldn't read the disc I made, so I had to install is from a virtual drive on the XP system. That old PC is fekked, but Win7 flies on it.

The laptop is only used for watching movies on at night, so I just played with it, but I only have W7 on it.

My main machine only has W7 as there's no need to keep XP. It's only a couple of years old and I've had no problems at all with it, unlike the other 2 where I had to find solutions for out of production drivers.

[bsnub]

eSATA or FireWire interfaces, as they would be faster

I have only USB. Too slow?

USB will work just fine.

[Bobcock]

All's well and good then.