I use both Mint and Windows 7 on the same hard drive. When installing Mint there is an option to install Mint alongside your already existing Windows 7. You can switch between the 2 operating sytems when the computer system boots. When you boot up you will see your BIOS and then a GRUB menu with the option to select between Linux Mint, some other booting options, and Windows. Its a great way to keep both OS and keep your computer CPU resources dedicated to each OS. Hope this helps.