Just wondering if this can be done or would I be opening a can of worms.
I recently did the Win7 to Win10 upgrade. All is fine. The Win7 was OEM and I have the 4 OEM disks that came with the PC. Is it possible now to reinstall Win7 on a new partition on my C drive, using the OEM disks so that I would have a dual boot set up?
It's easy to dual boot with Windows 7, but not with the OEM disk set because they will want to wipe the hard drive and start over. Also, you only have 1 license for Windows. Dual booting Windows 7 and Windows 10 requires 2 licenses for Windows. What you would have to do, after you purchase a second license for Windows, is restore the computer to factory Windows 7 with the OEM disks. Shrink the Windows 7 partition to allow room for Windows 10. Do a clean install of Windows 10 to the space you created for it.
Yes, now that you mention it, every time when I have had to do a reinstalltion of Win7 in the past using the OEM disks, it always starts with a format of the C drive which of course wipes it clean. I do have a copy of Win10 Full Version so that would be my second license. If in the future I get myself into a predicament that I can't resolve and have to re-format the C drive, installing Win7 first from the OEM disks and then Win10 from the DVD on a new partition would give me a dual boot set up. Would you agree?
Yes.
Separately.... If the computer has a Windows 7 OEM sticker on it with a product key for Windows 7 printed on it, you can get a generic Windows 7 ISO file from here:
Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool
that would allow you to install Windows 7 to an empty partition, activate it with the product key from the COA sticker, and set up dual booting.
Yes, it has the sticker with a product key. Thanks for the link on a generic Win7 ISO. Using this ISO, wouldn't I also need drivers for the PC that are included on the OEM disks?
Update: The downloaded Win7 ISO is in zipped format. Should I unzip it before burning it to a DVD or just leave it zipped?
Last edited by miata54; 09 Dec 2017 at 12:11.
Most computer manufacturers' websites have drivers for download. The important one is to get connected to the internet, Windows Update may then find drivers for other hardware. I would suggest you go to the manufacturer website and at a minimum download the network adapter drivers and save them to a USB flash drive or other external storage location.
Hi,
Yes, you should. Otherwise there won't be much you can do with that DVD. Set your burning software so it makes a bootable DVD.Update: The downloaded Win7 ISO is in zipped format. Should I unzip it before burning it to a DVD or just leave it zipped?
Cheers,
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