Win 7 OS selection and installation

[cousinmarvin]

I am in the process of upgrading my WinXP Pro x64 rig by adding Win 7 x64 so I can play BF3.

I intended to buy a second hard drive for Win7 and the game, but HDD prices are just silly right now. I am now thinking about using a partition on my XP hard drive to install Win 7 and BF3. Doing research has run me into many confusing issues revolving around dual booting, and related.

To me, the partition idea seems really logical unless it's too complicated and subject to errors, etc.

The partition will have 90 gigs....big enough for Win7 and BF3?

Secondly, in checking Win 7 x64 os vendors, I see there are three Win 7 x64 systems, some "branded" and some OEM. I have seen in this forum that Win 7 Home Premium will run BF3 as well as the two more expensive systems, and since Win XP will still be my "family" computer system, the 7 will be used only for playing BF3, so the cheapest 7 (Home Premium) seems fine.

Win 7 OEM seems to cost more than branded Win 7. Is there a difference I should be aware of? I'd like to aim at getting the cheapest Win 7 that will work, of course.

Am I headed for trouble or can this work for me?

Thanks for your attention, folks.

 

[Janus67]

Dual booting won't cause any issues and 90gb is plenty (honestly won't need more than 40-50) honestly I would just consider doing a wipe and upgrade to windows 7 and backing up the old data first of course... Unless you have parents that should be wearing helmets when using a computer (raises hand). When you setup windows just select the new partition that you want to use and install to it, now when the pc boots up it should ask to boot to either "previous version of windows" or windows 7.

Regarding oem bs retail, the major diff is that oem is supposed to be a single activation only, I'm not sure if/how well it is enforced though. Normal home premium will be just fine for your needs though.

 

[TollhouseFrank]

usually a call to Microsoft if you need to reinstall for whatever reason (for an OEM license) is enough to get an activation code. They generally give one to you pretty quickly. It is very rare that they deny a new activation code. So rare that I've personally witnessed it 1 time - and that was working at a repair shop a couple years ago.

 

[cousinmarvin]

LOLLLLZERONIES!!!!

Janus67, I'M WEARING THE HELMET, gosh dang it!

My wife and I are 71. She likes XP and I like to eat. I'm sure you understand.

Thanks for the advice re partitioning and OEM vs branded. And thank you, TollhouseFrank for the licensing info.

Forward ho.

cousinmarvin