I just installed Windows 10. How do I setup a dual boot?

[liranm]

Hi,
I've installed Win10 on secondary HDD and I kept my WIndows 7 on different HDD.
How do I setup dual boot?

Each time PC reboots its loading only windows 10 without any dual boot.
I can change the boot order in my BIOS but it would be great if I can do it via dual boot

Thanks!

 

[James Mason]

Try :
Start> Search > Msconfig > hit enter > Boot tab
Are there two OSes listed there?

 

[Paul NZ]

If the win7 hdd wasnt connected when you installed Win 10 you probably wont get the option to boot from either.

Unless you boot from their hdds separately. You would have to change the bootdisk in the BIOS all the time

 

[James Mason]

Basically, both HDDs need to be connected when you install windows 10, and just tell windows 10 to install on the other HDD, you shouldn't need to change the boot order in the BIOS.

 

[The_Prophecy]

Basically, both HDDs need to be connected when you install windows 10, and just tell windows 10 to install on the other HDD, you shouldn't need to change the boot order in the BIOS.

You can do it either way... as either James described above, or as you actually did it, liranm. There are pros and cons to doing it either way. Personally, I prefer to keep them separate, given that you don't generally switch between each OS all that much. If you are changing constantly, a virtual machine might be a better option depending on what you are doing with the new OS.

My preference comes from many battles with trying to fix the layout of the Windows boot loader options (if I remove the OS, I want the entry for it gone from the menu, or while I have it, I want them in a specific order). The process should be straight forward, but I have run into issues with changes not working properly, or the boot loader for my main OS becoming corrupted and spending more time fighting with it trying to make the loader work again without reinstalling Windows from scratch. Finally decided it was easier to keep them separate, and hit the boot menu key for my mobo each time I wanted to switch (which ended up being MAYBE once per day, and changing the boot sequence was not necessary), though for the last several iterations of Windows, I've gone strictly with virtual machines.

It's entirely up to you, but always remember that the older version of Windows should be installed first if you decide to load them from a common boot loader.

 

[liranm]

Thanks for all the tips.
in msconfig > boot - I can see only Windows 10.

I will work with BIOS till Windows 10 will be more stable and I will move all my other stuff from my other HDD.
It's really weird that the new OS should be out in 2 weeks and it's very buggy

 

[jovcenaum]

1 - both HDDs connect and start windows 10
2 - see there what letter is dedicated to windows 7 (usually D or E)
3 - open command prompt as administrator and type:
bcdboot D:\windows /l en-us (replace D with letter of your Win 7 and replace en-us if you use different language)
4 - To check if you got multi boot, type bcdedit (in command prompt)
5 - To change order for default OS:
Control Panel / System / Advanced system settings / Start up and recovery(click settings) then choose Default OS and timeout if you want.

 

[Akr706]

Hi,
I've installed Win10 on secondary HDD and I kept my WIndows 7 on different HDD.
How do I setup dual boot?

Each time PC reboots its loading only windows 10 without any dual boot.
I can change the boot order in my BIOS but it would be great if I can do it via dual boot

Thanks!

Did you install windows 10 in UEFI mode or in legacy mode?