Installing another os but keepin files?

[rivariad]

hello there, I'm using two different harddisks on my pc, on the C drive i have my vista installed and on the second one there's nothing installed but music and some films (I'm using it as a storage I mean). both of'em are internal. so if you come to my question, I downloaded the beta version of windows 7 and I want to install it on the storage hdd. but if I do it, does it automatically delete my files? I'm not doin it as "cd started boot style". I'm about to install it while vista opened, like installing a game. thanks

 

[Scotteq]

Use a hard drive imaging/backup utility - Acronis is among the best, if not *the* best - and copy your existing installation over to the spare hard drive. Test it by unplugging the original HDD, and booting/using the computer from the "new" HDD for a while. Then upgrade the new install to 7. Once that's all done, plug your original hard drive back in. If it's not automatically set up, you can boot to your Win 7 CD and use the repair option to fix the boot manager - It'sll tell you there's something wrong and offer to fix it - Say yes, and you should be presented with the option to select which one on next startup.