backup question before installing windows 7 in dual boot

i want' to try windows 7, but i don't want to lose vista since windows 7
is just an RC and could still cause some crashes. my option is giving
dual booting a try.

i have read many tutorials on how to do it, and im pretty confident
that i can do it.

the problem is, i don't have DVD's to backup my vista, and i still dont
know yet how many DVD's my files will consume if i have 50-60 GB in my
drive C:.
i also have external DVD writer, but im not sure if that will work
flawlessly since it's external.

My questions are:
can i install windows 7 on a different partition without booting from
DVD? (I installed my vista over XP without booting from DVD).

can i install windows 7 on a different partition using a virtual drive?

what are the chances that windows 7 installation will fail during
installation?

can i still boot vista if windows 7 installation fails?

is it possible to do system restore if installation and vista won't
boot?

and finally,

is windows 7 worth the trouble and risk of going thru all these?

i will base my decisions on your answers since this is the most
intellectual vista forum i've seen so far. thank you very much to all
who will spend the time to help me!


--
rakcs

rakcs;1084657 Wrote:
> i want' to try windows 7, but i don't want to lose vista since windows 7
> is just an RC and could still cause some crashes. my option is giving
> dual booting a try.
>
> i have read many tutorials on how to do it, and im pretty confident
> that i can do it.
>
> the problem is, i don't have DVD's to backup my vista, and i still dont
> know yet how many DVD's my files will consume if i have 50-60 GB in my
> drive C:.
> i also have external DVD writer, but im not sure if that will work
> flawlessly since it's external.
>
> My questions are:
> can i install windows 7 on a different partition without booting from
> DVD? (I installed my vista over XP without booting from DVD).
>
> can i install windows 7 on a different partition using a virtual drive?
>
> what are the chances that windows 7 installation will fail during
> installation?
>
> can i still boot vista if windows 7 installation fails?
>
> is it possible to do system restore if installation and vista won't
> boot?
>
> and finally,
>
> is windows 7 worth the trouble and risk of going thru all these?
>
> i will base my decisions on your answers since this is the most
> intellectual vista forum i've seen so far. thank you very much to all
> who will spend the time to help me!

1. You are well advised to backup all your data before you go into this
adventure - and you should backup your data periodically anyhow. I do it
weekly. For that you need an external disk (forget DVDs). Here you find
what's on offer today for reasonable prices: 'Deals2buy: Storage Devices
deals' (http://www.deals2buy.com/more/c117.htm)

2. You can install W7 in a seperate partition and do double booting:
That, however, may present a few challenges if you have never done it.

3. As an approach with little risk you can install W7 in a virtual
partition. A while ago I put together a little tutorial that describes
the process. 'Tutorial: How to install Windows7 in a Virtual Partition «
How-To Geek Forums'
(http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic...tion?replies=7)

4. What I have done is install W7 on a second Sata in my system. I
disconnected my Vista HDD so that W7 would only find the second disk.
Thus I got 2 completely independent systems that I switch with th BIOS.
That, however, only works if you have 2 or more disks in your system.


--
whs

hi, thanks for the reply.

so, no. 3 is running windows 7 on a virtual PC? or like running windows
7 on a virtual PC but not exactly?

no.4 wont work for me because i'm using a laptop.

if i will try no. 3, is it safe if i backup my files on drive C: and
not on any other external devices?
i also have have only 1Gb of RAM. is that enough to run it?


--
rakcs

This groups is for Vista... For Windows 7 there are forums...

The support forum for the Windows 7 is:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...egory/w7itpro/

Other forums are:
http://www.sevenforums.com/ <---- my favorite
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/forumdisplay.php?f=16
http://www.w7forums.com/


--
Windows 7 RC
http://get.live.com/wlmail/overview
http://download.live.com/wlmail

"rakcs" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:743e1914166b769cd458e2a69e7a44bd@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> i want' to try windows 7, but i don't want to lose vista since windows 7
> is just an RC and could still cause some crashes. my option is giving
> dual booting a try.
>
> i have read many tutorials on how to do it, and im pretty confident
> that i can do it.
>
> the problem is, i don't have DVD's to backup my vista, and i still dont
> know yet how many DVD's my files will consume if i have 50-60 GB in my
> drive C:.
> i also have external DVD writer, but im not sure if that will work
> flawlessly since it's external.
>
> My questions are:
> can i install windows 7 on a different partition without booting from
> DVD? (I installed my vista over XP without booting from DVD).
>
> can i install windows 7 on a different partition using a virtual drive?
>
> what are the chances that windows 7 installation will fail during
> installation?
>
> can i still boot vista if windows 7 installation fails?
>
> is it possible to do system restore if installation and vista won't
> boot?
>
> and finally,
>
> is windows 7 worth the trouble and risk of going thru all these?
>
> i will base my decisions on your answers since this is the most
> intellectual vista forum i've seen so far. thank you very much to all
> who will spend the time to help me!
>
>
> --
> rakcs

rakcs;1084697 Wrote:
> hi, thanks for the reply.
>
> so, no. 3 is running windows 7 on a virtual PC? or like running windows
> 7 on a virtual PC but not exactly?
>
> no.4 wont work for me because i'm using a laptop.
>
> if i will try no. 3, is it safe if i backup my files on drive C: and
> not on any other external devices?

Solution #3 is pretty safe. But you really should backup your data
from time to time. And for that you need an external device - whereby an
external disk gives you the best beat for the buck. I just bought two
640GB drives for just $70 each. Backing up on C:, which is most likely
your OS disk partition, makes no sense at all.
Running W7 in e.g. Virtual Box has one big advantage. You can switch
between Vista and W7 with 1 click. Just be aware that the system needs a
few minutes before superfetch rearranges the real estate. So the first
few minutes, Vista will be pretty slow when you switch to it. But that
gets better with every minute.
I do not know how much RAM you have. For the Virtual Box and W7 you
should allocate about 1GB of RAM. The rest of your RAM is then for Vista
- hopefully at least 1GB, 2GBs would be better in case you have a total
of 3GBs or more.


--
whs

If you dont have an external device to Image or at least backup data to,
dont even try

"rakcs" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:26324868ba0f1702450bb7d849fd6351@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> hi, thanks for the reply.
>
> so, no. 3 is running windows 7 on a virtual PC? or like running windows
> 7 on a virtual PC but not exactly?
>
> no.4 wont work for me because i'm using a laptop.
>
> if i will try no. 3, is it safe if i backup my files on drive C: and
> not on any other external devices?
> i also have have only 1Gb of RAM. is that enough to run it?
>
>
> --
> rakcs

rakcs;1084697 Wrote:
> hi, thanks for the reply.
>
> so, no. 3 is running windows 7 on a virtual PC? or like running windows
> 7 on a virtual PC but not exactly?
>
> no.4 wont work for me because i'm using a laptop.
>
> if i will try no. 3, is it safe if i backup my files on drive C: and
> not on any other external devices?
> i also have have only 1Gb of RAM. is that enough to run it?

Rereading your post I just noticed that you have only 1GB of RAM. That
is a little tight for a virtual partition setup. Sorry I did not catch
that immediately. But upgrading your RAM is easy and does not cost much.
Scan your computer here ( 'RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP,
Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com'
(http://www.crucial.com/index.aspx?gc...20081213201317)
) and you will know what your options and the cost are.


--
whs