Creating dual boot on SSD, from 2 distinct OS system images

[karthik1107]

Hello All, I searched a bit for my scenario, but couldn't find any posts. So posting it here.

I have a
1) HP envy laptop with Windows 8.1 (SSD 750GB Evo). (I pulled out the 1TB HDD it came with and cloned to 750GB SSD. Everything runs fine).

2) I then pulled out the SSD and used the 1TB HDD and installed Windows 7 pro successfully (with all drivers and software required. Everything runs fine).

Now, depending on which OS i want, I am able to swap the drives and can use both SSD or HDD and use their respective OS's 8.1 or 7 PRO (using UEFI/secure boot/disabling it).

Now,I need the convenience of dual booting (so I dont need to swap drives every few weeks). I want to be able to dual boot from these two images. I am planning to create a partition on 750SSD and clone the Windows 7 pro from 1TB HDD. (Both OS's with files and softwares are less than 200GB). So space is not a constraint here.

But I want to know:
Can I copy a clone/image into Second parition (with all system and os partitions from original drives and create a dual boot scenario (while leaving the host 8.1 and its recovery partition in tact). Please note, I AM NOT LOOKING FOR NEW INSTALLATION FOR DUAL BOOT. I ALREADY HAVE 2 PERFECTLY WORKING IMAGES/PARTITIONS OF 8.1 and 7 PRO in separate disks. I JUST WANT TO COPY THE PARTITION(S) FROM ONE DISK TO ANOTHER AND BE ABLE TO DUAL BOOT. I am going to try this now . but please let me know if any of you have tried this before.

Thanks,

 

[theog]

To dual boot both Windows 8.1x64 & Windows 7 x64 will need to installed in UEFI mode.

 

[gregrocker]

Do you have these installed in UEFI BIOS vs. Legacy BIOS? If UEFI it will greatly complicate things since it's a layer of useless crapware that interferes with all of the repair regimens and workarounds for Win7 most of which were developed here during beta.

If UEFI you'll need an imaging program like Paragon 12 free which supports UEFI, then you should be able to follow its Manual to clone the one OS onto the other HD.

To add the Win7 clone to a Dual Boot you can try running Windows 8 Automatic Repair to see if it will do the job, or install to WIn8 EasyBCD 2.2 or later which has UEFI support to add Win7.

If these fail and you have these installed in Legacy Mode you can Mark Win7 Partition Active to run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times .

 

[whs]

Why don't you make your life easy and install one of the systems in virtual. Here is how. It does not really matter which system you use as the host - the procedure is the same. Just a matter of selecting the right OS in step 5.

And here is a little demo how it works - a LOT more convenient than double boot or switching disks.