Windows 10: Which OS should I install first dual boot Win10/Win7

I'm planning to install Windows 7 and Windows 10 dual-boot on my laptop. I have deleted all partition and now my HDD is all unallocated. Now I wonder which OS should I install first. As you know, System reserved of Windows 10 is about 300MB and Windows 7 is just 100 MB, so I don't know how Win 10 uses that partition if I install Win 7 first. I also see on tenforums the thread about Dual Boot Windows 10 and Windows 7, with Win 7 first. So which is better, Win 10 first or Win 7 first?I also post this thread on sevenforums Which OS should I install first dual boot Win10/Win7 - Windows 7 Help Forums
sorry if it's duplicated, just want to get more advice.

:)

 

Windows 10 Pro - Antimalware Service Executable high CPU and DISK usage

Which was installed first, Win10 or Win7?

What anti-virus application is installed in Win7?

Are you a registered Windows Insider?

 

Are there any risks with hiding an inactive OS from the active OS's Explorer?

I have Windows 7 Pro (x64 retail) and Windows 10 Pro (x64 OEM) in a multiboot state.

Windows 7 (which I installed first) is on a hybrid SATA 3.0 drive, and Windows 10 (installed while my Windows 7 drive was still connected) is on an mSATA SSD in a PCI-Express card. The Win10 dual-boot screen prompts me to choose which OS to boot.

At the moment, with Windows 10 as my active OS (C:), my Win7 drive is labeled
F: There is a System Reserved partition (100MB) for Win7, but none for Win10 (usually 500MB if installed as a stand-alone OS).

Likewise, in Windows 7 (C:), my Win10 drive is labeled
F:

If I were to remove the drive letter from my inactive OS, so that the drive would not be visible in the Explorer (that is, my Win7 drive would be invisible in my Win10 Explorer, and my Win10 drive invisible in my Win7 Explorer), would I run the risk of a
system crash upon booting either one of my operating systems? Would Win7 still appear as an option in the Win10 dual-boot screen?

By the way, in my multiboot setup, Win10 did not create a System Reserved partition (usually 500MB) upon installation. Is Win10 using the
System Reserved partition (100MB) created by my Win7 installation? Should I increase the size of this partition to 500MB or even 600MB, to account for the files that might be stored there by both operating systems?

 

Hi there. I started dual booting when on 7 then loaded 8 previews, which went well. Then onto 8.1 duel booting with 10 Insider previews that also went well.

I think the first thing to consider and ask is it a UEFI system?

 

Ditto. Also, when installing 2 or more versions of Windows the conventional wisdom was to always install the oldest version first followed by each succeeding newer version. Haven't done it with Win10 so things may have changed with the boot loader.

 

Agree because 10 will set up a more modern boot loader and screen. Here's one of 8 and 7 just as 10 and 7 would be.

 

Thanks for all your replies. My laptop doesn't have secure boot on BIOS, only legacy as default because it's a 2012 model. I just wonder which OS I should install first.
Here I have Win 10 first https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...e-bd507273a57d
and here win 7 first : Dual Boot Windows 10 with Windows 7 or Windows 8 Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

Both win 7 or win 10 first is the same idea and I got it.I just think about the System reserved partition. Will win 10 work totally correctly with 100 MB System reserved? is there one better or the same?

 

W10 will boot fine with the 100 MB SR partition that is created when you install W7.

As long as there is at least 1 Active partition, that`s all that matters with a Legacy MBR install.

 

Install 7 then 10 is best as others say. However, it will work other way round but you end up with old style text boot menus. You can change back but more hassle.

Actually, the biggest issue is you can only have four primary partitions in legacy bios install (if installing both on same drive) which leaves very little flexibility with dual boot, leaving only one spare partition (assuming you delete msr and recovery partitions).

IMO a better way is to install at least one version of Windows in a virtual hard drive. Then you only need to use two primary partitions.

 

You wouldn't need more than 3 Primaries anyway, any others could be Logical.

In fact, I'm thinking even W10 could be installed on a Logical partition in this particular case.

 

Thank you for your replies!
Yeah I'm going to install just Win 10 and 7 so I think 3 primary is enough, including system reserved. I use both OS for my work so I want to use full hardware performance then virtual machine is just for testing something.

Another question is should I put my documents on windows partition? I see some people set up their windows partition about 80 GB and some just 40 GB. Is Putting documents on C more secure, does is slow down computer (because I think documents changing quite often that can cause more defragment) ?

 

No it won't slow anything down. But having a 5400 RPM hard drive in a laptop is a speed killer anyway. You need a ssd *Smile

How big is the drive in this laptop.

 

I would use that last primary partition as a data drive so either OS can easily access. You really do not want one os drive reading and writing to other - keep them apart.

 

Exactly, that`s why I asked him the size of the drive, if it has the space create a data partition.

Windows may not let you create a 4th Primary partition on a MBR drive, even though we all know it can.

I would just make the data partition Logical.

 

For legacy bios MBR, disk < 2.2 TB, the only partition that needs to be primary is the partition that has the bootloader.
All other partitions can be logical.
fwiw, here's some snips from my OLD triple boot test box running W7, W8.1 has the bootloader.