john,we can agree to disagree on this on  :)

i am a little surprised though,i do know you to be one who demands the best and very latest technology out of his set up.
windows 8 is right around the corner.just dont to see you left behind man.

it really is too bad that things change like they do..you know,we find an os that we really like and then technology changes and force us to upgrade,its a shame.
ive always bought the latest releases from windows starting with windows 1.
i think thats why vista was my least favorite,the first release was a horror show for some.
it didnt take long for windows to release an update,
but it did eventualy become very stable and proved to be a good os.
im speaking not for myself ofcourse...i couldnt stand it...haaa.
but to each its own.
what ever choose,dont get left behind man.
good luck.

chuckebaby


john,we can agree to disagree on this on  :)

i am a little surprised though,i do know you to be one who demands the best and very latest technology out of his set up.
windows 8 is right around the corner.just dont to see you left behind man.

it really is too bad that things change like they do..you know,we find an os that we really like and then technology changes and force us to upgrade,its a shame.
ive always bought the latest releases from windows starting with windows 1.
i think thats why vista was my least favorite,the first release was a horror show for some.
it didnt take long for windows to release an update,
but it did eventualy become very stable and proved to be a good os.
im speaking not for myself ofcourse...i couldnt stand it...haaa.
but to each its own.
what ever choose,dont get left behind man.
good luck.

You have proven yourself a fine member. I have read your posts because they are accurate and thoughtful. We agree 99% of the time. You have a right to have an opinion on this and it is not in disagreement with the majority.

We can disagree here and that does not detract in the slightest in my respect for you.

I have no problem with a different point of view. So don't for a moment think I am at all upset with you because I am not.

I consider you to be a friend and it will remain so. 

X2 running on Vista 64 here and so far so good.

Anyone who is running win7 can upgrade to 8 for 15 euro or so... Look it up...

I have a setup that is meant to be upgraded easily. I use removable drives in driver drawers for replacing the system drive. I also have all of my data on other drives. Very little is on the system drive. Its not hard to copy important data to another HD even if it is only temporary. Use a USB drive if you need to to do this.

 
John, this seems like a really good idea to me but I'm curious about licensing issues, particularly third party VSTi. With something like NI Komplete would I need to do the instrument (not the samples) install twice and then register it for each drive that I would be swapping? If the instrument install was to a 'fixed' drive what happens to the license when the OS drive gets swapped out. My experience seems to point to the license 'key' being on the same drive as the OS. Just curious here as the idea itself has some appeal to me as I consider having a test unit with Windows 8.
 
TIA, Mike
 

miguelito

I have a setup that is meant to be upgraded easily. I use removable drives in driver drawers for replacing the system drive. I also have all of my data on other drives. Very little is on the system drive. Its not hard to copy important data to another HD even if it is only temporary. Use a USB drive if you need to to do this.

 
John, this seems like a really good idea to me but I'm curious about licensing issues, particularly third party VSTi. With something like NI Komplete would I need to do the instrument (not the samples) install twice and then register it for each drive that I would be swapping? If the instrument install was to a 'fixed' drive what happens to the license when the OS drive gets swapped out. My experience seems to point to the license 'key' being on the same drive as the OS. Just curious here as the idea itself has some appeal to me as I consider having a test unit with Windows 8.
 
TIA, Mike
 

You touched on another reason why I have not moved to Windows 7.

In upgrading to a new OS I have found it best to do a clean install therefore dealing with registration is a major consideration. In the example you offer the NI control panel will help with reauthorizing new installs of their products.

(One tip is that I did install all my sample libraries to an independent Hd. Not to mention all projects too. These are available to any OS I use at any time.)

Other plugins will need their own authorizations. All I can say here is have all the needed information available and handy when you are ready to install them.

In my case I have this system setup as my main system. Its where I have installed all my important software and the system I use on a daily basis. I have a version of Linux on another HD in a drawer that can be swapped in to use it when I wish to.  I did the same thing with the pre-release of Windows 8 to test.   I did not install any plugins that would need authorization because this is a very temporary install. But I did have a Vista 32 bit install that was created before I installed the 64 bit version and again on a separate HD in a drawer. That install was with plugins and fully populated with useful programs.

Clearly a clean install on a new HD will require a new set of authorizations but it will only need to be done once. 

My rule of thumb is not to backup data that is available independently of the system drive. This would include the down loaded install of X2,  (which is dled to a independent dl drive), or the DVDs, for example and its added content.  The reason is this will be reinstalled when ever a new install is made.  

Be careful and try think of everything before a new install is attempted. However, one huge advantage of the system I use is I have most of my data (sample libs and projects) on their own drives and thus I am free to change OS at will.

Keep in mind I do photography, video and audio. I have accumulated a lot of data over the years and I did need a solution to where to store this stuff without having to concern myself with coping it every time I made a change to the OS.

I hope you find this post helpful Mike.
 

I hope you find this post helpful Mike.

 
Yes I did and thank you. It sounds like my concerns are valid (authorizing one item is no biggie but I've got a lot of items). Still, for testing purposes (and moving to production if appropriate) it sounds like having a swappable drive setup would be a good way to go.
 
As it is now I think I'll stick with what I've got but a couple years out when I move to Win 8/9 I will probably get a new 'box' at the same time. I think that's when I would try apply this approach as a long term tool.
 
Thanks again,

miguelito

I hope you find this post helpful Mike.

 
Yes I did and thank you. It sounds like my concerns are valid (authorizing one item is no biggie but I've got a lot of items). Still, for testing purposes (and moving to production if appropriate) it sounds like having a swappable drive setup would be a good way to go.
 
As it is now I think I'll stick with what I've got but a couple years out when I move to Win 8/9 I will probably get a new 'box' at the same time. I think that's when I would try apply this approach as a long term tool.
 
Thanks again,

When I was planning my system I looked at all sorts of possibilities. I came up with this approach as a simple way to have the equivalent of a dual boot system with out needing to dual boot. Plus it was open ended. No limitations on how many OSs I could cram onto a single HD or problems with possible conflicts.

It has work out very well. 

John, just out of curiosity are the drives you have 'hot-swappable'? Meaning you don't have to open up the box to swap them you just slide them out of a rack or box.

Obviously with an OS it would require a shut down, but if the drive was swappable from the front of the unit or a seperate rack of drives that would be very convenient. My DAW is a rackmount and the one (and only) thing that bothers me about it is when I have to pull it out of the rack to work on the back plane.

Thanks,

Below is a picture of the drive bay. Its in the front I have other HDs internal to these. They atre not "hot swappable" I always turn off the system before removing them. The drawers hold standard 3.5 Hds.