Easiest way to keep my current Win 10 install and dual boot an upgraded ver of my current install with Win 11?

bobsage · Aug 22, 2021

Please advise on the above. FYI I have macrium reflect and a current image of my Win 10 install if needed.

Wynona · Aug 22, 2021

I would restore the backup of Windows 10 on the second partition, join Windows Insider for DEV or Beta (on the second partition), then let it update to Windows 11.

bobsage · Aug 22, 2021

Wynona said:
I would restore the backup of Windows 10 on the second partition, join Windows Insider for DEV or Beta (on the second partition), then let it update to Windows 11.

Thank u!!

cineman195 · Aug 22, 2021

Wynona said:
I would restore the backup of Windows 10 on the second partition, join Windows Insider for DEV or Beta (on the second partition), then let it update to Windows 11.

Restoring the backup of windows 10 on the second partition-this includes the EFI and the Recovery partition too ?
Does this not create problems in booting, with two EFI partitions ?
Would it be better to just clone the Windows partition and add the boot files via bcdedit ?
Regards

Wynona · Aug 22, 2021

cineman195 said:
Restoring the backup of windows 10 on the second partition-this includes the EFI and the Recovery partition too ?
Does this not create problems in booting, with two EFI partitions ?
Would it be better to just clone the Windows partition and add the boot files via bcdedit ?
Regards

I've never had any problems with dual booting. Windows adds the partitions it wants.

bobsage · Aug 22, 2021

Wynona said:
I've never had any problems with dual booting. Windows adds the partitions it wants.

So there should be two copies of the EFI system, etc partitions if you are dual booting Win 10 and 11 or two Win 10's, correct?

Wynona · Aug 22, 2021

bobsage said:
Please advise on the above. FYI I have macrium reflect and a current image of my Win 10 install if needed.

Bob, I think your purpose is to carry over the custom settings you already have in Windows 10 to Windows 11.

However, Cineman brings up a valid point, so I'm going to ask @Brink to be sure. In the meantime, here's his "Dual Boot" tutorial:

Dual Boot Windows 11 with Windows 10 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to dual boot Windows 11 with Windows 10 on the same PC. Windows 11 has all the power and security of Windows 10 with a redesigned and refreshed look. It also comes with new tools, sounds, and apps. Every detail has been considered. All of it comes together to...

www.elevenforum.com

bobsage · Aug 22, 2021

Wynona said:
Bob, I think your purpose is to carry over the custom settings you already have in Windows 10 to Windows 11.

However, Cineman brings up a valid point, so I'm going to ask @Brink to be sure. In the meantime, here's his "Dual Boot" tutorial:

Dual Boot Windows 11 with Windows 10 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to dual boot Windows 11 with Windows 10 on the same PC. Windows 11 has all the power and security of Windows 10 with a redesigned and refreshed look. It also comes with new tools, sounds, and apps. Every detail has been considered. All of it comes together to...

www.elevenforum.com

You are correct Wynona, plus keeping a separate bootup of my current Win 10 install. Cineman's question of multiple partitions for both installations of Win 10 and Win 11 prompted my question as well.

Wynona · Aug 22, 2021

bobsage said:
You are correct Wynona. Cineman's question of multiple partitions for both installations of Win 10 and Win 11 prompted my question as well.

Of course, we'll have to wait until tomorrow for Brink to see my post, since he sleeps at night. :scream:

bobsage · Aug 22, 2021

Wynona said:
Of course, we'll have to wait until tomorrow for Brink to see my post, since he sleeps at night.

Brink sleeps?!?

Wynona · Aug 22, 2021

bobsage said:
Brink sleeps?!?

Yeah, he does, and I think I should get to bed too.

cineman195 · Aug 22, 2021

Wynona said:
I've never had any problems with dual booting. Windows adds the partitions it wants.

Yeah, Windows creates the partition it wants only when it is installed, normally it doesn't add another boot partition, it just adds entries to the existing boot partition.
No harm in trying it out, if it creates problem, you can always add boot entries to the 'main' installation and delete the extra EFI partition.
regards

Brink · Aug 22, 2021

Hello bobsage,

You could use the image to restore for a dual boot, but you would need to have another product key or digital license to activate with since you can't have both W10 and W11 installed and activated with the same product key or digital license without one or both eventually getting deactived.

galileo · Aug 22, 2021

Brink said:
Hello bobsage, :)

You could use the image to restore for a dual boot, but you would need to have another product key or digital license to activate with since you can't have both W10 and W11 installed and activated with the same product key or digital license without one or both eventually getting deactived.

@Brink

What is the Microsoft current policy on dual boot installations - obviously on the same physical machine - given that the digital license is, supposedly, for the physical machine?

Brink · Aug 22, 2021

galileo said:
@Brink

What is the Microsoft current policy on dual boot installations - obviously on the same physical machine - given that the digital license is, supposedly, for the physical machine?

A product key (aka: digital license) is only good to activate one current installation. It can't be used to activate more than one current installation.

It doesn't matter if the installations are dual boot, virtual machine, or physical machine. Each is considered a separate installation with each requiring a separate digital license to activate.

galileo · Aug 22, 2021

Brink said:
A product key (aka: digital license) is only good to activate one current installation. It can't be used to activate more than one current installation.

It doesn't matter if the installations are dual boot, virtual machine, or physical machine. Each is considered a separate installation with each requiring a separate digital license to activate.

That part is clear. I guess the deeper question is that one could flip-flop back and forth with restoring single images of W10 and W11 and thus always have only a "single" installation on a machine at any one time. The idea being that one is always permitted to reinstall as many times as one wishes. Thus, always being in technical compliance with the license. If one is dual booting, the effective result is the same. Given these two scenarios, how would one ever be able to parse the difference between the two from a licensing perspective?

Gramps · Aug 22, 2021

Brink said:
It doesn't matter if the installations are dual boot, virtual machine, or physical machine. Each is considered a separate installation with each requiring a separate digital license to activate.

Hmmm, I have a dual boot set-up, Win 10 on the C: drive and Win 11 on the F: drive. Works fine and Win 11 activated w/o a separate license. Don't know if that will change in the future, we'll have to wait and see.

Brink · Aug 22, 2021

Gramps said:
Hmmm, I have a dual boot set-up, Win 10 on the C: drive and Win 11 on the F: drive. Works fine and Win 11 activated w/o a separate license. Don't know if that will change in the future, we'll have to wait and see.

One or both may eventually get deactivated since it's a violation of the EULA to have both installations activated with the same license.

galileo · Aug 22, 2021

Gramps said:
Hmmm, I have a dual boot set-up, Win 10 on the C: drive and Win 11 on the F: drive. Works fine and Win 11 activated w/o a separate license. Don't know if that will change in the future, we'll have to wait and see.

I have done dual booting numerous times in the past although not at the moment. I was considering doing restoring my W10 image on a different volume in a dual boot scenario, then upgrading to W11 to preserve my currently installed environment. Thus, being able to explore W11 on my current physical device without potentially compromising my current installation.

Brink · Aug 22, 2021

galileo said:
That part is clear. I guess the deeper question is that one could flip-flop back and forth with restoring single images of W10 and W11 and thus always have only a "single" installation on a machine at any one time. The idea being that one is always permitted to reinstall as many times as one wishes. Thus, always being in technical compliance with the license. If one is dual booting, the effective result is the same. Given these two scenarios, how would one ever be able to parse the difference between the two from a licensing perspective?

If you only have one installed, you legally could as long as you're not flipping back and forth often. This could cause you to reach the activation limit for the license.