How do i install Win 7 on my HP V 6560?

[mihirkula]

Hi all...been out of the loop for more than a year. Good to be back on Toms

ok i have this HP DV 6516 laptop with Win XP on it ( i had to downgrade it from Vista about a year ago). Now that Win 7 build is coming in two days, i would like to upgrade it.

I have just two NTFS partitions C (140GB) and D (8 GB) in this laptop, and i have no idea how to go about installing Win 7 on it. If i install the OS in either of the drives, the data would presumably disappear. Would someone please advice me?

Also, is there a way to have two OS (XP and Win 7) on a laptop?

Also, i have a PC with XP and would like to put Win 7 in it. I have XP on the C Drive, and if i install Win 7 on one of the partitions (say D Drive), will the system will let me choose which OS to load at startup?

Long nooby post, sorry . Any help much appreciated many thanks!

 

[starams5]

Sound like you want to get duel boot. It's been years since I duel booted someone else can help you better with that but here is a link I used to refer to.

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_stepbystep_guide.htm

 

[mildiner86]

if u want to load windows 7 u can load it to either partition in ur case C or D and it will ask which u want during install.

it will format that drive then load win 7 so all data on the partition u slect will be lost, so back it up onto an external hard drive.

loading win 7 shoould be fine. just load it onto the partition which has XP on it atm.

as for sual booting u can do easily but u need an install disk of XP and win 7, ur HP recovery disk wont do as it creats the partitions and stuff for u. u cant really load win 7 onto the 8Gb recovry partition lol.

to dual boot do this... get an xp and win 7 disk

put in xp disk format entire hard drive and repatition half each so both partitions are like 70GBish in ur case. then load xp onto eiether partition.

remeber these partitions will be formatted when loading windows so all data will be lost

after xp is ready inset win 7 disk and it will ask to load, select the other empty partition. then load it as normal

after thats done when the PC starts it will come up with a selection screen which says :
select prefered OS win 7 or xp it will give 30 seconds then select the default one

u can change this in an options menu in windws i forget where, but u can change the default OS and the count down time

hope this helps.



in ur case unless u have an XP disk u will only be able to have win 7 on its own and not very easily be able to dual boot

so dual booting u need both disks

 

[mihirkula]

Hi thanks both for your quick replies

@ mildiner86 ... if i got you right, i need to reinstall windows XP with my XP CD, and create TWO partitions in C drive? Can you pls explain how i create an extra partition in the C drive with windows XP CD?

Also, will there be a problem with the driver support for Windows 7 when i install it to my desktop as well as laptop?

Because downgrading my HP laptop to XP from Vista was a big pain in the rear for me; i had to create a Slipstream Win XP CD integrated with some drivers in order to install the OS. Moreover, it was a pain to search for the drivers to make the laptop work in XP.

Will the drivers work fine when i install Windows 7? Apart from the laptop, will there be a problem when i install Win 7 in the PC too?

Thnx.

 

[pjumpleby]

theres a lot of information about installing Windows 7 on the internet, inparticular you should look at VHD booting. This allows you to install it to a virtual HDD without needing to partition your current hdd or loosing you current install/data.

r.e. drivers: i found alot of my hardware had there drivers installed from there first time i booted up where as on vista somethings still required me to dig out the install disc

 

[mildiner86]

u can create a partition whith out relaoding XP, although its not the best idea. better to create the partition while u do a fresh load.

to create the partition during a fresh load of xp u do this...

put xp cd in turn pc on it will ask to load xp. ull come to a screen where u can select drive to loaod XP too, at the bottom it will give options like delete partition ect

u wana delete all the partitions so u have one large partition then create 2 partions and load xp to one. ull need to format the other as well to see it in XP or use the win 7 disk to do that when u load win 7

its quite self explanetory when u actually load xp. just look at the options availible when u come to load xp on the partition. worst case u just waste some time

as long as u have backed up all ur data and have copies of XP ull be fine

 

[mildiner86]

as for drivers ul just have to look. u can try using the vista and xp ones in win 7 or win 7 beta drivers. although u wont know till they work

btw if u get win 7 pro or better there is an XP emulator like the news articals said which can pretty much run any program XP could, although it just needs higher resources from CPU and RAM. so as long as ur not using XP for gaming just compatability and u have win 7 pro or better then u may not need dual boot ....

 

[mihirkula]

Thnx very much for your replies everyone

Allright so basically i have to hunt for drivers on trial and error basis to run Win 7 ... damn

Thanks for confirming about partitioning drive to install Win 7.

PS: one last doubt - in my PC which has XP in C Drive, i can freely install the Win 7 RC1 in some other drive and be able to dual boot without any problems?

