How to load/boot two versions of Win7 on seperate drives?

[golfguy123]

Currently running Win7(64-bit) in RAID-0 on 2 WD Caviar Black's.

I just purchased a SSD drive.

What I want to do is load Win7 on the SSD and use that as my main drive, while also keeping my RAID drives boot-able and in tact as they are now. (Thus, a dual-boot Win7 setup)
Will the BIOS allow me to select which drive to boot from upon start-up? My mobo is an ASUS Rampage II Extreme.

 

[treefrog07]

You can use Easy BCD to set your computer to allow you to select the system you want to boot.

 

[golfguy123]

Thank you treefrog. But is a BIOS overlay really necessary? Won't bootloader do that automatically?

 

[treefrog07]

You can use the BIOS; you just have to open it, make the boot-drive changes, save and exit your changes and re-boot - each time you start your computer.

Easy BCD is a bootloader, not a BIOS overlay. It allows more options than MS's default bootloader: it allows you to manage loading MS OSes through W7, including the OS default, selection screen, time delay, and HDD selection. I've found it very helpful in managing my dual-boot machines (XP and W7).

 

[golfguy123]

Gotcha. Changing BIO settings each time is a pain. I used to do that with a Win 98 box in a previous life. Thanks again for the help!

 

[golfguy123]

BTW Treefrog - Do you use SSD drives?

 

[treefrog07]

You're welcome. I haven't moved to SSDs; I haven't done enough research to decide if they are worth the money. I haven't seen anything that lets me justify the cost/GB when I compare them to std. HDDs.