Windows 10: Dual boot after final release

Right now, I'm dual booting on 2 machines. One on w-7 and the other on W-8. Both 7 and 8 are Pro.
I'd like to continue this after release.
Will I have to upgrade in place and then reinstall my 7 and 8.
I would much prefer to leave my 7 and 8 intact with their existing data and programs and then install 10 with a dual boot config.
That would require an iso but will it be activated?

Pete

:)

 

Possibility of DUAL boot?

The only way to dual boot is to setup a dual boot configuration with the Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview. Once you have this setup, you can upgrade the Insider Preview to the final release while maintaining your Windows 7 installation.

How to Dual Boot Windows 10 with Other Versions of Windows, macOS and Linux

 

Upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 10 info needed

You could try setting up a dual boot configuration with Windows 10 Insider Preview now and see how well it works with the system. You can always delete it after.

I want to try Windows 10 out before upgrading or buying it:

• You can install
  Windows 10 Insider Preview available today as a
  
  dual boot configuration with your existing version of Windows. The Windows 10 Insider Preview is eligible to be upgraded to the final release. There will also be a trial version of the final release available so you can
  wait for that too if you wish.

 

From the different scenarios that have been posted about this issue (dual booting with W10) the way I understand it is for a computer to qualify and activate the free W10 upgrade a valid license from either W7 or 8 will be used for W10.

That would render the license used for the W10 upgrade no longer valid for the OS that it was upgraded from unless W10 was uninstalled and the user reverted back to their previous OS.

I guess one way to maintain what you have and still use dual boot is to buy another license for W7, W8, or W10.

 

I want to know this too. A member chatted with MS and was told, yes you can but it will require phone activation for the 'other' OS.

That was a few releases ago, but there will be tons of calls to MS support if you cannot do this.

Sure the License agreement says you can only run one license on one machine at one time - multi-boot meets those requirements in my book. Both OSes will be on the same machine (one) and you have to boot between the OSes (run at one time).

The phone activation sounds right to me though since Win10 is an upgrade to your previous OS license that essentially grants you additional legal rights to run Windows 10.

It's possible that MS might require you to purchase Windows 10, or as CmmTch mentioned another Win7 / Win8 license, for multi-booting. I won't be one of those people, I'll see what happens and try phone activation, then if I cannot legally dual boot, I'll go back to the previous version.

I'll create or download the Win10 ISO before restoring though, so I can take advantage of the free upgrade is I change my mind.

 

Unless you remain as an Insider with Windows 10 - then you can 3-way boot as much as you like. If you do not want to take too many risks with the beta sotware, stay on the slow ring. After 12 months you will have dumped one of your old OSs anyway, I guess - you'll be fed up with three lots of updates every month.

 

i think the short answer is NO, Microsoft is not giving away win10 ,they are swapping it for your win7 and 8 ,,

you are not going to be able to use either of your current win7 or 8 to duel boot with the win10 you get for free

 

I agree with this wholeheartedly, IMO when you're dual booting you can only run one OS at a time, I'm sure MS means this as an upgrade though, not a "two for the price of one" dual boot opportunity.

caperjack is probably correct with the short answer "No"

When W7 first came out I dual booted for a while with XP but found myself using W7 most of the time. That's probably how it would go with W7 and W10, heck that's the way it's going now for me. I boot into W7 to run anti malware/spyware programs and check for updates but that's about it for W7.

There is one other reason I boot to W7, I have a couple secure sites (Benefits and Financial types) that I couldn't log into with W10. I'm thinking that will change after the official release.

 

It's not exactly free - you are doing free beta testing at your own risk, with no risk to Microsoft. Even if you never supply feedback, their telemetry will know if a particular module has misbehaved, and statistically if it misbehaves on many other PCs too, and how their hotfixes are effective or not.

Microsoft provides plenty of free software, perhaps limited in some way, but generally with plenty of use to be had - Development kits, Visual Studio, SQL server, as well as server and Enterprise trials, Embedded system builders and Modern IE virtual systems. You don't have to buy anything from MS, if you want, if you know where to look.

If you have one system on your PC - you use it for working, if you have more than one, you are experimenting.

 

Reading thru everything, it looks like MS wants some us Insiders to keep our Insider versions the same as we now have.
A great way to keep beta testers.

" "Stay with us as a Windows Insider," and urged users to remain with the preview. "We hope that we'll continue to provide you great reasons to remain a Windows Insider," Aul said."

If you enjoy the bleeding edge, you can remain in, or register with, the Windows Insider program, which will continue serving changes as soon as Microsoft approves them for the previewing public. Windows Insiders will be the first line of outside testers -- Microsoft says it runs updates internally first -- and get updates before any other customers.
Windows Insider will not be shut down after Windows 10's release -- that's what Microsoft has done in the past with beta programs -- but will continue indefinitely as the OS's fastest update branch.

So I could just keep using my Insider Windows 10 Pro dual booted with my 7 SP1 or 8.1.

 

Indefinitely - not necessarily forever, but indefinitely is long enough for me!

 

yes ,but don't forget ,you only have 1 year from win10 release date to upgrade for free one or both of you 2 Os's

 

Both my 7 and 8.1 are Retail.
So what happens if I do the upgrade on both machines and then "install" the 7 or 8 back in a dual boot mode?
Sounds like a lot of work "for what".
My laptop with 8.1 is the only one I'd like to have both.
It's my work machine and I'm in the home small office IT work.

 

If I understand you correctly, you have originally installed Windows 10 as an Insider Preview to two computers, neither of them as an upgrade from a previous version of Windows but instead both a clean install in a dual boot system. If this is the case, Microsoft has made the future of your installations very clear:

If you opt out from the Windows Insider Program your Windows 10 (both of them) will no longer be activated and valid. However, if you remain as an Insider opting either for the Slow or the Fast Ring, both of your Windows 10 licenses will remain valid and activated.

In your case your Windows 7 and Windows 8 licenses have nothing to do with your two clean installed Windows 10 installations. They are not needed nor required for your Windows 10 installations to remain active.

You have absolutely nothing to worry about as long as you stay with both of your Windows 10 installations in the Insider program.

See this post for more information.

 

Until you upgrade a qualifying OS the Win10 will be Technical Preview releases, meaning the same risks using pre-production code exist, just as they always have for Insiders. Any ISO you create will be Preview Release ISOs.

The only way to get production code is to upgrade a qualifying system.

Kari and I don't see it the same way. We'll all know what reality plays out in a few days, so I suggest waiting a little bit to determine how to prepare for the upgrade. Multi-booting is one of the other BIG questions.

There won't be an issue multi-booting Win10 production + Win10 Preview, the question is multi-booting the previous Win8.1 (or Win7) with the upgraded production Win10.

Most members say that will not be possible since the previous OS key is upgraded to grant the use of Win10 ... as with many things, I see it a bit differently - but again, only time will tell.

I'm not sure what you mean here: Sounds like a lot of work "for what"
You only want to mutli-boot the Win8.1 laptop and the updrate is automatic. The only 'work' is putting Win8.1 back on the machine because that's what you want to do. A little preparation (Macrium image) can make this very lite duty.

The "for what" is what I really don't get - if you want Windows 10, you're going to have to do some work. If it's possible to multi-boot the previous OS with Win10 production, you'll have to do a little more work. So the "for what" is to have a system you said you wanted without purchasing Win10 (caveats on multi-booting still apply)

It would be easier if you could just install Win10 as the 2nd OS ... and you can.
The catch there is that you'll have to shell out $$$ for Win10.

Of course you know what that means, right?
More work to earn the $$$ *Tongue