Thanx again

 

[mildiner86]

yeah when the computer has two operation systems loaded as long as its (windows xp, vista or win7) it will then just say which do u want. u dont need to do any thing special just load both operating systemslike u would normally and it will sort its self out

personally id load win 7 and create a partition for xp and format it. but not load XP yet. try and use ur computer like u would normally but on win 7 u may not need xp. if u need it load it. but dont load it if u dont actually need it

u can always load xp later as long as u create the partition in the first place. if u dont ever load XP use the partition as a data drive

 

[mihirkula]

Thank you for the advice mildiner86 . I am now ready for Win 7 RC1 tomorrow

BTW, Win 7 can be downgraded to XP? I'd read about that somewhere, not exactly sure, but is it true? Or do people need to take the pain in the neck and install XP in their laptops again using slipstream?

Thanks again for your time

 

[mildiner86]

it has a function where it can run a virtual operating system kinda thing. so its XP inside of windows 7 with all XP program and driver support. u dont need to load xp its part of win 7 as long as u have professional or better

 

[mihirkula]

Allrighty then. Thnx very much for answering my queries . Cheers!

 

[cadder]

I think one of the earlier posters was saying you needed a larger D: partition then you could load one of the OS onto it. If that is the case then there are ways to increase the size of the D: partition, essentially shifting part of the C: space into D:. Then you could load Win7 onto D: without reinstalling XP or needing to do anything with your data. However it would be a good idea to backup your data no matter what.

 

[r_manic]

Hey OP, I don't mean to toot my own horn, but maybe might find the quasi-guide I posted yesterday useful: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/248-63-install-windows-vista-machine

 

[mildiner86]

yeah mihirkula is right u can shift a partition without relaoding windows, i dont like doing this cause its not as good as preforming a full format and re partition before loading the OS, its a good solution if u cant be bothered to the job correctly.

kinda like cleaning ur room by shoving all the cloths under the bed

 

[mildiner86]

sorry ment cadder not mihirkula

 

[mihirkula]

mildiner and r_manic thanks very much once again!

I did find that quasi post interesting, thnks for the heads up.

btw.... for dual booting OS, is it necessary to have both XP and Vista on the same hard disk? I was thinking i could just borrow my friend's 80GB SATA and hook it up along with my primary HD, and install Win 7 in the 80GB one.

Saves a lot of trouble of trying out disk partitioner doesnt it? Or do i need to have both the OS on same Hard Disk?

Thnx.

 

[mildiner86]

yeah u can do that too, shouldnt make a difference if it does u may need to fiddle bout in the bios with selecting boot orders but should be fine

 

[mihirkula]

^Thnx for confirmation mildiner86. Yes i shall set up boot order accordingly in BIOS.

BTW it looks like its virtually impossible to install Win 7 for my laptop, considering there are hardly any drivers available .

Moreover partitioning softwares tend to screw up HP laptops according to many. (i got just 140GB C drive and 8 GB D drive in my HP laptop)

So i guess i cant install Win 7 in laptop, leave aside dual booting

 

[mildiner86]

well u can try, as win 7 may be bale to use vista/xp drivers but not a sure bet.

and yeah 8gb is a lil bit small plus i dont like changing partitions when an OS is still on one

 

[mihirkula]

I'll try putting up Win 7 directly on laptop, without bothering to try dual boot... i hope it works

 

[Zoron]

It's actually better to have one hard drive to dedicate to each OS, rather than multiple partitions for multiple OSes. If one OS manages to somehow hose your files system, it could render your entire machine useless. You would have to reinstall everything in that case.

 

[RetiredChief]

+1 to Zoron
For your desktop, if you have two HDDs available, disconnect your XP drive and connect the 2nd HDD up, power on, load Win 7. Power down and reconnect XP HDD.

Make XP (or win7) your primary boot drive. When you want to run the other Op system, just select " boot from" at start up and select your Win 7. (F12 on my gigabyte board).

NOTE: Your drive letters will swap, when you boot to XP, XP will be drive C (Which some older XP programs prefer) and when you boot to win 7 that should become drive C and your XP partitian should change to "D:" - No problem as long as you're aware of it. I have two HDDs (one for XP, one for Vista - soon to add a 3rd for Win 7) drive lettes C -> G and they all change, not had a problem in the two years running this.

Enjoy

 

[uchinanchu]

This is what I did with Win XP desktop, creating a partion and dual booting Win XP and Win 7RC with lifehackers tutorial.
http://lifehacker.com/5126781/how-to-dual-boot-windows-7-with-xp-or-vista

take care.

 

[ronaldwishart]

Resize of partions:

Yes doing a resize of the HDD partions can cause problems, but not if it is done right!
In Vista - you can do it from computer manager.
in Xp use something like partion magic.

NOTE: you should do a full disk scan and defrag before doing the resize. In most cases if you do the prep work, all will be fine.

R