Can I run 2 OS' on 1 PC simultaneously

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Daenmaru

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Oct 29, 2013
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10,510
Hi there

my apologies if this is in the wrong section.

I have a win7 pc running at my office, however the power supply of the xp machine running my dvr cameras gave up. can I run my xp drive and my win 7 drive on 1 machine? I dont have the drivers for the dvr card as its quite old(I have tried scouring the net)

Is it in any way possible?

Thanks


(edit)
Hi all,

thanks for your responses.

If I boot into Win7 on drive (A), can I then use a VM and boot XP on drive (B)? My issue is trying to run drive (B) and let that record my security cams then run drive (A) so I can run my daily business.

The XP drive (B) has all the drivers and software installed for my surveillance system. I don't have the installation for the dvr software let alone the drivers for the dvr card and would like to avoid spending cash on a new machine and dvr card.

Is there any solution to getting my camera's back up and running and still be able to run my business without having to spend cash on a new machine.

Thanks
 
Solution
jwk3
you can dual boot both windows versions, which means that you'd select one OS to boot from at startup. to swap OSs you would have to restart the PC and pick the other option at startup. the downside in your case is that the XP license key will probably be tied to the old computer's motherboard unless you bought a retail CD.

you can run multiple OSs simultaneously (virtualisation) but you cannot control it with a mouse/keyboard/monitor like you would want in a traditional desktop and is designed for servers which are never directly accessed.
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jwk3

jwk3

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Feb 29, 2012
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you can dual boot both windows versions, which means that you'd select one OS to boot from at startup. to swap OSs you would have to restart the PC and pick the other option at startup. the downside in your case is that the XP license key will probably be tied to the old computer's motherboard unless you bought a retail CD.

you can run multiple OSs simultaneously (virtualisation) but you cannot control it with a mouse/keyboard/monitor like you would want in a traditional desktop and is designed for servers which are never directly accessed.
 
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Solution
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Daenmaru

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Oct 29, 2013
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10,510


Thanks for your response.

Just to be clear, if i restart the pc to boot the 2nd OS will the 1st OS shutdown? I need the xp OS running my DVR software and then i must be able to get onto my win7 drive and run my business.

Thanks

 
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Hawkeye22

Hawkeye22

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Feb 10, 2006
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You can control multiple VM's using a mouse, keyboard and monitor. It just happens to be the same mouse, keyboard, and monitor of the host OS.
 
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Hawkeye22

Hawkeye22

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Feb 10, 2006
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jwk3 was on the right track. The problem is your XP box is the failing computer. If your XP box were working properly, you could have installed win 7 as a virtual machine (guest OS).

As is, you could install XP as a virtual machine on a win 7 host, but this would require you to install the XP drivers which you say you don't have.
 
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jwk3

jwk3

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Feb 29, 2012
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are you talking about running VMs inside a full host OS, like virtualbox and Vmware player (rather than a bare metal hypervisor)? as far as I'm aware there's no software which lets you run multiple OS guests simultaneously on the same level with KVM use, although correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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Hawkeye22

Hawkeye22

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Feb 10, 2006
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Yes, running a VM inside a full host is what I was talking about.
 
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Daenmaru

Honorable
Oct 29, 2013
3
0
10,510
Hi all,

thanks for your responses.

If I boot into Win7 on drive (A), can I then use a VM and boot XP on drive (B)? My issue is trying to run drive (B) and let that record my security cams then run drive (A) so I can run my daily business.

The XP drive (B) has all the drivers and software installed for my surveillance system. I don't have the installation for the dvr software let alone the drivers for the dvr card and would like to avoid spending cash on a new machine and dvr card.

Is there any solution to getting my camera's back up and running and still be able to run my business without having to spend cash on a new machine.

Thanks
 
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jwk3

jwk3

Honorable
Feb 29, 2012
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10,960
yes, in this situation you would have to re-install Windows XP (on your virtual machine which is "hosted" by your Windows 7 machine) as if it is a new computer. are you sure the drivers aren't available on the manufacturers website?
 
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