Beta Testing On A Primary System
The best and safest way to test beta software is on a
system exclusively dedicated to the task. Unfortunately, the
majority of users don't have the luxury of different systems
to assign one strictly to beta testing, and even if another
system is available, it likely isn't as state of the art as
the current primary system. Human nature dictates that when
new software comes along we want to try it out on the best
system available.
Of course you could always shift your work to a secondary
system while the beta testing is in progress then reformat
and reinstall your primary when testing is complete, but
that's just not practical, even with excellent imaging
programs available. Another option is the use of virtual
machines on the primary system, but those have limitations
as well, especially where graphics are concerned. Here's a
procedure I use to test beta software on my primary system.
It does require making some changes to the hard drive, but
once you make the changes they can remain in place after the
beta testing is done and be used for purposes other than
testing.
To explain the setup I'll use the screen capture below taken directly from my primary
system. There are other drives on the system, but this is
the one that contains the operating systems and is
designated as the boot drive in the system BIOS. Obviously,
unless you happen to have a 750GB hard drive you aren't
going to exactly duplicate the partition sizes and
designations I use. In fact it would be pointless in
duplicating my setup. Take the basic principles and apply
them to your system, modifying the number of partitions and
sizes to suit the way you work.
The Details
-
Plan For The Operating Systems
- The primary focus is designating two partitions for
the operating systems. In the example I've used Disk 01
PA and Disk 01 PB for the two operating systems. The
partitions are both primary and ~100GB each. Why ~100GB
each? Over the years I've found my systems C: partitions
rarely use more than 50GB of space, even on heavily
loaded systems. Performance drops off significantly if
free space on the partition/drive drops below a certain
percentage so I've doubled the available space. If
you're pressed for space and need to conserve, just make
sure the partition where you will install the beta meets
the minimum space requirements.
-
Plan The Rest of the Drive
Space - How you set up the rest of the drive is
up to you. I prefer to use primary partitions rather
than logical partitions. Disk 01 PC is where I store a
lot of applications, drivers, and other items I use on
an almost daily basis in my business. The final
partition, Disk 01 PD, is for my business data files.
Stuck right in the middle of PC and PD
partitions is a big chunk of unallocated space. The type of
work I do dictates I push and pull a lot of files around and
the data and installation partitions get resized fairly
often. I prefer to keep unallocated space between these two
partitions so I can grow and contract them as the job at
hand dictates by using a partition manager.
-
Make the Changes to the Drives
- Unless you are setting up this scenario from scratch
on an unformatted drive, you'll need a partition manager
to make the changes to your current setup. I happen to
use Acronis Disk Director Suite, but there are
many others available, some free. Google is your friend.
-
Install Windows 7 Beta
- Once I have the partitions made it's a simple
process to start the Windows 7 installation from the
DVD. The two critical points are to make sure you
perform a clean installation (not an upgrade) and that
you select the new partition you've allocated for
Windows 7, not the partition where the current operating
system is installed. Done properly, you will end up with
a dual boot installation of your current operating
system and Windows 7.
I've heard reports that some users were unable to set up a
dual boot system when they used a similar procedure based on
an in place XP installation. Unfortunately they didn't
specify what version of XP they were using or what service
packs were installed. I've tested this procedure with XP
Pro/SP3 and with Vista and it works fine, so I don't have an
explanation why they encountered a problem.
To remove the beta from the system, boot into the primary
operating system and reformat the partition where the
Windows 7 beta is installed. Be very careful that you are
formatting the 'partition' where the beta is installed and
'not' the entire hard drive. Once the Windows 7
partition has been reformatted get rid of the dual boot menu
that allowed access to the two operating systems.
Open the System Configuration Editor (msconfig.exe), go to
the Boot tab and select the Windows 7 entry. Click [Delete]
button and then [Apply] button. You'll be prompted to reboot
the system. Do so. The dual boot menu will be gone and
things are back to exactly the same way they were prior to
installing the Windows 7 Beta.
After Testing Is Complete
After the testing has been completed and the Win 7 beta
removed from the system, you'll need to make a decision
about what to do with the partition where it was installed.
Here are some ideas.
-
The partition can be deleted so the
space becomes unallocated. From there it can be merged
into another partition as a whole or split up and
distributed to other partitions that need additional
space.
-
The partition could be used as a
holding pen of sorts where you keep temporary files and
files you know will be deleted in the short term. That
eliminates the constant fragmentation problem associated
with dumping files in and out of your primary data
storage area.
-
The partition could be used to
relocate the paging file, used as a location for
programs that require a 'scratch' disk such as graphics
programs, or used to hold downloaded files until they
are reviewed and a decision made to keep or delete.
-
The partition can be used to install a
second copy of your primary operating system as a dual
boot setup. If anything happens to the primary, the
backup system is sitting there ready to be booted so you
can save your data files.
The Annoying Cautionary Note
That Everyone Ignores
Before you do anything, make sure you have
verified backups of all your important data,
applications, photos, e-mail, favorites --
hell, anything that's valuable and irreplaceable
if it's lost -- and that you have the
ability and understand how to rebuild the system
from scratch if disaster strikes. You've been
warned. |
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