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Thread ID: 100077	2009-05-25 05:42:00	Should I try dual booting Win XP and Win 7 on an old machine with 512MB RAM?	Chikara (5139)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
776757	2009-05-25 05:42:00	Hi all, I'm thinking of trying out Win 7 RC, and running it as a dual-boot with XP. I've never done that before, but I'm fairly comfortable with the instructions in the tutorials I've seen so far. But, as I've never dual-booted before, I have some questions: - Firstly, my computer is quite old and technically below the minimum specs. It's a Athlon 1400, 512MB RAM. 38GB free space on HD. I've read on the net that many people have been able to run Win 7 successfully with only 512MB RAM. Anyone here tried that? (I'm going to get my new computer when Win 7 comes out officially, so this one only needs to tide me over until then - I figure this is a chance to test-drive Win 7 before then) - If it goes wrong, or won't run properly, I figure it won't harm my existing installation of XP (as Win 7 will be set up as a new partition) - am I right to think that?? - Do I need to reinstall again all the applications I want to use in Win 7? Is there any way of accessing them from the Win XP installation? - What about all my documents, music, etc... any way of accessing them from Win 7 or do I need to copy them all across too? - How big should I make the new partition for Win7 - would 15GB be enough? - What's the best way of managing applications I want to run on Win 7? Should I install them on the same partition as Win 7, or perhaps set up a new partition separately? Anything else I need to know, from people who have done this already? Thanks!	Chikara (5139)
776758	2009-05-25 05:46:00	I have been able to run Windows 7 with only 512 MB RAM assigned to it in the virtualbox. You have to reinstall again all the applications that you want to use on Windows 7. I say, set the partition to maybe 20GB or 25GB Cheers :)	Renmoo (66)
776759	2009-05-25 05:47:00	It will be a completley fresh install. You'll probably need to install some drivers, as Win7 is unlikely to pick them all up. As long as you just want to use Win7 for testing/mucking around it will run on 512MB, but the moment you install any AV software or pretty much anything else you will need to add at least another 512GB. Give it around 25GB HDD to use. I wouldn't really recommend it..but if you want to it should work ok.	wratterus (105)
776760	2009-05-25 05:52:00	It will be a completley fresh install. You'll probably need to install some drivers, as Win7 is unlikely to pick them all up. As long as you just want to use Win7 for testing/mucking around it will run on 512MB, but the moment you install any AV software or pretty much anything else you will need to add at least another 512GB. Give it around 25GB HDD to use. I wouldn't really recommend it..but if you want to it should work ok. It would be a fresh install, but on a different partition though...so I'd keep the existing Win XP installation. So, if it doesn't work properly, it shouldn't really affect the existing XP install, should it? That's my main concern.. I guess I could always pick up some cheap RAM of Trade-Me as well...	Chikara (5139)
776761	2009-05-25 05:54:00	It would be a fresh install, but on a different partition though...so I'd keep the existing Win XP installation. So, if it doesn't work properly, it shouldn't really affect the existing XP install, should it? That's my main concern.. I guess I could always pick up some cheap RAM of Trade-Me as well... Yep - it's pretty easy to get winxp going again even if the whole thing was to turn to crap and the bootloader failed, which is extremely unlikely. It should all go fine. I'd recommend a bit more RAM, it will speed XP up a bit too.	wratterus (105)
776762	2009-05-25 06:32:00	I should say drivers shouldnt be a problem, the driver base is as good as Vistas', i would just put another hard drive in and install the new o/s to a totally different drive. You will still have your dual boot system but the boot partition will still be your other driver and when you remove the win 7 drive at expiry, your system should still boot okay without the other operating system\drive. AFAIK, the boot loader remains on the 1st disk\partition.	SolMiester (139)
776763	2009-05-25 06:56:00	What SolMiester suggests is the better Idea, that way the OS W7 Is on a separate drive. If you disconnect the W7 (Second Drive) then it will still boot fine and give the options of either older OS, which will be XP or W7 - but of course W7 wouldn't load if you selected it as its on the disconnected drive. What you can do, if you go that option, is make a copy of the current working XP boot.ini, then save that some place, and if you decide to remove the dual boot, simply put the old .ini back - no more dual boot options. I actually have two workshop PC's in that exact configuration.	wainuitech (129)
776764	2009-05-25 07:08:00	Yeah good idea, but I don't have a spare HD at the mo... (well, only an external one via USB, I guess I can't run it from there can I?) As I'll be getting a new system later on this year whenever Win 7 comes out properly, I don't really want to buy any new components meanwhile...I was hoping just to do it on the current drive, assuming that the new partition would keep everything separate anyway... If I could get some cheap second hand RAM somewhere I'd get that, but I don't really want to pay a few hundred for another HD and some brand new RAM that I may not use, or will be out of date already come later this year...	Chikara (5139)
776765	2009-05-25 07:53:00	I've read on the net that many people have been able to run Win 7 successfully with only 512MB RAM. (I'm going to get my new computer when Win 7 comes out officially, so this one only needs to tide me over until then As it's temporary go ahead. If it was to be permanent, then forget it, people used to say XP only needed 128Mb.........there is a large difference in working and running well though.	pctek (84)
776766	2009-05-25 07:54:00	Fair enough comments :thumbs: - as its been mentioned earlier, partition the existing drive so you have around 25GB for W7. The spec's for W7 suggest "16 GB available disk space (32-bit)" - so you could more than likely get away with 20GB. Pick up some Second hand RAM and throw it in, as the minimum Spec's do suggest 1GB - and its always better to have enough than suffer a sloooooowwww PC :crying As always, BEFORE doing any partition work, back up any important data to your external drive - Just in case it turns to custard. If you install the W7RC, by the time RTM does come out you still should have plenty of time to get the New PC you mentioned, without having to uninstall W7 RC.	wainuitech (129)
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