Windows 10: Can I clone my Windows 7 drive, update to Win10, dual boot & use both?

hi,

I was prompted a while ago to update to Windows 10, but haven't had a reason to until recently, there's a game (Killer Instinct) which is Windows 10 only so I decided now's the time.

When I was prompted for the update originally, I followed a guide on this forum for turning the update file into a bootable iSO, I though this would let me install windows 10 on another partition so I could dual boot, but when I tried it asked me for my product key and didn't accept my original Windows 7 key.

I'm currently running windows 7 from a 120gb SSD, now partitioned in 2 equal half's. I was wondering if its possible for me to clone my existing Windows 7 drive to the 2nd partition, then do the Windows 10 update on either the clone or original drive for a dual boot setup. Is this possible ?

Thanks in advance

:)

 

Keep 8.1 and dual boot 10?

The way I understand it from reading all the threads is that you'll first want to back up or clone your HDD to another drive. Then do the upgrade from Win 7 to 10 so that it registers an upgrade was done.

Then you can restore the backupor clone. After that, you'll can then do a dual boot clean install of Win 10 by making a DVD of the downloadable ISO.

 

How to Clone 'dual boot' Win7/Win10 HDD to new SSD

I have genuine Windows 7 (x64) system with CAD software and another dual boot Windows 10 (x32) with Office 365 apps. The Win7 drive is frustratingly slow so I want to clone to a SSD. I'm worried about the dual boot? Is there software out there that will
competently clone dual booting activated systems without a glitch? Currently I default to Win7 with the windows boot manager, and option into Windows 10 when needed. Any help or advice appreciated. Thanks.

P.S. please don't judge me. I would prefer just Win10 (x64) but this is how my legal licenses fell... lol. My CAD software doesn't work correctly under Windows 10, so I really need to keep it working and productive on Win7 (x64).

 

Not within the terms of your windows 7 or Windows 10 licenses - one or the other, not both.
Check that your PC can upgrade to Windows 10 by trying this:

Upgrade Assistant: FAQ - Windows Help

 

Thanks, it can upgrade alright, I just converted the ESD file after downloading it using this guide

How to turn your Windows 10 upgrade files into an ISO disk image | ZDNet

Sorry, could have sworn I saw it here. Anyway, thought it would let me dual boot both.

 

Sadly, you will risk Microsoft deactivating one or both of the cloned/upgraded installations, and having to get in touch With Microsoft to try to get just one of them activated again.
Good luck with the upgrade, don't forget to clone the old system first anyway, just as a backup if things go wrong.

 

Make a complete image backup 1st of your Windows 7 keep it on a separate drive. BEFORE doing any upgrade to Windows 10.

This way if something goes wrong, you can go back to your Windows 7. Use a program like Macrium Reflect for making your image. Macrium Reflect has a Free version.
Macrium Software | Macrium Reflect Free