Can I create a second boot OS option by restoring an OS image to an empty partition and then altering the boot loader?

Forums › Microsoft Windows › Can I create a second boot OS option by restoring an OS image to an empty partition and then altering the boot loader?

lchiu7

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#157209 23-Nov-2014 19:54

Have a laptop with a 500GB SSD on which there is a version of Windows Enterprise. It was causing problems so I inserted a fresh SSD (240GB) and installed Windows 7 Pro and the applications. This runs much better because less bloatware and 64 bit versus 32 bit.

I have backed up this OS using Easeus Todo Backup and Macrium Reflect.

What I want to do now is as following.

The original 500GB drive has about 400GB free. I want to create new partition on that drive and use my backup software to restore my Windows 7 Pro image to that partition.

Then use this software

http://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/

to alter the boot loader configuration so that when the PC boots up, the use is offered the choice of the original Windows OS or the new one.

Is this possible? If not then I guess I am going to have to partition the 500GB drive and do a new Windows installation on the new partition which will be a pain and let Windows create the boat loader configuration.

Thanks

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Batman

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#1181716 23-Nov-2014 19:59

not sure. in theory if you tweak the boot partition right you could make it work... but why would you? just clone the original drive onto something, then overwrite the original drive with a clone of your current set up and you have a lot more space. in 12 months you will guarantee want to delete the original cloned backup ... unless you want to sell your laptop for $2 then i guess you might want to load it back

lchiu7

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#1181737 23-Nov-2014 20:34

Because I want the user to be able to choose which OS to boot in case I missed some application in the rebuild

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Batman

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#1181762 23-Nov-2014 20:52

In that case clone the original drive into a cheap drive you can just swap them in and outs that will free up 100gb for future use.

timmmay

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#1181767 23-Nov-2014 21:00

I would clone the original OS drive into an image, which you can then mount if you forgot a file. Then once that's done AND verified (and optionally backed up with a MD5 checksum) you can nuke the first OS and move the new OS to the larger drive.

lchiu7

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#1181771 23-Nov-2014 21:14

All good suggestions but I think they are a bridge too far for this user. This is for a friend, not me. And he normally lives in Napier so it's not easy to provide on site support. Asking to open the laptop and install a different drive is asking for trouble!

I just to have the situation so that if he is missing an application (not so much a file) then he can fire up the other OS and run it. He doesn't have all the installation media for the applications so it's not just a case of copying data files across.

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