I was thinking of buying a new Windows 10 desktop computer and after looking around, I have several questions about whether to do this or to upgrade from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10.

1. First off, is it possible to install Windows 10 and Windows 7 Pro on the same computer if I buy a Windows 10 OS Disk?

2. If it is not possible to do step 1, can I format the hard drive on Windows 7 and wipe it clean and then install windows 10? The specs on the Windows 7 computer are as follows: Windows 7 Professional 64 bit, Intel i5, SP1, 3.30Ghz, 8gb Memory, 1tb hard drive.

3. What determines the compatibility of older programs? I need to be able to install 2 Microsoft programs, Microsoft Expression Web 2, and Microsoft Expression Encoder 4 on Windows 10.

1. Yes it is but it is a mildly advanced procedure to do it right.

2. Yes it is as long as the system's hardware meets the qualifications of Windows 10. However you could do this for free simply by upgrading the Windows 7 system to Windows 10.

3. I can't exactly answer but if you went with the upgrade option from Windows 7 to 10 it would scan your software/hardware and tell you if there were any issues. I can say that Expressions Web works fine in Windows 10 so would assume that Expression Web 2 would do the same. I cannot say about Expression Encoder 4.

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Ok, so is there somewhere I can go to read about the mildly advanced procedure? I did some experimenting on my own and was able to download expression encoder 4 and it installed and ran ok on my mini Windows 10.

LOL! I could give you a multitude of web pages to look at and all would be fine except that they would not include the ability to isolate each OS from the other (recommended). Or else I could just give you step by step instructions, it really is not hard but, since it would involve partitioning your drive and dual booting, I would have to move this thread to the Advanced section of these forums.

Really think about this as it would involve reconstructing the setup of your hard drive.

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Why would you want to have Windows 7 and Windows 10 co-existing?
Can you simply keep the older machine running Windows 7 as a fall back until you have the new machine fully up and running with Windows 10 and are comfortable that everything you need will run on it?
-steve

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Hi Steve......co-existing would be good because I would be assured that all of my programs would run on the same computer. Also a big factor is the cost. I can get the Windows 10 OS from Amazon for $91 and a new computer with Windows 10 on it is well over $500.......or I could upgrade the Windows 7 Computer to Windows 10 at no cost but in doing so, there is no assurance that all of my programs will run on it.

Hi Jay......Lets move it to the advanced section and tell me the step by step.

Before you move, consider this option. Using a good imaging program, image your win 7 setup. Then upgrade it to WIn 10. Once done Image that. Then you can switch back and forth by restoring the image. This is what I do. That way there is no dual boot, and no potential for things getting mixed up. You actually have two completely different systems that can run on one machine.

Pete

Allyson please consider all the options.

1) While we do not usually recommend dual booting I will be happy to guide you through if that is your choice.

2) Pete's solution of using system images and swapping between which OS you want is also valid.

3) While not yet mentioned you could also set up Windows 7 as a Virtual Machine on a Windows 10 system. This has the advantage of allowing you to actually run Win 10 and 7 at the same time. I have never installed Windows 7 in a Virtual Machine so cannot say how well it would perform. A lot would depend on the new system's capabilities. It is also possible that you could do this in reverse by setting up Windows 10 in a virtual machine within Windows 7. Again this depends a lot on the capabilities of the system. In either case I would not want the physical system to have less than 4GB of memory and would prefer 8GB. I would also want the system to have at least an I5 processor or the equal if the processor is AMD.

4) Get the new Windows 10 system and just keep using the old one with Windows 7 until your software is proven. You only mention two titles they being Expression encoder 4 and Expressions Web 2. I know that Expressions Web works fine in Windows 10 and you have demonstrated that the other will also.

5) Dual booting without actually doing so. You could put an extra drive in the new Windows 10 system and install Windows 7 to that drive with the Windows 10 drive unplugged. Plug the Windows 10 drive back in and it will boot just as if Windows 7 was never installed. When you wanted to run Windows 7 you would just use the system's boot menu, usually F-9 or F-12, at startup and select to boot from the Windows 7 disk. I have Windows 8.1 set up this way on my Windows 7 desktop.

You can also do this the other way around by adding a drive to the old system and going from there. When/if you reach a point where you are happy with Windows 10 you can then set that drive as the default boot drive.

Give all these options serious consideration and let us know in which direction you would want to go.

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Hello again, Allyson.

