How To Dual Boot Windows

For most of the people, running one os on their PC or laptop is plenty, however in some instances it could come in handy to obtain two separate versions over a PC. This may be on account of specific software that only works with an old release of Windows, or you want to compare the differences between Windows 7 and Windows 10 before doing an upgrade. Thankfully Windows was created with dual booting under consideration.

You can produce a dual-boot system from virtually any version of Windows, but want add Windows 10 into a PC running Windows 7.

What do I should dual boot Windows?

Obviously you’ll desire a copy of Windows to set up, which should should be burned onto a CD or written into a USB stick. Microsoft comes with a downloadable version of Windows 10 on its site, although you’ll still have to have a product critical for activate it if you plan to use the os long term.

Fortunately the periods of managing an 'ISO' file are gone: if you download Windows 10 using Microsoft's Media Creation Tool, the procedure is automatic. That means you'll end up with a USB stick that a computer can boot from.

NOTE: As you’re installing an operating-system we recommend you are doing a full backup within your data, as there is absolutely no guarantee something won't go awry and you wouldn’t wish to lose precious files.

Here include the basic steps before we to the details:

Install a brand new hard drive, or create a whole new partition within the existing one utilizing the Windows Disk Management Utility

Plug in the USB stick containing the modern version of Windows, then reboot the PC.

Install Windows 10, guaranteeing to choose the Custom option.

Select the newly created partition or perhaps the other harddrive as the destination for Windows 10. Then click Next to set up the computer.

How do I put in a second copy of Windows?

If you have a fresh hard drive (or SSD) or perhaps a spare one, you can use this to setup the second copy of Windows. If you don't have one, or else you can't purchase a second because you do have a laptops, you'll need make use of your existing disk drive and partition it.

Create a fresh partition

If you need to fit a second version of Windows about the same hard disk drive as the first, make space onto it. This can be tricky if you’re running have less storage, as Windows 10 ideally requires around 20-25GB (therefore we recommend at the least 50GB).

Here's how to get and delete large files starting space. Once you’ve duplicated any files which can be important you’ll must go on the Windows Disk Management utility. To do so hold along the Windows key and press R. This opens a box, into that you type diskmgmt.msc and press enter.

You’ll now experience a list of the partitions on your harddrive. Select the primary partition, usually called (C:), and right click and select Shrink Volume.

Now you’ll see another window that teaches you the size of the partition, and requires Enter the number of space to shrink in MB. To produce a 25GB partition you’ll ought to enter 25000 then click Shrink. This will change the partition, providing you the space you need to setup Windows 10.

How do I install Windows 10?

Place the previously created CD or USB version of Windows 10 for your PC and reboot your machine. You should be taken straight to your installation process, if your machine extends back to your normal os straight away you’ll should adjust the boot sequence within your BIOS. Check out our guide on How to go into the BIOS to assist you achieve this.

When the install sequence starts you’ll need to decide on the Custom option.

This opens a panel which asks you Where do you want to setup Windows? From the presented options choose the one entitled Unallocated Space, which will be 25GB. Click Apply just as soon as Windows has built the partition click Next.

Now not hard to install process runs through as normal, and if you reboot your machine you should have the option to choose from the two os's. The bonus is as different versions of Windows still utilize same file system, you’ll manage to access your files from either OS.