Vista 32-bit and 7 64-bit

Hey everyone,

I have a probably pretty straightforward question when compared to some of the stuff asked on here.

I have a Gaming laptop which currently runs Windows Vista 32-bit. Because it's a gaming laptop (and also just due to my overall geekiness), I want an upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit to preserve the longevity of the Laptop. (It already has slots to upgrade HDD, RAM, and Processor, so all of those will be able to be upgraded anyway, but certain things like RAM won't matter unless I have a 64-bit OS. However, I don't want to do a clean install because I have alot of school stuff that I can't just delete and reinstall. It would just be easier to do a Dual-Boot system. Thus, this is what I want to do.

I am planning on buying a new HDD this weekend, likely an internal one, to take up the empty HDD slot that I have. I did my due diligence on this site and others, and have found two ways that people talk about doing it and I wanted to know which one is the better of the two.

METHOD 1: The first is the one I heard here when I searched. It involves me formatting my new HDD. Then powering off my Laptop. Then unplugging the old HDD and installing WIndows 7 64bit on to the new Drive by booting from DVD drive. After everything is working, turn off the Laptop and plug the other HDD back in. It should work automatically.

METHOD 2: I read this on Microsoft and other sites, saying that all I have to do is tell Windows 7 to install from Vista on my new HDD after I install and format it, and it will do everything for me automatically. It skips the taking out the HDD parts and everything.

Which of these is the correct method for going about this? Will they both work, and if so which is ore appropriate for my situation?

Thanks in advance guys.