Want To Rebuild My Win7 Boot Camp System From Scratch!

I do not even believe in dual boot and I certainly would not triple boot. I use virtualization instead.

Back up the data from your Windows 7 system to an external drive. Then rebuild Windows 7 from the Windows 7 DVD.  Make certain the DVD is SP1 or download SP1 and install it straightaway.

Then use the April 2016 Rollup to complete most of the updates. Then install applications and restore your data.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/kb/3125574

VMware or Parallels?

Both work. I always prefer VMware (Fusion) but Parallels works as well. In my opinion VMware is more robust

before moving to any of the two virtualisation solution, do a research and make sure your existing 100+ apps are compatible with the new VM platform especially if any of them belongs to CPU or graphics intensive application such as video games or CAD software.

True, and the old machine (8 years old) won't be the fastest.  But one of the values of workstation virtualization is that you can make a copy of the machine, test a concept and then if it does not work, delete the copy and start again. Nice sandbox approach.

Appreciate the ideas gentlemen but I'm going to stay with Boot Camp. I ran a trial on VMware a few years back. Didn't like it. Always a hassle and slow! Using 2+ operating systems simultaneously (indeed more like 3 with the Virtual software itself) is not terribly compelling! I have enough issues with Win7 and  OS10 standalones!

Moreover, I spend 99% of my time in Win7 so I don't need the quick flip back and forth.  And if I later change my mind, I will always have a Fresh Boot Camp install to load into VM or Parallels!

Would appreciate getting some ideas on The Rebuild using Boot Camp!

Thanks

So then start again with the second boot partition and do a fresh install of Windows 7. That will work.

From what I'm reading the 2nd boot partition does not look that simple!

Actually, my 3,1 Mac Pro tower is not slow. Indeed, just bought my wife a new iMac 27 i5 3.2 16 gigs with 1G fusion and other than startup, I don't find my system to be too far behind... and with a fresh Win7 it should run even better.

On top of that the Mac Pro 08-12 is bullet proof, even after I made several hardware upgrades, 14G ram, USB 3, Video card and multi HDs! A 3G fusion drive would really kick it in the pants.

Anyway, I have never been able to adopt Mac because all my data files, 15 years plus, are all on NTSF Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc and I do not like the conversions by either apple or microsoft.  I am trying the new Office 365 on trial and it seems much better. May even give the new Paragon NTFS for Mac a shot.

If I ever decide to drop Mac hardware, which i doubt, I'd probably go with a Dell XPS tower.

David...  thanks for the feedback. Noticing that my Boot Camp on the Mac is Version 6, on Win7 it's 3.1!! What gives?

Well... maybe I've give Parallels a shot if I can get a free Trial. As for Macs, I like their hardware and software, but transitioning from Windows is not appealing.  Maybe I will use the OS more if I can flip over in a second and or access files on the Win side with ease. I've been out of the PC market for 8 years. Last one was a Dell XPS tower which I bought in 2004.  Never had a hardware issue. Gave it away to a friend 2 months when my wife decided she wanted to go with iMac.

You probably can get a trial of Parallels. You can for certain get a trial of Fusion.

For the record, installed Parallels. No better than I remembered it or VM from years ago. Slow and buggy! Trashed it within the hour!

Thanks. I have not used Parallels so cannot comment. I have used VMware Workstation on Windows for 15 years.

Maybe it doesn't like my Boot Camp Win7 installation on a separate 2nd Internal HD!

My Mac Pro only came with a 320G HD so I bought a 2nd 1G 7200 and put Win7 on that!

The thing I really really like about Apple is their reliability and SUPPORT!

In the last 2 days I've talked with a Rep twice , each 10-15 minutes, about my 8 year old Mac Pro.

Seems that the only PC maker that holds a distant, very distant, candle to Apple regarding Support is Lenovo!!

The rest are almost useless.

I have only ever used IBM / Lenovo and find getting support from them as easy as Apple (I have iPhones).

Good to hear. I had read where Apple was rated a 9 and Lenovo was 7-8. The rest not even close. I give Apple a 10... could not reasonably ask for better support.

Have looked at the Lenovo Y900. Appears pretty impressive for the long-run... a lot  like a Mac Pro!