Downloading Win7; creating image backup on external drive

[Mar]

Howdy fellas, I'm trying to switch over to Win7 from XP and I need some help figuring out just what the heck I'm doing. I have a wide range of questions here so bare with me...

The situation is as follows: I installed my XP using the entire drive for one partition. Less than half of my drive is currently being used.

What I would like to do is create an image backup of my XP setup onto an external drive, install Win7 and make 2 partitions, and then put XP back onto the drive using the second partition. This way I can keep my XP setup until I can get comfortable with Win7.

First, however, there is the question of burning the downloaded Windows 7 Profession Upgrade to a disc. I've never burned anything before, I've only ripped a CD once, and I don't even know what kind of disc I'll need.

Here's where I will note that I've been very comfortable with my XP so far, and the only reason I'm getting Win7 is that I need MS Office installed. The problem is my XP's "authentication" has become "broken" some how over the years; I'm also wondering if that would be a problem concerning the installation of the "upgrade" version of Win7, so please advise me on that as well.

So, some of the question I have here include: How do I go about burning an OS installer to a disc? What type of disc do I need (CD-ROM/DVD-ROM, I'm completely ignorant on the differences)? How much space would the disk require? I will be purchasing Microsoft Office 2010 as a download as well, and I'm assuming that burning MS Office will be very similar, but if not please advise.

Now I'll ask what you folks prefer in brand of external drives, I've never had one of those before either. I'll be ordering it from newegg, just love the fast service I get from em. The discs I'll just pick up from the local Wal-Mart, shouldn't matter too much.



Thanks in advance guys!

[TilDeath]

What not a partition manager like "Partition Magic", make your partition then install Win 7.  No fuss no muss.

TD

[gpwurzel]

If win7 comes as a .iso file, you'll need to unzip it  (winrar or something like that works and is free). Once you get the files burn them to the cd and jobs done (I put mine into a folder once extracted, so they are all in 1 place). Open the folder, highlight em all, send to -> dvd drive (you'll probably need a dvd to put it all on).


Wurzel

(if its over 702mb, it wont fit on a cd, if its over 4.8gb it wont fit on a single layer dvd, so you'll need to use a multi layer dvd - depends on what standard of cd/dvd writer you have) - or it may be possible to push it over multiple dvd's etc

Edit for sizing on cd's etc

[Mar]

Well, that does simplify things. Please excuse all the stupid questions I have asked and will ask in the future. I spend so much time on this thing you'd think I would know more about it. I didn't even know it was possible to create a partition without formatting.

Lesson learned! <<S>> TilDeath!

If win7 comes as a .iso file, you'll need to unzip it  (winrar or something like that works and is free). Once you get the files burn them to the cd and jobs done (I put mine into a folder once extracted, so they are all in 1 place). Open the folder, highlight em all, send to -> dvd drive (you'll probably need a dvd to put it all on).


Wurzel

(if its over 702mb, it wont fit on a cd, if its over 4.8gb it wont fit on a single layer dvd, so you'll need to use a multi layer dvd - depends on what standard of cd/dvd writer you have) - or it may be possible to push it over multiple dvd's etc

Edit for sizing on cd's etc

Ok then, so that just means CDs are lower tech and DVDs are capable of storing much more data, and on with the new Blue-Ray disc. More information learned!

One more stupid question and I think I should be set to go: With the files extracted from the .iso to the DVD, I should be able to boot from the DVD and install as normal, right?

[TilDeath]

Well, that does simplify things. Please excuse all the stupid questions I have asked and will ask in the future. I spend so much time on this thing you'd think I would know more about it. I didn't even know it was possible to create a partition without formatting.

Lesson learned! <<S>> TilDeath!

Ok then, so that just means CDs are lower tech and DVDs are capable of storing much more data, and on with the new Blue-Ray disc. More information learned!

One more stupid question and I think I should be set to go: With the files extracted from the .iso to the DVD, I should be able to boot from the DVD and install as normal, right?

An ISO is a disk image file.  You can burn the ISO right to a DVD/CD no need to extract the files (unless your hunting a particular file to replace a corrupt one).  Daemon Tools will allow you to burn to disk or you can install a virtual disk drive and mount the ISO to that.  In this case you want to burn to disk.

Partition the Drive first, then burn your ISO to disk, Reboot the system and you can do (A) Press F8 to get to the boot menu and choose your DVD/CD or (B) Enter your systems BIOS using F2 or the DEL key and make your DVD/CD your first boot device.

If this UPGRADE iso is like what Microsoft has put out in the past, you will not have to install XP and then Upgrade.  You can do a clean install (you may have to answer a few questions) and choose the second partition as your install drive.

If all goes well you will at boot have to option to load XP or Win 7 OS each time you start/restart your system.

TD

[Mar]

I may learn this stuff yet, thanks again TD!

[jimson]

Does this dual OS system work if XP is 32 and 7 is 64?

[Tigger29]

Be careful with a downloaded copy of Win7, as it may not be 'genuine' either.  Just make sure it's coming from a reputable source.

The Win7 upgrade will install just like a full copy.  Basically, it's a matter of repartitioning your drive (to make two 'virtual' drives) and installing Win7 onto the other partition.  The trick is doing this without wiping the data, which is why you need a program like 'partition magic'.  Using DOS based partitioning (fdisk)will wipe the entire drive.

Some burning software have an easy option of "burn disk from ISO".  I use cdburnerxp software and it handles this quite well.

Yes, dual booting will work with 32 and 64 bit operating systems, the only thing I worry about is that being it is an upgrade disk, it may try to overwrite your xp partition automatically, so you need to really pay attention to the installation options, and make sure you know what you're selecting.

[Ghosth]

Point of clarification, I would burn that CD/DVD of Win 7 first before doing anything else. That way if something goes wrong you can boot from the CD and get at least one OS working.

[TilDeath]

Point of clarification, I would burn that CD/DVD of Win 7 first before doing anything else. That way if something goes wrong you can boot from the CD and get at least one OS working.

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