Windows 10: Windows 10 & Windows 7 Dual Boot - Can it be done

I just tried it on my system. Shrunk my Windows 10 partition by 60GB, created a new 60GB NTFS partition. Applied the Windows 7 Home Premium image to the empty NTFS partition. Ran BCDBOOT. It screwed up my boot priorities in UEFI for some reason, but once I reset boot priorities in UEFI I got the Windows 7/Windows 10 black and white text boot menu. I selected Windows 7 and it went right into the setup routine. A few minutes and 1 reboot later and I was in the screens to create a user account and enter a product key.

Did you apply the image from an ISO file with SP1 included?

 

I used the English version of Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium from the heidoc.net site. I made sure it was 64bit. I disabled Secure Boot in BIOS. I also deleted the ei.cfg file, but I don't think that would matter in this scenario. I went for index 4 (Ultimate) It gets right there ready to show Setup and it freezes.

EDIT: Having failed with using index 4 I tried the procedure again using index 2. It installed successfully.

EDIT: I went back and tried index 4. It failed once again. However when booting into Windows 10 Check Disk scanned and repaired errors on disk G:\ my Windows 7 drive. I rebooted again and this time I chose Windows 7. It installed successfully.

@Nolly1959
It can be done using @NavyLCDR DISM procedure (Post #27). Windows 7 does not have to be the first installed OS.

 

@cereberus
I have a legacy problem with peripherals. It is great that Technology continues to advance although there are some advances that are not for me. Sadly, we end up with computer kit that no longer works and you have to resort to installing an earlier O/S or throw it away and buy something new.

 

Very busy yesterday and I will be today so just a quick reply. Suffice it to say that I have both Windows 7 & Windows 10 bootable from mu PC*Smile There are some pros & cons but I will provide a fuller report this evening.

One again, thank you.

Forgot to add that the question I posed, "Can it be done", then the answer is YES.

 

What is the kit in specific? You should be able to access it via a vm ok.

 

Glad it worked for you!

 

Well it did work! I have spent about one and a half hours trying to understand the following scenario.
Got back late this afternoon. When I powered-up the PC, it booted straight into Windows 10 like it did before Windows 7 was installed (no Windows Boot Manager). What I have found is that if I boot into Windows 10 and then Shutdown (note PC powers off), after powering back on, it boots into Windows 10. However, if I do a Restart from Windows 10 I am presented with the Windows Boot Manager (Windows 7 & 10 available) and I can boot into Windows 7. So, what the heck is going on.

 

Need to turn Windows 10 fast startup off:
Turn On or Off Fast Startup in Windows 10 Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials

 

Already tried Fast Start == Disable but it made no difference. I have been considring whether it is to do with Hibernation. I cannot seem to enable Hibernation in Windows 10. Also, Power and Sleep settings option is grayed out.

 

When I tried the same method on my computer I ended up with two sets of BCD configurations on my EFI System partition. I ended up reformatting it, assigning it a drive letter, and rebuilding the boot files on it. Before I did that, there were two boot manager entries showing up in my UEFI boot priority settings and only one of them was the dual boot menu.

 

I have wondered if there are two different files 'called' by Boot Manager. The fix sounds like it is fraught with danger.
Would you please talk me through it.

How can I check if I have two sets of BCD configuations? I am assuming you are talking about Windows 10.

 

I will have to do it again step by step on my computer, and take better notes. It's easy to fix if you know what you are doing and have plenty of software repair resources if you screw it up. But you definitely can find yourself you in a no boot situation.

 

So it was actually pretty easy on my computer, but you do need a third party partitioning program because Windows does not like to format the EFI System Partition and it is just easier to use a program like MiniTool Partition Wizard:
MiniTool Partition Wizard | Best partition magic alternative for Windows PC and Server

I'm running this from my Windows 10. In partition wizard, right click on the EFI System Partition and Format. Yes you are sure and want to continue. Partition Label is blank, File System FAT32, Cluster Size Default, OK. Right click on it again, Change Letter, give it Z:. OK again. Upper left, click Apply. It may seem like it is taking forever, but it will complete.

Now open a Command Prompt (admin). A Powershell (admin) might also work, I am not sure. My Windows 10 is C: drive, because that is what I am booted into. My Windows 7 partition is G: drive. Yours might be something else. Z: drive is now our freshly formatted and empty EFI System Partition. In the Command Prompt (Admin) run:

bcdboot C:\Windows /s Z: /f UEFI
bcdboot G:\Windows /s Z: /f UEFI /d /addlast
exit

Change the path in red to your Windows 7 drive.

That's it. After you reboot your computer and it's working, you can go back into Partition Wizard and remove the drive letter from the EFI System Partition and uninstall Partition Wizard if you don't want it installed.

 

OK, I downloaded MiniTool Partition Wizard and installed it.
Carried out the procedure that you provided.
Attempted to shutdown Windows 10 but it did not power off. The screen went blank and moving the mouse displayed the login screen for Windows 10. I then did a Restart from Windows 10 and as before got the dual boot menu. Booted into Windows 7, logged in and then shutdown. Powered on and logged into Windows 10. Now I was able to shutdown, that is the PC powered off.

I still have the same result in that if I shutdown from Windows 10 and then power on, I arrive at the Windows 10 login screen. There is no boot menu. If I do a Restart from Windows 10 then I get the dual boot meny and can chosse to log into Windows 7.

 

In Windows 10 C:\ do you have a hiberfil.sys file? Is there quick boot option in your BIOS?