First off, I am new to SU so please be understanding (I don't know if the question is relevant to this forum)
Here is the situation :
- I have a Windows Server 2008 R2 machine, on one Hard Drive, HD ZERO.
- I have a second Hard Drive, HD ONE, with an empty partition, ready to welcome a fresh Windows Seven install on it, so I can have dual boot.
This may sound simple, but I already spent horrible sleepless nights with damaged/corrupted MBR and BCD, So I am willing to be very careful this time.
What I would like is the two disks/ OS's to be TOTALLY independent :
I would like to be able to
- Plug disk ZERO only and boot on W2K8
- Plug disk ONE only and boot on Windows Seven
- Plug Both and have OS Boot choice.
WHY ?
I want to get rid of the W2K8 System after I made sure I have transferred all I needed (user prefs, utils, and stuff). So I'll use dual boot temporarily along with seven during a shifting period, and after that I'll just totally format disk ZERO.
Here is one danger point (among others)
I have noticed Windows allocates a 100 MBS System reserved Partition (presently on the ZERO Disk). If the MBR/BCD is there, Boot infos for both OS's will be wiped out if I decide to format disk ZERO.
I would prefer these infos to be on Disk ONE, as it is the one that will be lasting.
Another point is the partitions being marked Boot, or System...
My knowledge on the best configuration to avoid screwing up while doing what I have to do is close to zero.
So here it is. If anybody has guidelines I am ready to read relevant resources and understand what I have to do before I end-up calling my wife to cancel dinner and order pizza at the office.