Two installations on one PC

[alpenn]

I am putting together a new system for Windows 7 this weekend, the version I will be installing is 32-bit OEM.
I will have two hard drives, a 320GB for my OS and apps and a 1TB storage drive for music, movies, docs etc.

What I want to do is partition the 320GB drive into 2 x 160GB partitions and install a copy of Windows 7 on each and dual boot.

My reason for doing this is that one installation will be loaded with all my apps, work software etc along with all the background processes etc that go along with it, the other installation will just load the OS and drivers, a nice clean environment for playing games.

Is it possible to install Windows 7 twice on the same machine using the same disk, serial number etc? Will I run into any activation issues doing this considering it's the same PC and the hardware profile is exactly the same.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mi1ez]

I can't see it being a problem, no.

 

[Devastator_uk]

should be ok

 

[myriad46]

If I could make a suggestion...

Load one system stock and all the updates and clone it to the other partition.

You may need to fiddle with the booting a little, but a huge time saver.

Anyone think that will cause a problem with the boot OS selector screen?

 

[Jonmor68]

Instalation of W7 should around 20-30 minutes (mine took 17), so installing a second copy on another partition would be the best and probably the safest option.

 

[Scotteq]

If I could make a suggestion...

Load one system stock and all the updates and clone it to the other partition.

You may need to fiddle with the booting a little, but a huge time saver.

Anyone think that will cause a problem with the boot OS selector screen?

+1

You may disable whichever Windows features you don't want afterwards. The system will not load them, and (provided you haven't disabled something you need) doing it this way (1) minimizes the chance of screwing up some dependency (2) Is a lot easier than creating a vLite'd .iso and (3) if you *do* need to put something back or if you chance you rmind later on, it only takes a few clicks + a restart and you're done.