Dual boot Win10 Win7

Hi,

Some time ago I bought a new laptop with Win10 pre-installed on it and have been trying to make my old programs work with this OS. I've found solutions for most of them but for a couple (a database and some old games) it doesn't seem possible to make them run on Win10.

I've been thinking about installing a dual boot Win7/10, but as I have never done this, I am not sure how things will work and thus but have a few questions.

See the attachment on how the volumes currently are organized. Drive C: is a SSD with Win10 on it. Drive D: is a HDD and I use it to store documents and pictures. The laptop also has a DVD-RW (drive E:) and USB (drive F:).

1)
I've been reading on this forum that I can have a max of 4 primary partitions or 3 plus 1 extended on an MBR disk and if more partitions are needed I need to convert to GPT. I am not sure what the 8 MB unallocated is… Is it a partition or something else? How any partitions are there currently on disk 1, i.e. do the 100Mb boot, 1GB recovery and 8MB unallocated sections count as a partition or not?

2)
If I shrink C: and create a new partition (which I want to be a separate drive), will the next letter in range automatically be assigned to this new drive or should I name it myself? And if the latter applies should I call it E: or G:?

3)
Let's say this drive will be named G: and I install Win7 on it. Would Win7 be able to access and run programs and docs on C:, D:, E: and F:, or only stuff that is on G:? When I use the database that doesn't run on Win10 and want to run on Win7, I sometimes also use Word or pictures. Can Win7 does this or do I need to install the programs a second time on G:?

4)
I read somewhere that Win7 takes about 20-25GB. I find it difficult to estimate how big this new partition should be (i.e. by how much should I shrink C:). Should I just take the sum of the programs (Win7, the database and 2 or 3 old games) plus some extra for any files they generate (and possibly Word and an imaging program if needed to install twice) or is there anything else that I should take into account when deciding on how much space to allocate to the new drive?

5)
Anything else (besides making a back-up) that I should beware of before making such a drastic change to my computer?

It sure hasn’t been easy so far, and still isn't, to make ALL my stuff work on Win10 and I would appreciate your help .

Judith

See Windows lifecycle:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...cle-fact-sheet



Windows 8.1 and 7



https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4057281



Microsoft made a commitment to provide 10 years of product support for Windows 7 when it was released on October 22, 2009. When this 10-year period ends, Microsoft will discontinue Windows 7 support so that we can focus our investment on supporting newer technologies and great new experiences. The specific end of support day for Windows 7 will be January 14, 2020. After that, technical assistance and software updates from Windows Update that help protect your PC will no longer be available for the product. Microsoft strongly recommends that you move to Windows 10 sometime before January 2020 to avoid a situation where you need service or support that is no longer available.

Thanks everyone for your reaction.

I've been searching the web and reading the tutorials about dual boot on this site (which are great/very clear by the way - thank you Shaun, a heck of a job) but some of my questions only raised after this research. For instance the 1st question about the number of partitions I currently have: what is this unallocated black section and is it a partition or not? Or my 2nd and 3rd question.

@ zbook, I am well aware that MS unfortunately ended support for Win7. The point is that I have a database (that has taken months if not years to establish) that is incompatible with Win10 and never will be. I am not willing to buy/look for a comparable program that does run on Win10 (if it exists) and transfer my raw data as it no doubt would lead to big data loss of all the specific info my current software can handle. So my only option is to install a version of Windows prior to Win10 to work with it (and preferably Win7 as I know it works with that without any bugs). I don't mind if my database and windows versions are outdated and un-updated.

@Try3 Thank you for the site. I hadn't come across it yet. I've been looking around on it but I still am not clear on these partitions or the ability to use 1 single installation of programs such as Word to be used by both Win7 and Win10.
@Ztruker I wouldn't be switching between programs that run on Win10 or Win7 all the time. If I work on my database, I'm on it for hours. On this site - Dual Boot vs. Virtual Machine: Which One Is Right for You? - they recommend to use a dual boot in that case. I don't have any experience with either option. I am not sure I understand how a virtual machine works (or even a dual boot, hence my question 3). I can imagine a dual boot permanently takes space/capacity from my machine. What are the characteristics or advantages and disadvantages of either option?

I have been thinking that I also could set up a dual boot in taking space from the D: drive (HDD). In that case I wouldn't be limiting the space on C: (which may already have the max of 4 partitions?). Would Win7 then run on (the slower) HDD? Would it be at all possible cq. a good option?