If you're a TouchSmart owner, chances are you're fairly excited about Microsoft's upcoming successor to Vista, Windows 7. In fact, you may even know that you can take Windows 7 for a test drive right now by installing the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC)*. However, if you've been hesitant to try Windows 7 just because you don't want to reformat your PC or completely leave Vista behind until the final version, that's no reason to delay. In three easy steps, you can set up your TouchSmart to run both Windows Vista AND 7... without having to reformat and start over.

Setting up a PC with two operating systems may sound difficult, but actually, it's quite the contrary.

*NOTE: Microsoft is no longer offering the Windows 7 Release Candidate for direct download. If you want to try dual booting your TouchSmart with Windows 7, you'll either need to find the RC elsewhere or wait until the official version is released on October 22nd.

Dual-Booting Basics

Dual booting a computer means to have two operating systems installed. Upon boot, you make a selection as to which OS you'd like to run. Many Linux enthusiasts commonly set up their computers to run their Linux distro(s) of choice along side some variant of Windows, while some OS X users dual boot their Macs with Windows XP. Really, you can install any combination of operating systems.

Now, you may have heard about running another OS in a virtual machine, which is different from dual-booting setups. A virtual machine allows you to divide your computer's resources and virtualize hardware to run two different operating systems at the same time (like an older version of Windows inside of Vista). Dual-boot setups don't share resources since you choose which OS you want to boot at start, and only run one at a time.

If you're new to the concept of dual-booting, you should know that you can't install two operating systems on the same volume. They either need to be in separate partitions or on separate drives. The HP TouchSmart ships with one internal hard drive, and since it doesn't have room for more, that only leaves two option:

1. Install Windows 7 to an external hard drive. 

or

2. Split your current Vista partition.

Considering the TouchSmart has only USB and FireWire ports, I wouldn't recommend using an external drive. It would be pretty slow. So, what we're going to do is go with number 2 and split the Vista partition into two separate partitions. 

Step 1 - Shrink Your Vista Partition

Typically you divide drives into partitions BEFORE installing an operating system, but since the goal here is to get Windows 7 installed without re-installing Vista or losing anything, we'll need to split the partition as it currently is. In the past, this meant aquiring third party software. However, a lesser known fact about Vista is that it does have the ability to divide and combine existing partitions on the fly... with a few restirictions and caveats. 

Disclaimer: Any time you're resizing partitions, there is a slight chance you could experience complete data loss.  I recommend you back up any important files before you continue.

If you're going to install Windows 7 mostly to play around with and evaluate, you'll probably want to have at least 30 GB of free space on your new partition, though I'd recommend reserving 40GB if you have the space available.

First, let's take a look at how much Vista will allow you to shrink your current partition. To do that, open the Vista Disk Management utility: Start --> Right click on Computer --> Click Manage --> Select Disk Management under Computer Management --> Right click on C:\ --> Select Shrink Volume.

Look for the number in the box labeled "Size of available shrink space in MB." If that number is currently bigger than say 30,000 MB, then you're good to go. Type in the value in MB you wish to shrink your partition and let 'er rip. (NOTE: Make sure you leave enough space on your Vista partition to continue using it, and to also download the Windows 7 RC ISO).

If you're told you can only shrink your Vista partition by a value smaller than what you're hoping for, you either don't have enough free space to shrink it down, or there isn't enough contigous free space available. If it's the former, you may need to clean house a little bit and remove some gargbage and/or unwanted files. If it's the latter, run the Windows Disk Cleanup utility and then defragment your hard drive and try again. 

Once your primary partition has been shrunk, we're now ready to download the Windows 7 RC.

Step 2 - Download the Windows 7 Release Candidate* 

I recommend only downloading the Windows 7 RC directly from Microsoft. There's no reason to risk downloading malware infested ISO files from the Torrent networks when you can get it straight from the source. Go here, and only here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx

At the bottom of the page, you'll be presented with the option to download the 32 or 64-bit version of Windows7. Choose the 64-bit option for the TouchSmart PC IQ500/800 series.

In order to download the Windows 7 RC ISO, you'll need a Windows Live ID. It's easy to get if you on't already have one. Be sure to write down the product key you're presented after logging in with your Live ID.

Once your download is complete. The ISO file must be burned to a DVD before you can install it. If you don't have software capable of buring ISO files to a blank DVD, the free ImgBurn utility is all you need. 

*NOTE: Microsoft is no longer offering the Windows 7 Release Candidate for direct download. If you want to try dual booting your TouchSmart with Windows 7, you'll either need to find the RC elsewhere or wait until the official version is released on October 22nd.

Step 3 -Install Windows 7

Now that you've prepared your Windows 7 Installation disc, you're ready to install it. 

Insert the Windows 7 RC install DVD into your DVD drive, then restart the computer. Depending on your computer, it may or may not be set to scan the optical drive for bootable media during start up. Refer to your computer's manual  for instructions on how to boot from the optical drive. It may require changes in the BIOS or pressing a function key on boot. 

Once you've booted into the installer, choose the unpartitioned space when asked where you wish to install Windows 7. The installer will automatically set it up as a new NTFS partition. 

Believe it or not, that's it. Let the installer do it's thing and finish. Your TouchSmart will reboot several times during the installation process.

When complete, you'll have the option of booting into Windows 7 or Windows Vista (with all your programs, settings, and files just as they were).

Looking for more information on where to go now that you have Windows 7 installed? Check out our Windows 7 beta testers group right here at TouchSmart Community!