What's the best way to Dual-Boot Windows 10?

[Jas00555]

So my previous experiences with dual-booting have been.... Lets just say bad at best. I want to try out Windows 10, but I'd rather have 8.1 also incase it's too buggy/glitchy or programs don't work correctly. What would be the best way of doing this? Thanks in advance.

 

[faalil]

I am also looking for the same...

 

[awilliams1701]

In my case its simple. I have a spare laptop and it will get it. I'm not putting it on my main machines at this point. Personally if I didn't I would look into the Hyper-V option. Dual booting is too much of a pain in the ***.

 

[Microsoftjunkie]

Either ruin it in a virtual desktop or make a partition on your hard drive and install it there.

 

[Jas00555]

Either ruin it in a virtual desktop or make a partition on your hard drive and install it there.

But does it actually work seamlessly on Windows 8? I remember trying to dual-boot using Windows 7 and nothing was working right for me.

 

[horseybob]

Tech preview is premature to try dual boot unless on a crash and burn system. Run it in a VM. Host OS is then immaterial

 

[boltman2013]

The VERY best way is to create a bootable VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) of the ISO unless they let you download a VHD.and then dual bool off the expandable VHD file...once done testing you can easily delete it as its simply a file.

Great for testing on any system without affecting other native OS...no real performance hit either..same as bare metal install. Did this with Windows 8...during its beta no issues. Plan to do this on my e-series Vaio.

No need for partitioning or VMs just need free space.

 

[aximtreo]

The VERY best way is to create a bootable VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) of the ISO unless they let you download a VHD.and then dual bool off the expandable VHD file...once done testing you can easily delete it as its simply a file.

Great for testing on any system without affecting other native OS...no real performance hit either..same as bare metal install. Did this with Windows 8...during its beta no issues. Plan to do this on my e-series Vaio.

No need for partitioning or VMs just need free space.

For those of us that "think we know what we are doing", could you write a short step by step guide as to how to setup up a VHD. I'm sure there are a lot of people on this forum that could make use of such a set of instructions. The best part you mentioned is that it's just a file and after testing one can just erase the file.

 

[boltman2013]

For those of us that "think we know what we are doing", could you write a short step by step guide as to how to setup up a VHD. I'm sure there are a lot of people on this forum that could make use of such a set of instructions. The best part you mentioned is that it's just a file and after testing one can just erase the file.

Its fairly simple...Most of the time OS is distributed in an .iso sometimes a .vhd if lucky like that download the .vhd. If not then you have to make one from the .iso

In Windows 7...follow this
http://srvcore.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/image-to-virtual-hard-disk-wim2vhd-converter/

In Windows 8...follow this
http://techibee.com/powershell/powershell-create-a-windows-7820082012-vhd-using-iso-file/2200

Once you create the .vhd (Name it something like Win10.vhd) Place it in any folder (I use C:\VM) and use the steps in the Windows 8 guide to add the proper boot entries to your BCD registry file..this will give you a dual boot situation after you add the proper entries.

Takes a bit of effort but the result is fantastic... Make a copy of the VHD so you always have a sysprepped copy of the .vhd ready to deploy if needed on any system.

Once done testing just delete the VHD. Your system will be back to normal.

In the meantime you can go back and forth between original os and any VHDs you have set up there really is no limit to how many other than space constraints.

Plus column for VHD....
No partitioning
Faster than VM...99.8% same as bare metal install
Lets you be booted fully into Windows 10...rest of drive available as D:
Clean removal
Expandable file takes up less space when not used.
Once made any copies are reusable on other computers. (Its what Hyper-V used for its VMS or XPMode)
Great for versioning...different set ups

Minus...
Takes converting .iso...some work some time to create
Not as easy as setting up a VM off an iso install.

 

[aximtreo]

Thanks for your great reply. I am downloading the file now but it's an .exe file and neither of the extensions you mentioned. I assume that double clicking on the .exe file will give me the choice of where to install. I won't try until I see what's posted here later.

 

[Jas00555]

Thanks for your great reply. I am downloading the file now but it's an .exe file and neither of the extensions you mentioned. I assume that double clicking on the .exe file will give me the choice of where to install. I won't try until I see what's posted here later.

Which file did you download? Mine is an ISO. It reads WindowsTechnicalPreview-x64-EN-US.iso .

 

[FBirraque]

.VHD certainly is the best choice!

 

[Richard Culverhouse]

Yep, booting from VHDs is cool.

 

[Jas00555]

I'm having trouble running the script to start the conversion. Can someone help? Do these files have to be in a specific place to have the script work?

 

[zomechin]

I'm having trouble running the script to start the conversion. Can someone help? Do these files have to be in a specific place to have the script work?

I second this. I have no idea what to do specifically after downloading "Convert-WindowsImage.ps1".

 

[HeyCori]

I'm a partition man, myself. Did it on my laptop and desktop when I wanted to try Windows 8. Will likely do it again when I download W10 tonight.

Resizing and Creating Partitions in Windows 7 - TechNet Articles - United States (English) - TechNet Wiki

 

[D M C]

Ok, after reading this thread I am also going trying Windows 10.
Thanks!

 

[christexaport]

I want a true install so i know the initial niggles from the start to share with the community. My issue is I am using an Acer R7, which has a supplemental SSD for FASTBOOT mode. I don't know if shrinking the C: partition will mess up my MBR, because of lack of knowledge about FASTBOOT. Here's a pic of my partitions. How should I proceed?

 

[Juliano Dorneles dos Santos]

Anyone installed it on a Mac trough Bootcamp?

 

[boltman2013]

I second this. I have no idea what to do specifically after downloading "Convert-WindowsImage.ps1".

Ok first off have to be in a Powershell prompt. Make sure you are in the same directory as the powershell script.

Then allow scripts....
Set-ExecutionPolicy unrestricted

Then here are some examples of course doctor them up to your needs.....Just copy an paste and then edit to your specific situation..... it does take some time to make the .vhdx like 7-8 minutes

PowerShell
.\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 -ShowUI
Create a VHD using all default settings from D:\sources\install.wim.
PowerShell
.\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 -SourcePath D:\sources\install.wim

# Since no edition is being specified, the command will succeed if there is only one image in the specified WIM file. If there are multiple images, the command will fail and it will list the possible editions.
Create a VHD using all default settings from D:\sources\install.wim while specifying an edition.
PowerShell
.\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 -SourcePath D:\sources\install.wim -Edition Professional
Create a 60GB VHDX, using all default settings, from D:\Windows8RPx64.iso.
PowerShell
.\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 -SourcePath D:\Windows8RPx64.iso -VHDFormat VHDX -SizeBytes 60GB
Create a 48TB VHDX from D:\WindowsRPx64.iso with a custom file name.
PowerShell
.\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 -SourcePath D:\Windows8RPx64.iso -VHDFormat VHDX -SizeBytes 48TB -VHDPath .\MyCustomName.vhdx
Use WIM2VHD-style argument names to create a 20GB fixed VHDX with a custom name and an unattend file from D:\foo.wim, and return the path to the created VHDX on the pipeline.
PowerShell
.\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 -WIM D:\foo.wim -Size 20GB -DiskType Fixed -VHDFormat VHDX -Unattend D:\myUnattend.xml -VHD D:\scratch\foo.vhdx -passthru
Enable serial debugging in the VHD, using COM2 at 19200bps.
PowerShell
"D:\foo.wim" | .\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 -Edition Professional -EnableDebugger Serial -



Once you have a .vhdx follow this guide to make it dual boot....
http://bsmadhu.wordpress.com/2012/06/21/simple-way-to-try-new-windows-os-using-boot-to-vhd/