Dual Boot Windows 10 with Windows 7 or Windows 8  

Now to add further if you decide to opt out of the Virtual side there is one option of dual booting 7 after 10 goes on but requires a separate license. This is where on the main build in order to keep the 64bit 7 Ultimate going I had to buy a separate license for 10 Pro x64 while at the time the prices were low. The dual boot here saw 7 replaced on the main host drive and to go onto a second identical drive. But with or without DiskPart, EasyBCD, or some boot editing tool 7 will soon fail to load unless you stop at the Bios Boot Order menu mainly the list of all drives to select the drive 7 is on. This is due to the new Secure Boot first seen brought in with 8, 8.1 and carried with 10. The 10 bootloader soon fails to see 7 load when selecting 7 at Post time!

On a VM of course you can load just about any OS while booted in 10 due to the isolation between Physical on the drive Host and Virtual Machine running another OS. The Hyper-V allows for the Virtual Hard Drive(VHD) which on the other hand will allow for a Virtual Secondary HD you can set up for a dual boot with and get past the Secure Boot issue. Both Shawn and cereberus have made some excellent points as to the alternatives available. Here as it turns out I simply ended up needed to hit the F12 Boot Menu bios option for the continual dual boot seen across two physical drives. And you know what at this Late Date despite how well 7 proved to be I hardly now ever even boot into 7! The OS I wanted to keep right up until 2020 and it's rare for me now to even be found in it! 10 has been working out in most but not all cases. The only Complaint? 10 is a bit closer to Vista on loading up being a larger OS MS Failed to keep in mind when 7 came over as The Great Success Story for Windows! MinWin Kernel in 10 not showing so much! But for the most 10 continues to be a bit more stable Especially with Network connections! Got to had to MS for less headaches in that area!

Ok well it does seem to be really quite complicated as I am not as savvy as you folks. I still am not sure of what cerebus is telling me so I will just have to do a bit more researching.

The only reason I like 7 is because I know the OS better than 10 which to be absolutely honest appears to me to be more tech oriented than and I say that because when I read some of the posts I am left having no idea what the members are discussing or giving advice on. For general use I have got used to it but am finding it a struggle to understand like you folks do for other stuff like answering problem pots, and if I want to be completely honest sadly I don't think I ever will.

ICIT2LOL said:

Ok well it does seem to be really quite complicated as I am not as savvy as you folks. I still am not sure of what cerebus is telling me so I will just have to do a bit more researching.

The only reason I like 7 is because I know the OS better than 10 which to be absolutely honest appears to me to be more tech oriented than and I say that because when I read some of the posts I am left having no idea what the members are discussing or giving advice on. For general use I have got used to it but am finding it a struggle to understand like you folks do for other stuff like answering problem pots, and if I want to be completely honest sadly I don't think I ever will.

It really is not complicated if you do a virtual hard drive. I have showed you how to do it. It is your own reticence that is the issue.

Make an image backup of current installation, and go for it.

In the end, you have to take the plunge or abandon the idea.

Well cerebus mate I might give it a go on a clone if it doesn't work for me then nothing lost I suppose.

I have to say that whereas I found 7 so easy to use 10 is or appears more for the technically blessed which you will see I am not.

The actual fastest and easiest route for you then would be adding another drive in for 7 and unplugging the drive 10 is on while installing 7 fresh on the new drive. At post time when you have 7 up and running and the 10 plugged back in you first set which drive would be the default, deciding either 7 or 10, and then when opting to boot into the other select that drive for the one time boot session.

The largest difficulty being the Secure Boot first seen with 8 getting in the way of simply adding 7 into the 10 BCD store where when selecting the 7 boot entry 7 doesn't load properly. The process of stopping by the bios setup first is referred to as bios booting that was familiar to many when dual booting 7 with previous versions in years past. Each OS is a stand alone set up. The other options suggested you can always try over time.

Ok have done a clone for the trial and am going to see if I can follow the suggestion by cerebus ,

Sorry if I have been a lite tardy but it is very frustrating when things are on one hand simple to us and really quit involved on the other.

Easiest way is to create a virtual hard drive from disk management e.g.

C:\win7\win7.vhdx

Then do following

When using windows 7 installer, at first screen, press shift+f10 to get to command prompt.

Type

diskpart

select vdisk file=c:\win7\win7.vhdx

attach vdisk

exit

exit

and continue installation, installing it to virtual hard drive.

You now have a dual boot pc.

This is simplest way to install without affecting original install.

Now if I could go by this step by step to create C:\win7\win7.vhdx as I am not savvy enough to know just what is involved how is this done?

Once that is done I Can see what need to do in DISKPART a but is the vdisk an ISO on a stick or disk?


Once that is done just where is the 7 located still on the disk or on the hardrive in other words is it like using a stick with say Ubuntu on it and you run the 7 from the stick like you would Ubuntu?

I have used Ubuntu like this before but it means powering down and rebooting back t Windows after use. That is the bit I am trying to avoid.

Sorry to be so dumb with this and if it is going to be a lot of work for anyone then I shall have to try another method I suppose.

Ok I have managed to create a VHD on the drive all I need to do now is get 7 installed to the VHD and am thinking this will be by a stick or disk. Is it best to leave it as in pic - soory will not attach - unallocated.

Now if I install the 7 onto the VHD will I need to use any key to activate it a normal? Because the 7 Pro key I have a record of but as this machine is an upgrade is that key going to be voided.

You install by booting from usb drive or dvd and follow instructions.

Have you initialised vhd - you right click on it in disk management and choose mbr if legacy bios pc, or gpt if uefi.

You will need to turn off secure boot if uefi.

cereberus said:

You install by booting from usb drive or dvd and follow instructions.

Ok mate then I might just give it a try on this clone I have now.