Dual boot Windows 10 & Windows 7 using 2 HD's

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  1. Posts : 7
    Windows 10
       #11

    @NavyLCDR Thanks so much! How can I tell if my PC has UEFI? It's a 6 year old Dell Studio XPS.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 19,517
    W11+W11 Developer Insider + Linux
       #12

    MacWin said:
    @NavyLCDR Thanks so much! How can I tell if my PC has UEFI? It's a 6 year old Dell Studio XPS.
    Check Disk management, it would have UEFI partition as a first partition on disk.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 7
    Windows 10
       #13

    MacWin said:
    @NavyLCDR Thanks so much! How can I tell if my PC has UEFI? It's a 6 year old Dell Studio XPS.
    Just checked, and my BIOS is legacy.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 18,428
    Windows 11 Pro
       #14

    MacWin said:
    Just checked, and my BIOS is legacy.
    Exact same procedure anyway.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 19,517
    W11+W11 Developer Insider + Linux
       #15

    NavyLCDR said:
    Exact same procedure anyway.
    Just one thing less to worry about.
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 4
    Windows 10
       #16

    Guys, I need help please.

    I just bought an MSI gaming laptop, it came with windows 10 and I need to install windows 7 too. I want dual boot 7 and 10.
    There are 2 drives. Disk 0 where windows 10 is installed is an SSD, Disk 1 is a 1TB hard disk. I partitioned the 1TB in 2, creating a 250 GB Disk 1 Partition 1. I then ran the setup.exe for windows 7. When I tried to installed to Disk 1 Partition 1 it says "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks."
    I have the Windows 7 .iso file in an USB drive. I used RUFUS to create the .iso, first I tried MBR Partition scheme, which it did not work either, then I tried GBT partition, same problem.
    I called MSI support and they said there is no way to dual boot windows 7 and 10 because the BIOS is UEFI. If I wanted to install both I'd have to boot legacy when I wanted windows 7, and boot UEFI when I want to start windows 10. I think MSI is more clueless than me.

    Windows 7 apparently will install on my disk 0, but that means I will loose windows 10.

    Is there a way in my case, with windows 10 already installed in disk 0, to install windows 7 to disk 1 ?
    I saw several software that promise to convert from GPT to MBR, but they are expensive.

    What are my options? Install windows 7 on partition 0, loose everything on that disk, and then install windows 10 on another partition?

    Thanks
    Will
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 18,428
    Windows 11 Pro
       #17

    I'm on my phone at the moment so limited posting ability. Use MiniTool Partition Wizard (free) to convert Disk 1 to GPT.

    Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 4
    Windows 10
       #18

    Thank you. I was able to convert to GPT. It started the windows 7 installation in the Disk 1 Partition 1, however during the first reboot required during windows 7 installation, it gave me 2 options WINDOWS SET UP or WINDOWS 10, when I click on WINDOWS SET UP it gave me the following error: windload.efi, then I went into the BIOS and disabled secured boot. I was able to click on windows setup, however it freezes in the STARTING WINDOWS logo and it does not progress with the installation.

    Any thoughts? Change the BIOS to legacy? Keep secure boot turned off?

    Thanks
    Will



    NavyLCDR said:
    I'm on my phone at the moment so limited posting ability. Use MiniTool Partition Wizard (free) to convert Disk 1 to GPT.

    Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 18,428
    Windows 11 Pro
       #19

    Keep secure boot off for sure. Windows 7 is not compatible with secure boot.

    Is your USB flash drive for Windows 7 FAT32 or NTFS? It has to be FAT32 to boot and install UEFI and lots of people don't pick the correct and overly complicated settings in Rufus to get it right. There is absolutely no need whatsoever to use Rufus to create the Windows USB flash drive with and a lot of people have issues setting it up correctly.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 4
    Windows 10
       #20

    Here are the Rufus settings:
    GPT Partition scheme for UEFI
    FAT 32
    4096 bytes
    quick format
    created bootable (.iso for windows 7)
    create extended label

    Thanks
    Will

    NavyLCDR said:
    Keep secure boot off for sure. Windows 7 is not compatible with secure boot.

    Is your USB flash drive for Windows 7 FAT32 or NTFS? It has to be FAT32 to boot and install UEFI and lots of people don't pick the correct and overly complicated settings in Rufus to get it right. There is absolutely no need whatsoever to use Rufus to create the Windows USB flash drive with and a lot of people have issues setting it up correctly.
      My Computer


 

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