Windows 10: Dual Boot 1607 and 1703

So when version 1703 aka Creators update finally came through last night on my 12 yr old Dell Pentium 4 desktop, WiFi took a major shit. Whatever I did, including remove and install, I couldn't get the internal D-link DWA-566 or a Linksys USB adapter to work, both of which would work perfectly fine under 1607. Along with that, everytime I would restart I get the DRIVER POWER STATE FAILURE error. So I rolled back to 1607 and all is good again. I'm still not quite giving up on 1703 with this machine so my next step would be a clean install of 1703 side by side with 1607 so I can play with it without a risk.

Just learned about what happened here Old computers not yet compatible with 1703 (Broadcom 440x driver)

So what's the best way to go about that and keeping it as simple as possible? I have 2 identical SSDs in this computer, and was thinking to install 1703 on SSD2 from a USB stick. It should pick up my license from the installed 1607. Once this is done, upon restart will I be greeted with a boot manager? If not, will it be easy to set it up such that I can choose between both versions on every restart?





:)

 

Fall Creators update kills bootloader on dual boot systems

My system is a regular BIOS system, it is not UEFI. My current motherboard is UEFI capable, but since the dual boot configuration was originally Windows 7 & Kubuntu, I have kept it a BIOS system. Every single major upgrade has clobbered the dual boot configuration
in one way or another: Win 7 => Win 8.0, Win 8.0 => Win 8.1, Win 8.1 => Win 10 version 1507, 1507 => 1511, 1511 => 1607, 1607 => 1703, & 1703 => 1709.

 

After today's Creator update, my workgroup was blinded!

I do not login. There's no passwords set. If I boot my 1607 laptop, there's no problem with my LAN. All PC's can see each other. But if I
only boot 1703 PC's, only the first PC booted can see the other 1703 PC's. All PC's have local accounts.

However, again, if I then boot my 1607, pre-'Creator' PC, everything works as it did before the 1703 update.\

In short, if only 1703 Creator PC's are booted, only the first PC booted can see its peers. However, if I boot a 1607 PC/laptop, the issue resolves, the 1703 PCs can then see each other.

Dennis

 

Hi, if you've not been offered the Creator's build yet, and have a 'known' incompatible or problematic hardware configuration, MS has a strategy where they delay offering the build in such cases, until they know they have resolved it. The broadcom matter is known.

Manually upgrading circumvents that protection. Whilst I prefer manually upgrading (under my control with disk imaging before and after etc) that is an important benefit.

Here MS can't anticipate all possible combinations of hardware, so are using user feedback to modify their deployment to protect users... that's once sufficient annoyed users have complained I guess!!!

See:
Dual boot 2x Win10 on 2 HDs? Solved - Windows 10 Forums

 

Thank you, and just to be clear, I didn't update manually (for the reason you stated), Creators was offered to me through WU despite the fact that I have the Broadcom.

 

Dual booting will work exactly as you suggest. However, strictly it violates EULA but works. I leave it to you to decide the morality of doing this. If you want to have a bit of 'fun' why not install Slow Ring Insider version or a lot of "fun', the Fast Ring version. For licence purists, this does not violate EULA as Insider versions are on a separate EULA.

 

Which just goes to prove how reliable that MS statement that I read about their deployment strategy is..... given that's a well-known issue, little wonder the CU makes life difficult for some. (P.S. I'm deferring the upgrade).

 

cereberus, that sounds like a good suggestion. I'm not seeing myself using this clean install for anything else than playing around, unless it runs A LOT smoother than my 1607, which I can't imagine. 1607 has been doing a great job for me, feels like it's running better than any previous version of Windows on this machine, including XP, surprisingly (always dealing with some wacky drivers there that would extend boot time or cause crashes)

 

Creator's is a lot different to AU under the hood - I think kernel changes and subsequently drivers - BTW that's what breaks most Linux distros (where drivers are built-into the kernel)