Can Beta Code Damage Hardware?

[Guest]

I should know the answer to these two questions, and would probably find them
if I searched long enough, but I figured I’d go strait to the source instead.
Here goes:

I tested Vista Beta 2 extensively using my primary PC, but on a completely
different hard drive; having disconnected the primary hard drive running XP.
I did this to safeguard the XP drive from possible corruption. My first
question to you is: was I putting my hardware at risk by running beta
software on it? Can corrupt beta code damage hardware such as CPU,
Motherboard, RAM, or Video?

Vista ran flawlessly mind you, apart from the OS issues that arose during
testing, (all of which I submitted) but it never caused a problem with my
machine. I’m just curious to know if I was putting my system at risk.

Assuming the answer to my question above is no, my second question is:
having previously partitioned a secondary drive on my primary machine, would
I be putting the data on my primary drive at risk if I installed Vista RC1 on
one of those partitions – in a dual boot environment with XP? The two OS’s
would be on separate drives, but both drives would be running.

Thanks.

 

[Dave B.]

1st question, No.
Second question, your data is ALWAYS at risk, using beta software or not,
that's why everyone says backup, backup, backup! Is it more at risk with
beta software? Maybe.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Dave, I appreciate your input. I use an external backup drive for all
my important data, so I'm not worried there.

Is there anyone else who can comment on my second question with a little
more certainty?