I am a simple computer user, just trying to muck my way through this w/out too much self-imposed trouble.
I heard/read somewhere (probably FR in regards to Windows and Linux on the same machine) that partitioning/dual OS is possible...
I was wondering if it was a good idea...
and if its a good idea - how do I go about it?
Personally, I like XP (its running on the laptop now & on my desktop machine) - but I am worried about support for one, and my wife needs Windows Office 2010 on the laptop for her schoolwork. I figured if I am gonna install WinOffice 2010 I might as well upgrade to Win7 as well...
Is this a bad idea?
XP is still a solid OS. There is no reason to upgrade (I still run it on a computer at home).
If you don’t need to upgrade the OS, then don’t.
It looks like office 2010 is compatible with XP SP3 (service pack 3). You should be able to upgrade to this via windows updates. (control panel—>windows updates).
I’d keep XP.
Putting in a new, clean drive is far, far easier than installing over an old OS.
I've upgraded several computers running XP to Win7, including my old laptop.
Even with more RAM, it is now borderline capable and super slow running Win7, but ran XP just fine. I should have done what Brookhaven said with it.
I am going to do that with my new Dell laptop which cam with a lesser version of Win7 and all sorts of Dell add ons.
Is this a bad idea?
I have three laptops and have upgraded to Win 7 on one of them. I only updated one of my three laptops to Win 7. because only one of the three had drivers available, and those were for Vista.. You mentioned laptop, so I will assume this is what you are dealing with. If you are just a simple user, I suggest staying away from any dual boot configuration, not because it can't be done, but because if you haven't done it before, a new install is way less hassle (Win 7 is a fairly painless install.) In the end it will be your call so let me toss my $0.02 in here for your consideration.
First thing you need to do is go to your laptop manufacturer's website and see if there is any support for Win 7 in drivers and utilities. Usually found in the support/downloads section. If there are no Win 7 drivers that may or may not mean you are dead in the water. Many (not all) motherboards and peripherals will run in Win 7 using Vista drivers, so look for Vista drivers if there are no Win 7 drivers available. Be aware that some manufacturers have their own modified versions of drivers, especially video drivers, so watch that area. If you are lucky, your video will use a standard driver which can be downloaded directly from the vid chips manufacturer (AMD or nVidia usually) If drivers are available from the manufacturer, check the hardware configuration to make sure it will be adequate for Win 7 (a previous post mentioned Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor which will give you MS's take on the subject.)
If all the above ducks line up in a row, download all the drivers and utilities and save then either to cd/dvdr or a flash drive or external hard drive (some sort of separate media)so they will all be available in one location for future use. My preferred method for upgrading a laptop is to purchase a new hard drive. This will allow you to get a larger capacity drive than was originally installed (usually) and also allow you to find a 7200 rpm drive instead of the 5400 rpm or slower drive that (usually) is original equipment. Newer units are all SATA2 or better. If your unit has an older PATA drive, you might want to consider getting a larger PATA drive and doing a clean install of Win XP because having a PATA drive tends to indicate that the rest of the hardware is marginal for Win 7.
Procure an external hard drive enclosure for your original drive if you are using it as a source for your drivers that you downloaded. (ebay, amazon) and have your new hard drive, your install media, and the external enclosure ready. If your downloaded drivers are on a cd/dvd or flash drive have that handy. If you are going for Win7, look for the professional or the ultimate version since both of these allow you to run programs in XP compatibility mode (Win7 home does not) You can find Win7 Pro oem on eBay for around $132 or so from reputable sellers. (Staples will cost you a lot more). If you have any programs that you need to reinstall, make sure you have the install media available, and any keys that you will need to reenter. Again, check your programs. Most (not all) that will run on XP will run on Win 7. A higher compatibility rate is achieved if the program says it will run in Vista. Many programs that originally were XP have update patches to make them compatible with Win 7.
OK, sounds like a lot of prep, but if you have it all together before you start, it minimizes surprises later on.
Shut off and unplug your laptop, locate the drive bay and remove the original drive (don't shuffle your feet on the carpet while doing this!) (How to info typically can be found in your owners manual, or on the manufacturers web site.) Install the new hard drive in the laptop and replace covers. Turn on laptop and enter 'setup' (some type of notice should flash on the screen to tell you what to hit - F2, F10,whatever..) check to see that the bios knows your new hard drive is there (screen varies depending on manufacturer) to verify you don't have a paperweight for a hard drive (very rare that there would be an issue here). Put the Win 7 install dvd in the drive, exit setup (esc, F10, whatever the bios says) and the computer will reboot. Depending on manufacturer you might get a prompt asking if you want to boot from the cd/dvd drive. If so hit Y(es). Your screen should start displaying the install stuff for win 7.. You'll need to answer a couple of questions and enter the key code when it asks. From there on out Win 7 should take care of itself. While Win 7 is installing, get your external enclosure and install your old drive in it. It should have come with a USB cable. One end may or may not have two USB plugs on it. That end will connect to your laptop when the time comes. (The second plug is for power, if it's there you will need to connect both.)
When Win 7 is done, it will restart and you will have a running computer, but probably not with all the latest or even the correct drivers. Check in device manager (start/computer/system properties/device manager is one way to get there) and see if there are any unknown devices (yellow question marks for instance.) Windows will be nagging you to connect to the internet to activate, register, and update your install. It can get very insistent, but I like to get all the drivers installed before I let Windows peek at the outside world.. Plug in your external hard drive (windows will recognize it and assign a drive number or, put in your cd/dvdr, or plug in your flash drive - wherever you saved your drivers you downloaded). Most drivers will be self extracting zip files. Double clicking on the file name will either expand the files to a directory from which you will need to run the install (usually called 'setup'), or expand and then run the install automatically. I suggest installing chipset drivers first, video second, audio, network, anything else last. Verify each install in device manager to make sure it says all the right stuff (for instance, if your unit has an nVidia video chip, make sure after installing the video driver that device manager tells you that it is an nVidia420GT or whatever it is as opposed to 'generic vga display' or some other such nonsense.)
When all the drivers are installed, connect your unit to the internet and let Windows do its stuff (activate, update, all that..) Could take a while. (Note: Windows should turn on its Windows Defender a/v stuff and firewall if you haven't installed another a/v - security solution. strongly recommend not connecting to the internet without some type of security solution installed..)
When all the updating is done, you can install your programs. All your files/documents/stuff are still on the old hard drive. You can port them over at your convenience. For future reference, you may need to "Take Ownership" of your old drive to be able to use it (first clue will be 'access denied' when you try to access it.) Search for 'take ownership' in the Win help stuff for how to..
Clear as mud? Actually it's not that hard, but you need all the stuff together before you start.
Hope this long screed was useful.