How to properly dual boot 7 with Win10 (when 10 is installed first...)

[energydream2007]

Hey all, i know the recommended way is to install first the the previous versions of of the os then the newest, but what if 10 is installed first? how do i go doing that? please share you ways

 

[samuria]

How is 10 installed uefi, secure boot, gpt,mbr disk as that makes a difference

 

[energydream2007]

How is 10 installed uefi, secure boot, gpt,mbr disk as that makes a difference

10 is installed in mbr, no uefi/gpt or secure boot - really classic (its P55 board by gigabyte)

il rather install 7 on the same drive (256gb ssd), although i can also assign a new drive for it there is a need..

 

[SIW2]

what if 10 is installed first?

il rather install 7 on the same drive (256gb ssd)

From within the win10 installation:

1. Create a partition for win7.
2. Apply the image.
3. Add a bootmenu entry.

Could also be done from winpe, but as there is already a win10 installed, might as well do it from there.

I do it often, If you haven't done it before, it is quite simple.

The appropriate image from win7 install.wim can be applied using dism commands or something with a gui, like gimagex or dism++ for example

After applying the image add the boot menu entry:

at administrator cmd prompt type

bcdboot win7drivetter:\windows

For example if the win7 image has been applied to partition E

bcdboot E:\windows
(then press enter)

 

[energydream2007]

hey siw2 iv tried before your route quiet a few times of applying the wim then adding the boot entry - all is going fine until i trying to boot it (from boot menu selecting win7) then im getting 0xc errors

maybe its because i tried to do it on vhd boot style?? created vhd partition - applying to it , adding to boot menu with easybcd - then restart to try booting to win7

 

[SIW2]

dont need to use vhd. apply image to normal ntfs partition.

Then use bcdboot command from within win10. It will automatically default to the current mode and the current bcd store, so no switches needed.

just
bcdboot e:\windows
obviously replace e with whatever the win7 partition letter is in your case

 

[energydream2007]

ok cool il try it. just for info - if i want it to be vhd its not possible?

 

[MisterEd]

I have two older computers from 2009 and 2013 that don't support UEFI. I have dual-boot of Windows 7 and 10 on both of them. I installed Windows 10 first and installed Windows 7 later on a separate drive. I used the EasyBCD app to configure the dual-boot.

Computer #1 is dual-boot of Windows 10 Home and Windows 7 Pro

After booting Windows 10 Home:




After booting Windows 7 Pro:




Computer #2 is dual-boot of Windows 10 Pro and Windows 7 Home

After booting Windows 10 Pro




After booting Windows 7 Home

 

[siliconbeaver]

If each on a separate drive, that would be much easier. IMO.
(OP said on the same drive. SIW2's method is right. but I often failed. a headache for me)

I have two older computers from 2009 and 2013 that don't support UEFI. I have dual-boot of Windows 7 and 10 on both of them. I installed Windows 10 first and installed Windows 7 later on a separate drive. I used the EasyBCD app to configure the dual-boot.

 

[MisterEd]

If each on a separate drive, that would be much easier. IMO.
(OP said on the same drive. SIW2's method is right. but I often failed. a headache for me)

I put them on separate drives because it makes it easier to deal with if I have to reinstall either Windows 7 or 10.

Last week I realized that Computer #1 was not configured properly. In the BIOS SATA Mode was set to IDE instead of AHCI. When I changed SATA Mode to AHCI the computer would no longer boot to either Windows 7 or 10. I did manage to get Windows 10 to boot again but not Windows 7. I ended up reinstalling Windows 7. Having Windows 7 and 10 on different drives made this straight forward to do.

 

[siliconbeaver]

Agree,
It's easier, each on its disk.

In my dual boot, a reason is to re-use apps under early Windows. a concern is too old, broken any time.
It indeed is Windows XP/10 dual-boot. If XP/10 are on same disk, some day the disk broken. then the PC is inaccessible.
hence, I prefer Windows 10 on another disk. a backup for early Windows.

 

[Volume Z]

but what if 10 is installed first?

It makes no difference if it's 10 or Vista.

 

[energydream2007]

I put them on separate drives because it makes it easier to deal with if I have to reinstall either Windows 7 or 10.

Last week I realized that Computer #1 was not configured properly. In the BIOS SATA Mode was set to IDE instead of AHCI. When I changed SATA Mode to AHCI the computer would no longer boot to either Windows 7 or 10. I did manage to get Windows 10 to boot again but not Windows 7. I ended up reinstalling Windows 7. Having Windows 7 and 10 on different drives made this straight forward to do.

also a good idea, tnx for the detailed examples

- - - Updated - - -

dont need to use vhd. apply image to normal ntfs partition.

Then use bcdboot command from within win10. It will automatically default to the current mode and the current bcd store, so no switches needed.

just
bcdboot e:\windows
obviously replace e with whatever the win7 partition letter is in your case

man tnx for this i was able to do it, it works

 

[Muffin Top]

From within the win10 installation:1. Create a partition for win7.2. Apply the image.3. Add a bootmenu entry.
Could also be done from winpe, but as there is already a win10 installed, might as well do it from there.
I do it often, If you haven't done it before, it is quite simple.
The appropriate image from win7 install.wim can be applied using dism commands or something with a gui, like gimagex or dism++ for example
After applying the image add the boot menu entry:
at administrator cmd prompt typebcdboot win7drivetter:\windows
For example if the win7 image has been applied to partition Ebcdboot E:\windows(then press enter)

Sorry about a newbie question, the "image" is the ISO?

It sounds like this is what I should be doing, instead of trying to install 7 b4 10.

 

[michael diemer]

It would be much easier to install it on its own drive. No conflicts. Just disconnect the first drive, then install normally. When done, connect first drive.

Either select the OS at boot, or install Easy BCD for a boot menu. Foolproof (which is why I like it - no chance of screwing up).

With the cost of SSD so low, why make it difficult?

 

[Muffin Top]

Makes sense. I was wondering if a separate drive is safer in the event of doing a factory reset on the Win 10 system? Maybe keeping them separate would make the 10 reset less likely to mess up the 7 system on the other disk?


So I unplug the first disk, which already has 10, and try to install 7 on the 2d disk?


If it works, then I might want to get another SSD, and then re-install 7 on that (currently the 2d is HDD - I won't mind having 3 if the hardware provides enough room for all of them - I'm about to open it up for the 1st time).

 

[SIW2]

Sorry about a newbie question, the "image" is the ISO?

It sounds like this is what I should be doing, instead of trying to install 7 b4 10.

The image is one of the editions from install.wim

there are usually 4 images in win7 x64 install.wim

 

[Muffin Top]

Thanks so much, I didn't get into it in that level of detail.

The GitHub guy who wrote a Dell install guide seems to think the Dell ISO's he's linked should work for any 7 license key.

 

[SIW2]

Dell installation media activates automatically on a dell machine with slic table. Follow the usual prompts and it will install win7 pro which will activate automatically

 

[Muffin Top]

Thanks, it's been an education !


When you browse for downloads on Dell's website, they direct you to an update download page that doesn't seem to help me prior to completing windows installation.


After trying a few different duck searches I finally found where they've hidden their motherboard drivers. It's a massive package, so I pulled out a better thumb drive. Hopefully the Win 7 installer will be able to identify SATA driver within this mass.


I was really surprised to see their original (non-update) driver was excluded from the regular driver/download page.


They call it Dell Command Deploy Optiplex 7050 Windows 7 Driver Pack