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Thread ID: 136580	2014-03-18 08:27:00	Dual boot	ianhnz (4263)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1370575	2014-03-18 08:27:00	Hi guys. I have Vista, that I don't like, but interested in trying 7 on my computer. It's a 1200 dual processor (Pentium E2140 (C) 1.6 GHz) with 4 GB ram. (HPa6140a) I have a disk that says it has a 3 month license of 7. My question is, can I dual boot it, as I did on an older XP with Linux. If so, how do I go about it? Please keep answers to small sentences, as not all the switched on, as you people tend to be :thumbs: :thanks Ian	ianhnz (4263)
1370576	2014-03-18 08:46:00	Yes you can, but I've never heard of a 3 month license. As far as I know MS don't do that. Anyway you boot off the disk and do a custom install and choose to install it in a different location from Vista and it'll set up dual boot for you. Works best on a different drive or partition so you might want to use some partitioning software first if you have a single drive to create some empty unpartitioned space. As always back up first or run the risk of losing all your data. 7 is a lot like Vista, a little less resource hungry and UAC is less annoying but otherwise they look and feel much the same. I'm not sure you'll notice any huge improvement. Vista had a lot of issues on release and 7 has some improvements but they really aren't that different. I'm kinda expecting someone to strongly disagree with me but most of the Vista hate comes from the few months after it's release when it was really bad and these days it's pretty stable and works fine.	dugimodo (138)
1370577	2014-03-18 09:43:00	Short Answer -- Yes - What Dugimodo posted. :) As for the 3 month license, could be a Windows 7 Enterprise 90 Day trial. Which BTW cant be downgraded to a lesser version ( Home, Professional), or licensed to a full Enterprise, the drive / partition has to be reformatted and started again from fresh. IF its the Enterprise Trial the Product key is hard Coded into the OS.	wainuitech (129)
1370578	2014-03-18 12:42:00	Yes you can, but I've never heard of a 3 month license. As far as I know MS don't do that. Anyway you boot off the disk and do a custom install and choose to install it in a different location from Vista and it'll set up dual boot for you. Works best on a different drive or partition so you might want to use some partitioning software first if you have a single drive to create some empty unpartitioned space. As always back up first or run the risk of losing all your data. 7 is a lot like Vista, a little less resource hungry and UAC is less annoying but otherwise they look and feel much the same. I'm not sure you'll notice any huge improvement. Vista had a lot of issues on release and 7 has some improvements but they really aren't that different. I'm kinda expecting someone to strongly disagree with me but most of the Vista hate comes from the few months after it's release when it was really bad and these days it's pretty stable and works fine. The biggest bag bear we have is with it locking up. Like this week I've been working with files of photos, some about 7-8 Gb's and trying to move them from one location to another. It lock ups. Sometimes I've been able to Ctr/Alt/Del and close the program, others times it won't let me. I've left it sitting there, for an hour or so and have had to manually close system down, which I don't like doing. It took a while to get used to it, but i started with Windows 3, then 3.1, 98 then 98Se and finally Xp. Xp is the best of the lot. I have use of my DIL's netbook which has windows 7 starter and don't really like it, but am getting use to it.	ianhnz (4263)
1370579	2014-03-18 12:44:00	Short Answer -- Yes - What Dugimodo posted. :) As for the 3 month license, could be a Windows 7 Enterprise 90 Day trial. Which BTW cant be downgraded to a lesser version ( Home, Professional), or licensed to a full Enterprise, the drive / partition has to be reformatted and started again from fresh. IF its the Enterprise Trial the Product key is hard Coded into the OS. Yes I think, from memory it is, "Windows 7 Enterprise 90 Day trial". Not sure if I'd be best going to a Linux, but ones I've tried I could get Wifi to work and I need that.	ianhnz (4263)
1370580	2014-03-18 20:51:00	No point installing it then if it's going to run out	Speedy Gonzales (78)
1370581	2014-03-18 20:55:00	No point installing it then if it's going to run out I see your point, but wanting to know if it will run 7, or goto Linux.	ianhnz (4263)
1370582	2014-03-18 21:05:00	Should run 7 or 8 if its got 4 GB ram. I'm using a netbook. Its 1.66 Ghz but it's got 2 GB ram. It runs Win7 no prob at all	Speedy Gonzales (78)
1370583	2014-03-18 22:44:00	Didnt MS hand out 3 month demo keys when Win7 was 1st released ?? Im pretty sure those demo keys wont activate any more . Alternative Install Win7, home or pro DONT put in a install key when asked You will now have Win7 installed , it will expire in 30 days? (not sure how long before it times out, 30 days is a guess) If you have Vista, with SP2 & all windows updates , then Win7 wont really run any better than Vista . You have issues NOT caused by Vista. A reload of Win may help, otherwise perhaps you have faulty hardware causing the lockups. Run a surface scan on the hard drive. Try disabling AV when moving large files around.	1101 (13337)
1370584	2014-03-18 22:45:00	If it runs Vista it's pretty much going to run 7 or 8 just fine. I think the system requirements for 7 and Vista are the same or close to it. I have run windows 8 on a core 2 Duo with 2GB of RAM without issues. Might be worth spending some time diagnosing the lockups to see if it's hardware or software. Booting off a Linux Live CD would be one possible way to test. Vista or not it should not randomly lock up so you have an issue. Maybe give us some more details of what happens and when/how frequently and see if someone can help you sort it out. You may just need to fix Vista. Are you all up to date with windows updates etc and have you got antivirus and anti malware software ?	dugimodo (138)
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