Is some way to install an upgrade version side-by-side with Vista in a separate partition?

by Joe
(Poughkepsie, NY, USA)

Since I have a couple of older peripherals that will require some work to get running under Windows 7, I am wondering if there is some way to install an upgrade version side-by-side with Vista in a separate partition so that I can work out all of the problems, and then disable the Vista installation when everything is going smoothly.

For example, once SCSI-attached Epson scanner and one relatively new Epson inkjet printer took a lot of work to get running under the Windows 7 beta (which has since been removed). I had to locate driver packages for similar devices and then modify the driver control files so that they would recognize the device-id's associated with my devices. The chances of my finding the paperwork I kept when I did that are slim now.

But I want to be sure I have an environment available that will let me continue to use these two devices.