Two OS - Shared Software?

[mgpxl]

Hi Everybody!

First post - will try to make this short, as I have a tendency to be rather wordy..

I have a machine with 1 TB SATA HDD with Windows 8.1, and a 2nd 350 GB HDD for work backup (no OS on that one).

I just received a new Solid State Drive which I would like to load Windows 7. Quesions.

1. If I Boot with 7, would I not be able to use the programs installed currently on my 8 drive?
2. Would I need to reinstall programs with 7 to load them from 7? (I will be reinstalling some programs on my new SSD to take advantage, but not all)
3. As my SSD is small, I would like to still have access to programs from my 8 drive. Should I partition my 8 drive for use from 7?

What is my best course of action given I want to be able to use certain programs from both operating systems? (if possible).

Thank you everyone.

 

[Lexluethar]

1. You won't be able to access those programs unless you reinstalled them while in windows 7. The registry keys and DLLs won't be present on the new windows 7 installation.
2. Yes
3. You can do this if you are worried about space - you will have to partition the windows 8 drive using gparted or something similar. Once partitions go into windows 7 and add the new partition (careful not to select the wrong partition otherwise you'll wipe your win 8 install) and when installing programs point them to the other partition.

 

[carnageX]

Honestly depends on the software. I've been able to run "some" software on one OS's partition from another. However, that's not always the case because of the reasons Lex stated in point 1. To find out which ones you can do it with...you'll just have to try and rune the executable from the software's install directory to see if it works. If it doesn't...then you'll have to install the software on the secondary OS as well.