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Best way to upgrade to Windows 7 from XP

post #1 of 10
7/24/09 at 1:54pm
Thread Starter 
Alright. I just put Windows 7 on my sister's new laptop and I'm pretty impressed. I'd like to put it on my laptop (my main comp) but I don't want to lose my current set up.

However, I don't have an external hdd, and only one partition. If I DID have another hd, I would simply clone my whole current setup on it, and then continue to format and do a clean install. If I wanna go back, I could just return to the clone...

Since I can't do that, can you guys give me some ideas?

Could I do a dual boot and eventually if I find it's ok, get rid of the XP install? Can I do this without creating a second partition? If a second partition IS required, could I eventually get rid of it?

What programs will help me do this?

Thanks,

Flaviu
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post #2 of 10
7/24/09 at 4:02pm
. Yes: you can dual boot and eventuall get rid of XP

. You need a second partition before installing W7, since W7 installation does not have a way at this moment to create one for itself.

. EaseUS is a free Windows tool that allows you to partition your disk.

cheers ...
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post #3 of 10
7/24/09 at 4:34pm
Thread Starter 
Cool thanks. Now let's say I want to wait until I get a second drive. I've been meaning to get a 320GB drive. So let's say I pop this fresh new drive into the laptop, removing the old one. Install windows 7, and don't like it or a program I need doesn't work.

Are there any partition cloning apps that will be able to read my old drive through a USB enclosure and write to the new 320GB internal drive? What about through a network?
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post #4 of 10
7/24/09 at 4:39pm
I use Acronis True Image for the cloning to a larger drive, then pop it back onto the notebook. The trial period will do fine for you. But look around on the net, Acronis offers some older version for free. And it works.

cheers ...
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post #5 of 10
7/24/09 at 4:54pm
Thread Starter 
Wait, but what system do you do the actual cloning in?

Is there any way to clone my current drive onto or from another harddrive on my home network? Or do the 2 drives have to be strictly on the same machine? If so, is it possible with a second drive connected through USB?
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post #6 of 10
7/24/09 at 5:09pm
I just installed Acronis to my XP, run it, and clone it to the larger drive via an external USB housing.

cheers ...
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post #7 of 10
7/24/09 at 5:12pm
Thread Starter 
Oh cool, so it works in XP, you don't have to boot with it... I see.

Any chance of saving the image across a network?
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post #8 of 10
7/24/09 at 5:17pm
I am not sure, you have to check out the full/new version of Acronis and see.

http://www.acronis.com/

cheers ...
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post #9 of 10
8/10/09 at 12:22pm
Thread Starter 
Yes, Acronis TrueImage can do it! I cloned through the network to a hdd on my desktop.
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post #10 of 10
8/13/09 at 1:17pm
Is PartitionMagic still around? Last I heard, Norton purchased them. That brought them down a lot in my book.
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