Installing W7 on Vista computer... how to keep vista?

[Sawyer]

Pardon me if this is n00b question lol but maybe yall can help...

I have a PC with Vista on it, it was an HP so it didn't come with a setup disk, only a recovery disk. Was going to just use the recovery disk to reinstall vista but now I've decided I'm going to put W7 on it. But I don't want to lose the vista OS that is on it...

The computer has the C: drive which is the main one of course with the Vista OS on it, and it has D: drive which is the recovery partition, and there is the recovery DVD-ROM (actually, two, disk one and disk 2) of course. So, would I be able to just install W7 on the C: partition, overwriting the Vista OS... then later if I wanted could I still use the recovery disk to reinstall vista?

Yeah yeah I know what you're gonna say, why would I ever want to reinstall vista lol

 

[PunkTech]

Simply use your hard drive manager/partition manager in your administration tools and create the amount of space you need to install Windows 7 in a new partition. Be sure to format that space first and make sure you are using space you have left not space you are currently using.

And when installing Windows 7 remember to choose the right partition.

Btw you could have used Google or Youtube.

 

[Sawyer]

Yeah partitioning is exactly what I want to avoid, since it's not actually my computer... and doesn't partitioning wipe it anyway? or at least the part that you take it from...

 

[DoubleHelix]

You can't install Windows 7 with Vista without partitioning the drive. If this isn't really your computer, I would suggest not making any changes to it.

 

[Sawyer]

Well vista wouldn't be used if windows 7 was on there, but the 'owner' doesn't want to totally get rid of the ability to have it without buying it again, so it doesn't matter if vista was actually installed or not...

Basically, lets say if I wiped all the data off of the C: partition, would I still be able to reinstall vista using the recovery disk and recovery partition?

 

[joelm3103]

I think partitioning is the only way you would have both without affecting the other. I'm not to familiar with the Administrative tools, but 3rd party programs has the ability to split partitions, so you can take the space out of 1 if it's not in use and make another.

You can check out http://www.techist.com/forums/f9/gparted-usage-tutorial-224994/ for a free software that I think should allow you to do it. If not you can check out this Paragon Partition Manager - hard disk partitioning software, resize, merge & split partitions.

 

[Sawyer]

I think partitioning is the only way you would have both without affecting the other. I'm not to familiar with the Administrative tools, but 3rd party programs has the ability to split partitions, so you can take the space out of 1 if it's not in use and make another.

You can check out http://www.techist.com/forums/f9/gparted-usage-tutorial-224994/ for a free software that I think should allow you to do it. If not you can check out this Paragon Partition Manager - hard disk partitioning software, resize, merge & split partitions.

Thanks

The owner doesnt care about being able to use both (multiboot) but does want to have the ability to recover vista... so basically lets say all data on the C: partition was wiped off, would vista still be recoverable via the revoery disks and recovery partition.

@ moderators, sorry for the earlier posts, didnt notice the moderation notice thing, you can delete them

 

[joelm3103]

Thanks

The owner doesnt care about being able to use both (multiboot) but does want to have the ability to recover vista... so basically lets say all data on the C: partition was wiped off, would vista still be recoverable via the revoery disks and recovery partition.

@ moderators, sorry for the earlier posts, didnt notice the moderation notice thing, you can delete them

If you wipe the main or "C:" partition and wanted to recover it, it can be done I suppose by the use of the Recovery Partition or Recovery Disc you have. That would allow you to reinstall Vista to how you got it, including bundled software. However any 3rd party software you installed, would not be recovered and you would have to manually reinstall it. Also personal data would not be recovered.

Recovery disc
"A recovery disc is a general term for media containing a backup of the original factory condition or favored condition of a computer as configured by an original equipment manufacturer or an end-user. OEM supplied recovery media is commonly shipped with most computers to allow the user to reformat the hard drive and reinstall the operating system and pre-loaded software as it was when it was shipped."

 

[Sawyer]

If you wipe the main or "C:" partition and wanted to recover it, it can be done I suppose by the use of the Recovery Partition or Recovery Disc you have. That would allow you to reinstall Vista to how you got it, including bundled software. However any 3rd party software you installed, would not be recovered and you would have to manually reinstall it. Also personal data would not be recovered.

Yeah, thats what I'm thinking, I figure if I install windows 7 on the C: partition (and bypass any options to create a recovery partition during w7 setup if there is any) then theoretically that would work.

 

[joelm3103]

Yeah, thats what I'm thinking, I figure if I install windows 7 on the C: partition (and bypass any options to create a recovery partition during w7 setup if there is any) then theoretically that would work.

Yup, just don't delete of mess with the Recovery Partition that you already got, just to be safe. Why would you want to downgrade back to Vista though ?