Anyone try dual booting Win 7 x86 + Win 7 x64?

Theoretically this should work without a hitch, just make sure you install it on a different partition, and do not choose to 'upgrade' in any way - plain new'n'fresh install.
The install manager should add the second OS to the boot menu automatically.
Just do nothing on the first run, after it is set up (and you have rebooted) you can choose between them too.
You can tweak the display timer (how long to display the list and which one should be default) too in the advanced system properties.

 

Yes I did it just to see how it would work. No problems at all. Removed x86 after I saw that it works flawlessly.

All I did was make a partition, format it and then ran install from DVD and let it install from there on the new partition.

 

How to remove x86 partition

I, too, am dual booting x86 and x64 Win7. x86 was installed first.

I'm moving/re-installing my apps on the x64 partition but when I'm done I'd like to remove the x86 partition then resize the x64 partition.

Since the x86 was the first build, will my x64 stop booting if I delete the x86 partition?

I appreciate any advice anyone may have.

thx

 

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I'm not saying that can't. In fact, in my case I don't have a problem with both. However, I would like to ditch my x86 partition (keeping my x64 partition) but not sure how to go about it since the x86 is listed first.

 

I'm using the native Windows bootloader
Yes, I have access to Ghost
Yes, when booting into x64, my assigned 'C' drive is the root drive for that OS.

Thanks for the reply !!!

 

Unless you own some really old obscure hardware you should be fine with Win 7 x64. Have you checked to see if you actually own anything that wouldn't work under x64? If so what is the model and manufacturer, maybe we can help you out with that.

When you install Windows 7 x64, it creates two program install folders; "Program Files" and "Program Files (x86)" 64bit applications will by default install in the first folder and 32bit in the latter. There are very few applications that have issues with that configuration these days and I am sure there are workarounds for most of the apps that don't work "out of the box". For example some programs need to be run with elevated permissions as administrator or in Compatibility Mode for a certain OS, which can easily be applied via the Compatibility tab in the file properties for said application.

I don't think it's really necessary for you to dual boot, but if you decide to do so anyways i would do it on two separate hard drives since they are really cheap these days. Just plug one drive in, install the OS, unplug then plug in the second drive and install the second OS, then reconnect the first drive.

That way you don't have to mess with boot loaders. Just hit F12, or whatever brings up your boot prompt at startup to select which drive you want to boot from. That is the easiest and safest way in my opinion. I really like that if one drive fails you can just pop it out without affecting the second OS. And the best part is if you set up each OS to take an image of the other OS drive, you can just re-image the second OS back when you install a new drive in 5-10 minutes.

 

It works fine but pointless. A better pair would be XP SP3 x86 and 7 SP1 x64 , that would give you a very diverse platform for different applications especially legacy ones.
The problem is with VMware now being exceptional, there is no reason to dual boot anything. Using Windows 7 as the Host OS and VMware under it is the way to go in my opinion.
You can Install XP, Windows 98, Linux, Netware, Solaris etc with very little effort.

 

Or he could use XP Mode, which integrates nicer with Windows 7 but isn't as powerful. I've actually been preferring Virtualbox over VMware lately.

 

Yes VirtualBox would be the free solution since VMware costs money.

 

Thanks
I'll response shortly

 

VMware has a free version called VMware Player.

 

Hmm I'm behind the loop on the Player, last time I tried it, it couldn't create VMs. Always went straight for the Workstation.