My advice would mirror Peter's. Image your current system. Then do the free upgrade. Try it out and see how your programs perform. If all is good, don't look back. If things are not good, you can either go back to Windows 7 via the "roll back" option, restore your Windows 7 image, or follow Jay's advice to set up a Virtual Machine for running Windows 7. I don't care for Dual booting due to the complications introduced. I've used it in the past and found that I rarely, if ever, went back to the older OS, so now I had a waste of disk space with an old OS on it and a boot menu to deal with at start. Removing the old OS and reconfiguring the system to no longer be dual boot introduces new headaches.

-steve

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Can I use a modified version of this method by leaving Windows 7 intact. Open the box, unplug Windows 7 and then install another hard drive that has the Windows 7 OS on it, connect it and boot up. Then do the Windows 10 upgrade. I would not have to buy anything if this would work.

Why would you do that over imaging. Every time you open the box and change hardware you risk breaking something. Not worth the risk.

@ Allyson: Yes that would work.

@ Steve: LOL! I missed that option so make it six options. I agree that, once Win 10 gotten used to, 7 will probably not be used unless there is in fact a software issue. That is one reason that I like option 5. Find that Win 7 is no longer being used... just change the boot order and format the drive, done. You now have a separate data drive.

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@ Allyson: I MUST add that it is only probable that inserting a drive that already has Win 7 installed will work. While Win 7 is pretty decent as to having an install work with different hardware it is not guaranteed.

@ Pete: I understand your concern about possible detrimental affects happening any time that you open the system and add hardware. On the other hand have you never opened a system and added a drive? Unless I am mistaken I'm sure that you have whether it be to add a drive or possibly to upgrade a video card. I am referring to the following:


Of course there is always a risk when working on the internals of a system but are these risks really any greater than swapping images?

Here is my problem with swapping images...

1) Unless I am using a separate data drive/partition I have to create a new TOTAL, not incremental, image for the image swap to work even if I just add one file to the system.

2) Any time I want to switch the OS I MUST do a complete image restore. It is all about time. We all know that you will recommend Macrium if Allyson chooses to go with this method and we also know that you report very fast restore times. Still, not even considering the wear and tear on the drive, can these fast restore times even come close to just hitting an F-# key and selecting which drive to boot?

I'm sorry but I just don't get your advice. At best it seems cumbersome to me and time consuming.

You must understand that I am NOT advocating opening the box and swapping drives every time you want to change the operating system. I'm talking about opening the box once and adding a drive. While the box is open you would install the OS to the added drive while the main drive is not connected. Once done you would then re-connect the main drive and the system Would boot just like you never added the new OS drive. To boot to the new OS drive you would just hit the F-# key that would bring up the system drive boot menu and select the one you wanted.

How is my procedure even close to as cumbersome as yours? How is it even as close as to potential data loss as having to do a complete system image every time a new file is saved or deleted?

This would not be a case as you run where you can do an incremental image in a heart beat. Every time a single file was added or deleted an entire new full image would be needed. I am sure not going to go through all that.

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Jay do you really understand imaging.

I am working in windows 7 and want to switch. So I take an incremental of Win 7, then restore the win 10 image. I do what ever I need to do, and then take an incremental of the Win 10, and then restore the win 7 image. Essentially I am maintaining 2 sets of image changes.

I've done this easily with Macrium, Acronis and IFW. Not at all viable with windows imaging

Yes Pete I have a fair understanding of imaging.

Look at your last post. Just to switch between OS's you are taking 4 steps along with the time to do the images and restores. Granted that the incremental images are very short as to time. On the other hand each time you switch the OS a FULL restore is needed. If I remember right what is that restore time, about 17 minutes?

If I did not have an extra drive I MIGHT consider this method but would not even think about it if I had an SSD.

Pete be honest. What would be faster?

1) Doing all this image saves and restores remembering that any time a single file is saved or deleted a new image is required.

2) Having two separate drives each containing an OS that just needs an F-# key press to choose?

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This is what I use to dual (triple) boot:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... =T925-1252

I have Windows 10 on my internal drives and put my Insider 10 into the enclosure. I leave the enclosure turned off by switch on back until I want to use the Insider drive so the Internal 10 never sees it at all. I restart my machine , turn on the enclosure and use the BIOS boot menu to choose to start on the Insider drive. I have the Internal drives disabled in the Insider's Device Manager so the Insider drive never sees my plain Windows 10 drives.

I use the enclosure to also do my system images on my regular Windows 10.

If your motherboard has a eSATA connection the drive will operate as fast as am internal SATA connection, if not using the USB connection will be slower.

