Hi, thanks for the reply.
I am just downloading ImgBurn now so that I can have a bootable Windows 7 DVD. This will also be useful for if I end up having to recover the system somehow.
I currently have mounted the Windows 7 ISO file, how do I create a DVD from that using ImgBurn? Will plain DVD-R's be ok for the job?
Sorry if I am asking so many questions, I have never done this before.
Thanks.
Furthermore, I have just seen this on the Microsoft website:
Installing more than one operating system (multi-boot) - Windows HelpWarning
- You must install the older operating system first, and then install the more recent operating system. If you don't (for example, if you install Windows Vista on a computer already running Windows 7), you can render your system inoperable. This can happen because earlier versions of Windows don't recognize the startup files used in more recent versions of Windows and can overwrite them.
Does this mean that my windows 10 will become unbootable when I have installed windows 7?
If you can get Windows 7 to install, it will set up dual booting with Windows 10 just fine. I guess the next step would be to use MiniTool Partition Wizard to take 90mb off the front of Windows C: drive partition and add it to the EFI System partition. Just make sure you are doing only 90 MB and not GB.
Hello,
Thank you for the advice. That settles me a bit as it is a new laptop and I don't want to break my Windows 10. Having said that, I do have a bootable USB that I can use in the event of an emergency, to get my W10 back.
I've downloaded the partition tool, however I do not know how to extend the system reserved partition into the C: drive. I can make a partition, which becomes unallocated, however I can't allocate it to the system partition. Any ideas?
I have successfully installed Windows 7 in a single NTFS partition without the need to create a system partition. All you have to do is format the target partition as NTFS (I think this was F) and then boot from Windows 7 DVD or USB. When presented with the available partition select this partition and proceed without formatting it again. When done you should be able to boot into Windows 7 but not 10. Boot with a Windows 10 DVD or USB and when you see Windows Setup click on Repair your computer. Then you should be able to boot into Windows 10. If you can boot into 10 but not 7, use a utility such as EasyBCD to add a boot entry for Windows 7 and you are all done. You can download the Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft Tech Bench. I know it sounds complicated but it is not. Besides, you are only going to do this procedure once and then you should be able to dual-boot between Windows 7 and 10. Once successful, you can proceed with installing drivers and applications in Windows 7. Any time you decide to remove Windows 7, boot into Windows 10, use EasyBCD to remove the Windows 7 boot entry, delete the Windows 7 partition and expand Windows 10 back to its original size.
So what you are saying is, that once I have managed to install windows 7, I'll need my recovery USB stick in order to boot back into Windows 10 again?
Also, have you got any tips for extending the system reserved partition using the partition wizard program? I should be able to install windows 7, as I have got the dual boot guide - however, I get an error when I select the option to check for updates, and need to take 90MB off the C drive and put it into the System Reserved equivalent partition. Any help would be appreciated.
Use MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition to shrink your Windows 10 partition from the left to about 90 or 100MB. Then expand the system reserved partition to take all the gap. Select the C partition and click move/resize. In "Unallocated space before" type 90 and click OK. Now select the system reserved partition and click move/resize. In "Unallocated space after type 0 and click OK (no gap, take all space). Click Apply to confirm the changes.
Yes, if you follow my instructions, you should be able to boot in 7 but not 10 since the boot loader would be modified. Using Windows 10 media and repairing startup will fix it so you can boot into Windows 10. I am not sure though if it will give you dual-boot with 7. If it doesn't use EasyBCD to add Windows 7 and you are OK.
This is how you decrease the Windows partition and add it to the system reserved partition. When I installed Windows 7 to an empty NTFS formatted partition it set up dual booting with Windows 10 and I didn't have to do any boot repair. My desktop computer is old, though and just uses legacy MBR booting, not EFI, so maybe that makes a difference.
Hello,Use MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition to shrink your Windows 10 partition from the left to about 90 or 100MB. Then expand the system reserved partition to take all the gap. Select the C partition and click move/resize. In "Unallocated space before" type 90 and click OK. Now select the system reserved partition and click move/resize. In "Unallocated space after type 0 and click OK (no gap, take all space). Click Apply to confirm the changes.
Yes, if you follow my instructions, you should be able to boot in 7 but not 10 since the boot loader would be modified. Using Windows 10 media and repairing startup will fix it so you can boot into Windows 10. I am not sure though if it will give you dual-boot with 7. If it doesn't use EasyBCD to add Windows 7 and you are OK.
This is what my partitioning looks like:
From what you can see there, it has an "Other" partition at 128MB which I don't know what it does. It won't let me move that partition either, so I cannot add a blank partition to the system reserved area.
Btw, the system reserved partition is the first partition on the left hand side of that block. WinRE and D: are recovery partitions, and F: is where I'm planning on putting Windows 7.
Once I have done that, hopefully Windows 7 will install quite nicely.
If and when Windows 10 becomes unbootable, is there a way of booting via USB (I have a USB recovery drive) and then repairing the install?
Thanks once again for your help!
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