Install Windows 7 onto second HDD

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crointerista

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Jun 24, 2015
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My PC has two HDDS. First one is old Maxtor 80GB connected with IDE and there is Windows XP installed. On second one, WD 320GB SATA there are movies, music etc.

I would like to install Windows 7 onto SATA drive because it is faster and it could bring me some performance boost. What's the easiest way to do this?

Could there be any issues if I just install it onto second drive and leave Windows XP onto first drive, and then in BIOS set that I boot from SATA drive? I won't use XP anymore, but change roles of HDDs.
 
Solution
ESPclipse
There shouldn't be any problems - just do a regular old install of Windows on that drive. One of the perks of separating OS's across drives is that you can avoid rewriting one another's MBRs and will make it more difficult harm the other OS when booted in to one. You may want to change the boot order in BIOS to the drive with the preferred OS, and you can quickly boot to the other from the boot order menu, which is offered shortly after the BIOS splash occurs at boot. Usually holding down DELETE or F12 will do that for you, but it ultimately depends on the motherboard.

TL;DR - If you know what you are doing, there won't be any problems
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utgotye

utgotye

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Jun 8, 2015
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No problem. Pull the SATA cable on the Maxtor and boot from CD to install & on the WD. You may have to change your boot order in the BIOS. After you install, go (back) into the BIOS and make sure the WD is the primary drive.
 
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ESPclipse

ESPclipse

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May 27, 2014
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There shouldn't be any problems - just do a regular old install of Windows on that drive. One of the perks of separating OS's across drives is that you can avoid rewriting one another's MBRs and will make it more difficult harm the other OS when booted in to one. You may want to change the boot order in BIOS to the drive with the preferred OS, and you can quickly boot to the other from the boot order menu, which is offered shortly after the BIOS splash occurs at boot. Usually holding down DELETE or F12 will do that for you, but it ultimately depends on the motherboard.

TL;DR - If you know what you are doing, there won't be any problems
 
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Solution
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crointerista

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Jun 24, 2015
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Thank you both. Just one more thing, bootloader will be installed just on Maxtor if it stays connected. Will it be installed onto WD if I disconnect Maxtor before installation?
 
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ESPclipse

ESPclipse

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May 27, 2014
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By booting separate drives, each drive will run its own bootloader, so determining which OS is booted is dependent on the BIOS' drive boot order and the BIOS boot menu, which can be summoned outside of the BIOS menu, usually by holding down DELETE of F12 at boot
 
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