From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Mon, 4/14/2025 6:03 AM, bad sector wrote:   
   > On 4/14/25 00:27, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:   
   >> On Sat, 12 Apr 2025 19:50:13 -0400, bad sector wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> But I cannot boot his windows, for that I'd have to keep my old   
   >>> Legacy-BIOS box which I don't want to do ...   
   >>   
   >> Would it boot in a VM?   
   >   
   > No experience with VM beyond running w10 under virtualbox installed for the   
   single purpose of the bundleware for my GX100 guitar effects board. And even   
   at that, I load it only about once a year so I pretty well fotget EVERYTHING   
   about it in between    
   sessions.   
   >   
   > I wanted to use SuperGrub to maybe boot the two windows but had trouble   
   getting this freakin AMI efi-bios to accept the DVD as boot medium, I'll have   
   to try that again while waiting for word from Macrium. Assuming that if   
   SuperGrub did manage tp boot    
   w10 or 7 then I could get windows to lay boot code inthe MBR of disk 1 which   
   (I forgot to mention) is a DOS disk and does the boots. After that I could get   
   grub to rule the underworld again :-)   
   >   
   > The 3 ssd's that boot and work fine on my old Crosshair-IV board are   
   >   
   > 1 - 500gb: boot and mostly Linux   
   > 2 - 1tb: the 2 windows 'c' drives (partitions 2 & 3 for w7 & w10) + data   
   > 3 - 4tb: just data   
   >   
   > I have ssd-1 cloned onto a 1tb ssd which now also has linux Tumbleweed, and   
   an also 1tb ssd which is an exact clone of ssd-2. Ssd-2 & 3 are very strait   
   forward but linux RAID was distributed on ssd-1 and 3 other data drives. Those   
   other drives have    
   been wiped and are gone with the server tower, I had to issue some cLi command   
   to clear all RAID references from them even after wiping. I do not dare touch   
   the RAID remnants on ssd-1 for fear of regretting it. Another clone would be   
   good for that but    
   this ssd-1 hosts only linux which boots fine on both machines so why muck with   
   it? However it also had the MBR legacy boot including for the windows on ssd-2   
   and those are what don't boot on my new smoke and snake-oil EFI board.   
   >   
      
   This drawing isn't exactly right, but I want to illustrate a   
   setup where two boot paths are possible, and the disks have   
   a measure of "independence". For example, if Disk1 was disconnected,   
   a good BIOS design might automatically locate Disk2 and do what   
   comes naturally.   
      
         +-----+-----------+--- - - - - - - -   
   disk1 | MBR | GRUB 1.5  |  Linux slash                                # When   
   the BIOS is set to boot from   
         +-----+-----------+--- - - - - - - -                            # Disk1,   
   the GRUB menu is offered   
                            |   
                            | (Chainload?)   
                            v   
         +-----+--------+--------+------+-------+------+--- - - - - -    # If the   
   BIOS is set to boot from   
   disk2 | MBR | Active |  Win7  | ???  | Win10 | ???                    # Disk2,   
   the Windows Boot manager is offered   
         +-----+--------+--------+------+-------+------+--- - - - - -    # and   
   you can also get to Windows 7   
            |     ^  v      ^   
            +-----+  +------+   
      
   The disk2 should have a life of its own. It should boot   
   on an MBR system, but hardware differences between boxes   
   would screw up Windows 7, so you might hold off on booting   
   Windows 7 until you have backed up disk2.   
      
   Whereas Windows 10 could boot on a "stranger" system   
   and be a functional OS. I don't know what happens to the   
   license when you do that. It does not seem to harm   
   moving the disk back to the original computer (as I have   
   accidentally booted W10/W11 on the wrong computer here   
   before).   
      
   The older OSes are less pleased about booting on a   
   "stranger" system, as it looks like an attempt at   
   "license theft" or something. The symptoms vary.   
   Instant session termination (freeze). 72 hours grace period.   
   30 days grace period. That's why you back up things   
   like that, so the license does not come to an untimely end.   
      
   If you use the MBR2GPT.exe utility (system util available W10/W11),   
   then you can convert the simplest disk2 configurations   
   to GPT. Then, the "independent" disk2, could become   
   a UEFI candidate for the new computer. But the licensing on   
   Windows 7 is the unknown/tricky part. And there aren't   
   a lot of Win7 Retail SKU installations floating around,   
   so "moving" the installation in an official way, it's   
   more likely the install disk used was a Win7 System Builder DVD.   
   That's half the price of a Retail DVD.   
      
         +-----+--------+--------+------+-------+------+--- - - - - -    # If the   
   BIOS is set to boot from   
   disk2 | MBR |   ESP  |  Win7  | ???  | Win10 | ???                    # Disk2,   
   the Windows Boot manager is offered   
   (GPT) +-----+--------+--------+------+-------+------+--- - - - - -    # and   
   you can also get to Windows 7   
            |     ^  v      ^   
            +-----+  +------+                                            # When   
   MBR2GPT.exe messes about,   
                                                                         # the   
   partition order can change   
      
   It's possible Win7 x64 could boot UEFI as a GPT partition,   
   but maybe the 32 bit version of Windows 7 would not work.   
   That should be mentioned here.   
      
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table   
      
         "Windows 7 and earlier do not support UEFI on 32-bit platforms,   
          and therefore do not allow booting from GPT partitions."   
      
   With the Win7 C: partition mounted, you look at the top level.   
   You cannot "Repair Install" the OS and change it from 32 bit to 64 bit   
   or vice versa. OS installations "on top", must match on version.   
   A 64 bit Repair on top, or a 64 bit Upgrade on top of a 64 bit existing OS   
   work.   
      
      Program Files        <=== 32 bit OS has only one folder   
      
      Program Files        \___ This is a 64 bit system, running 64 bit or 32 bit   
   apps.   
      Program Files (x86)  /   
      
   The road is strewn with landmines, which is why backups or clones   
   are a necessary evil while doing this sort of work.   
      
   You can remove a license, with "slmgr". But a System Builder license is   
   not transferable to a second machine, whereas a Retail license   
   could be moved. The licenses don't say what they are. Only holding   
   the COA card in hand, from when it was purchased, might give a hint.   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)