How set up a temporary dual boot

Have my new Win 10 Pro system up and running...so far so good....except for networking ??

However...I forgot to keep track of my passwords/acct records...etc for a number of programs on Win 7 that I am putting back onto Win 10...passwords...registrations keys...etc

Can I restore a full Acronis tib of Win 7 Pro and do a dual boot setup with the new 10....and how ?

I know it's not kosher to have both Win 10 new and the older Win 7 on the same PC because of the clean upgrade to Win 10...but I need it a short period to get into Win 7 to recover/find my passwords and registration info for a number of Win 7 installed programs to activate on Win 10

How do I go about setting up a dual boot 'temporarily' to recover needed information for my new Win 10 Pro install ?

Thanks...TiminAz

It is perfectly acceptable dual booting 7 and 10 on same pc, as you have right to use either on same pc. You can only use one at a time.

Restoring the 7 image is tricky as it will not sort out boot sectors and partitions properly to coexist with windows 10.

Easiest way to sort things is to restore the acronis image which will wipe the drive, then shrink windows 7 c drive, and reinstall 10 in unallocated space. This will create a proper dual boot pc then, with a proper menu.

Hmmm...might be more trouble than it's worth...can I not restore Win 7 Pro to a separate empty HDD in the box...what would be the issues then...? Could I not just change the boot order in bios and boot to the old Win 7 and retrieve the info...disconnect the Win 7 drive and then boot normally....or for that matter can't I just choose the boot drive...ie Win 10, Win 7, or DVD via the bios setup as I go along ?

Thanks...TiminAz

topgundcp said:

It only takes one single command to set up dual boot.

1. Restore your Windows 7 to a separate HD.
2. Boot up Windows 10. While in Windows 10, Open disk management and take a note of the Drive letter of Windows 7
3. Open Admin Command prompt, type: bcdboot X:\Windows where X is the drive letter of Windows 7.

NOTE: If it's temporary then you'd better be off just to change the boot order of the drive and boot to Windows 7

Well...the above cmd command did give me a WIN 7 - Win 10 option at startup of 10...but there seems to be issues.

10 if chosen starts up promptly and normally
7 though has a number of issues if chosen for boot
I get the attached popup error re starting 7
7 does eventually startup...but boots/loads very very slowly - once finally loaded tho it seems to work fine ?

Is there anything I can do to eliminate the popup screen attached and boot directly to 7 via the Win 10/Win 7 options at system boot ?

Thanks....TiminAz

Try turning off fast startup in Windows 10:
Fast Startup - Turn On or Off in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Nope no change at all changing fast boot...

Is there a way to revert back the changes I made in "Open Admin Command prompt, type: bcdboot X:\Windows where X is the drive letter of Windows 7."

Might just be better to launch Win 7 via bios - previously this worked fine and I did not have the really sluggish response from Win 7 loading...or general slow navigational issue once it starts

Thanks....TiminAz