Having two copies of Vista on one computer

[alabamabon33]

Right now I have a single 640 gig HDD that everything's on. I've got a laptop too that I'm gonna be taking out on rotations eventually.

I wanted to get a new smaller (250GB) HDD and put my Vista on that, so my 640 will be data only (then I could take it with me in an external enclosure and leave the desktop for my mom to use til I come back and collect it). I was gonna DBAN the 640, but I wanted to get the data off of it first- about 170 GB of stuff that I'd rather not lose.

My question is-

Can I install Vista on the smaller drive, boot with that, and access files on the other drive? Would it work if there's another Vista running on the other drive? (both SATA).

Is there any way I can go about doing this?

 

[alabamabon33]

Note- I won't be leaving it like this, of course. Just starting up long enough to transfer the files temporarily to the smaller HDD.

 

[SIW2]

Hi,

You should be able to do that, as there won't be 2 instances running - you will only boot into one.

Hope it helps

SIW2

 

[MrNeeds]

it will be dual boot, it should come up with your edition of windows 2x when you first turn on your computer, EG/ you will have to go for a clean install and install onto the smaller hard drive, you will then have "Windows vista (TM) home premium" one above the other, will get confusing lol, you wont know which is which first of all. so the newest one should be at the top.

 

[johngalt]

Yes, you can, but there will be a caveat - the new HD - if you leave the old one plugged in when installing to the new HD, then you'll get as Mr. Needs states - since you want this to be an independent HD, disconnect your old one first - then Vista won't try to alter the boot files on the old HD, and will install *everything* it needs to boot onto the new HD.

After that is done, power down, reconnect the old HD, and then use the boot menu to select the new HD to boot off of - then you'll be able to see the files, and (provided you use the exact same name and password) be able to access them pretty easily. You may still run into some problems here, though, in that The new Vista install may see the old Vista install, recognize it for a bootable device, and may throw up warnings that you are trying to access data on a different boot drive.

 

[Tepid]

woops,,, edit....

Just get the external enclosure, and drop the 640G in it.
Then install the 250 and OS, then hook up the 640 as the external drive after you boot into windows completely on the new drive.
Problem solved and you won't have to worry about competing boot drives.

When you DBAN the 640, be sure to remove the 250 first.

One more thing. I would copy the data to the 250, then DBAN the 640 and then copy the data to the 640 as a backup.

 

[alabamabon33]

One more thing. I would copy the data to the 250, then DBAN the 640 and then copy the data to the 640 as a backup.

Actually, that's what I was gunning for- use the 250 as the new boot AND a temporary storage device while I clean the 640, then send it back once it's cleaned.

But I should definitely get and use the enclosure first, to avoid all the problems?

 

[Dzomlija]

One more thing. I would copy the data to the 250, then DBAN the 640 and then copy the data to the 640 as a backup.

Actually, that's what I was gunning for- use the 250 as the new boot AND a temporary storage device while I clean the 640, then send it back once it's cleaned.

But I should definitely get and use the enclosure first, to avoid all the problems?

The absolute safest way to achieve what you want with a minimum of fuss and the greatest chance of success would be to use "Acronis TrueImage" to clone the large hard disk over onto the small one. When that is done, you will be prompted to remove the large drive. From there, you will be able to boot from the small drive as though nothing has changed.

When you are happy with the results, plug the large hard disk back in and format it.

 

[MrNeeds]

One more thing. I would copy the data to the 250, then DBAN the 640 and then copy the data to the 640 as a backup.

Actually, that's what I was gunning for- use the 250 as the new boot AND a temporary storage device while I clean the 640, then send it back once it's cleaned.

But I should definitely get and use the enclosure first, to avoid all the problems?

The absolute safest way to achieve what you want with a minimum of fuss and the greatest chance of success would be to use "Acronis TrueImage" to clone the large hard disk over onto the small one. When that is done, you will be prompted to remove the large drive. From there, you will be able to boot from the small drive as though nothing has changed.

When you are happy with the results, plug the large hard disk back in and format it.

or norton ghost, reliable and safe.

 

[bruce2]

Actually, that's what I was gunning for- use the 250 as the new boot AND a temporary storage device while I clean the 640, then send it back once it's cleaned.

But I should definitely get and use the enclosure first, to avoid all the problems?

The absolute safest way to achieve what you want with a minimum of fuss and the greatest chance of success would be to use "Acronis TrueImage" to clone the large hard disk over onto the small one. When that is done, you will be prompted to remove the large drive. From there, you will be able to boot from the small drive as though nothing has changed.

When you are happy with the results, plug the large hard disk back in and format it.

or norton ghost, reliable and safe.

Hi alabamabon33, the last time I checked, Norton Ghost is not compatible with Vista 64 bit. Acronis TM is the way to go, nice and simple just as Dsomlija suggested.
Good luck.