David, you are basically defining my 'option 5'. It is a way to do a multiple boot system without having, in any way, to deal with the normal dual boot menu listings and other trivial upkeep in dealing with a true dual boot.

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Assuming I had a spare internal drive that I could use this way clearly #2 would be faster. But if I had to swap out drives physically, I would consider the imaging solution faster. Actually my restore time is down significantly as I took IR off my machine which dropped the c: drive down some 35gb.

Remember to me imaging and restoring is no more than opening a word doc, so I would do that over having to touch the case, with a system still under warranty

Also remember for me to take an incremental is no more involved then double clicking an icon on the desktop.

Well of course I'm not talking about physically swapping drives each time. We are talking about a desktop system with the potential for a separate drive for each OS.

I don't understand the warranty aspect. Unless I misunderstand Allyson this would be done on her old system instead of buying a new.

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Yes, this is not on a new computer and both drives are in place and both work well Jay. As soon as I get the time, I will install Windows 10 on the 1tb drive that was added to the computer. I will get back to you and let you know how this all works out.

Hi Allyson, Are you absolutely sure that this is the route that you wish to go? I do not mean to discourage by that question but just want to make sure that you have given it serious thought.

One very important question is if there is already anything on the 1TB drive that would hold Windows 10. If there is you will either have to move this data or partition the drive.

Assuming that you want to continue there are a couple of points that you must remember. I did not previously bring up these points as I wanted to keep things as simple as possible and just deal with concepts instead of throwing a lot of specifics at you. I wanted you to make the decision, not convince you of a choice. You have narrowed it down to a dual boot which sounds scary but simply just means that you have a choice of what version of Windows you want to load at any time. To be honest this is the route that I would take.

So now I want to expand a bit on the advantages of the two basic forms of a dual boot. You still have another decision as to what form would best suite you.

1) What I would call a traditional dual boot. This is not what you have indicated as your choice.

The main advantage is that you would not have to open the case at all. You would also not have to bother with an F# key at startup as a menu for which version of Windows would automatically come up, you just make the choice. Another advantage is that you would definitely not have to adjust anything in your BIOS as to the boot order of your hard drives.

The main disadvantage is if you decide to remove either of the Windows versions. While you can actually accomplish this entirely within Windows it would be best to use a third party software called EasyBCD. Easy to do, just more steps.

2) A hybrid form of a dual boot. This is your actual indicated choice.

Main advantage is that if you decide to go with one of the Windows versions you just format the drive that you do not want. Said and done.

Main disadvantages... You must open the computer case and unplug the current boot drive with Windows 7 before doing the install of Windows 10. Not a big deal but does mean that you have to open the case. You would leave it open as after the 10 install you would need to re-connect the Windows 7 drive.

You would have to hit an F# key to chose what version of Windows you wanted to launch if not the default. It is possible that the Win 10 install could take over and become your default OS. Since you want to see Windows 10 this would not be a totally bad thing. Even if this happens, and you would prefer Win 7 to be the default, it is easy to fix but requires a BIOS settings change related to the boot order.

Very important follow-up notes!!!

I don't know if you do system image backups. If not start. Do not do any of this without doing a complete system image of both drives. Do NOT just rely on just one image backup, go with at least two, preferably three. The following is what I'd recommend.

1) DO a system image using Windows 7 image backup options also including a recovery CD/DVD.

2) DO another with the free version (or trial) of Macrium also creating a recovery CD/DVD.

3) Do a third image with Acronis, or Disk Wizard if you have a Seagate hard drive, also include creating a CD/DVD recovery disk.

I know that all the above seems redundant. Redundancy is what backups are all about. Anything can happen.

Do not proceed unless the steps above in blue are followed.

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Hi Jay, thanks for all the information you have provided. The 1TB drive does have the Windows 7 OS on it but not much else. I decided to buy the Windows 10 OS system Disk which is on the way to me now so can I remove the 1TB drive and format it and put it back in, then with the existing Windows 7 Pro disconnected, plug the sata cable into the empty 1TB drive, put the Windows 10 disk in the DVD Drive and install Windows 10. Does that make sense or not?

I am also looking into a switch with button options to select which drive I want to boot up. From what I understand it has one sata connection in and 4 out. I think this would avoid having to mess with the bios.

http://www.amazon.com/PW4101-Aluminum-F ... 3XVEA2KYWZ

I agree 1000% with what Jay said about backups. I image with 4 different programs. I so far have never needed anything but Macrium, but test test test, is my motto.

I have never used image. You guys will have to tell me more about it, what it does, and why I need it.