Solved Have two instances of windows totally isolated and choose which one to use?


the_observer

Active member
Local time
11:28 AM
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39
OS
Windows 11
Hi all.
What i want to accomplish is the below but i do not know if it is possible:
Short description of the problem:
I want to be able to have two instances of my pc totally isolated one from the other and choose which one to run every time.
Long description of the problem:
The idea is that i want to have two totally different windows installations in my pc , each one with it's own apps but to be completely separated from each other and to be able to choose which one i want to start with. What i only can think of, is having two disks (could be partitions of the same disk maybe) and somehow to chose one to be disabled at the start. I can do it by entering bios and disable the one disk (in case of two disks) but i wonder if it could be done another way since i am not so expert and maybe someone here know a solution i can not think of. Maybe dual boot is the solution. What do you think?

Any heads up will be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time reading this.

Regards,
Nik.
 
Windows Build/Version
11

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 5 4500
    Motherboard
    ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING (AM4)
    Memory
    32.0GB Dual-Channel DDR4 (15-15-15-36)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon RX 6600
Dual boot will do what you want but you will need to hide the other instance from each other by removing the drive letter of other instance.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
I do that (sort of) all the time. But to do it the way I do, you have to have two HD's installed on the PC.
That's usually easy on a Desktop PC (which I prefer) but usually impossible on a Laptop.
So which are you?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win-11/Pro/64, Optimum 11 V3, 23H2 22631.3085
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Made w/Gigabyte mobo/DX-10
    CPU
    AMD FX 6350 Six Core
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte, DX-10, GA-78LMT-USB3
    Memory
    Crucial, 16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Onboard, ATI Radeon HD 3000; NVIDEA GeForce 210, 1GB DDR3 Ram.
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Acer
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    Crucial SSD 500GB, SanDisk 126GB SSD, Toshiba 1TB HD
    PSU
    EVGA 500 W.
    Case
    Pac Man, Mid Tower
    Cooling
    AMD/OEM
    Keyboard
    101 key, Backlit/ Mechanical Switches/
    Mouse
    Logitech USB Wireless M310
    Internet Speed
    Hughes Net speed varies with the weather
    Browser
    Firefox 64x
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Super Anti Spyware
    Other Info
    Given to me as DEAD, and irreparable.
    Rebuilt with Gigabyte mobo, AMD cpu, 16GB ram and 500GB Crucial SSD.
Hi all.
What i want to accomplish is the below but i do not know if it is possible:
Short description of the problem:
I want to be able to have two instances of my pc totally isolated one from the other and choose which one to run every time.
Long description of the problem:
The idea is that i want to have two totally different windows installations in my pc , each one with it's own apps but to be completely separated from each other and to be able to choose which one i want to start with. What i only can think of, is having two disks (could be partitions of the same disk maybe) and somehow to chose one to be disabled at the start. I can do it by entering bios and disable the one disk (in case of two disks) but i wonder if it could be done another way since i am not so expert and maybe someone here know a solution i can not think of. Maybe dual boot is the solution. What do you think?

Any heads up will be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time reading this.

Regards,
Nik.

I have been dual-booting 2 separate instances of Windows for years. I simply have Win10 and Win11 on separate partitions, and a 3rd big partition for my 'stuff' that they both can access. I have even triple-booted a Win10, a Win11, and a Win11 Insider, but I don't do Insider any more. Never had any problems.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro build 22000.65
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion PC 570-p026
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 7400 @ 3 GHz
    Motherboard
    HP Model 82F2 (U3E1)
    Memory
    12 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer V173
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    500MB Samsung Evo+ SSD
    1TB Western Digital WDC WD10EZEX-60WN4A0 (SATA) 7200 RPM
    Internet Speed
    300/300 Mbs fiber
Dual boot or, if you have an old Windows 7 or 8 key that is not being used, use it to install an instance of 11 as a virtual machine.With a VM you do not have to get out of one instance of the OS to get into the other.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1tb Solidigm m.2 +256gb ssd+512 gb usb m.2 sata
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell factory
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Internet Speed
    still not telling
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
I want to be able to have two instances of my pc totally isolated one from the other and choose which one to run every time.
I dual boot by having one of the Windows installs as a native boot vhdx.

 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Lattitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
I did have more than dual boot, actually at one time 4 OSs, some times with different partitions and some times on separate disks. Right now it's dual BOOT with W11 Insider dev on second SSD after I stopped using Linux Mint on third one, just no more use for it,
There are at lest 2 ways to do it. One is thru BIOS by choosing BOOT disk but that's long way.
Easier to make a BOOT menu in one of disks you designate (in BIOS) to be primary, It could be dome thru MSconfig.exe
1678090640664.png
Or use a program like EAsyBCD to make it
1678090745380.png
I don't practice it but you can always disable letter to the disk with other OS so it's not normally accessible.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 and Insider Dev.+ Linux Mint
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home brewed
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 7900x
    Motherboard
    ASROCK b650 PRO RS
    Memory
    2x8GB Kingston 6000MHz, Cl 32 @ 6200MHz Cl30
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Rx 6600XT Gaming OC 8G Pro
    Sound Card
    MB, Realtek Ac1220p
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x 27"
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    Kingston KC3000. 1TBSamsung 970 evo Plus 500GB, Crucial P1 NVMe 1TB, Lexar NVMe 2 TB, Silicon Power M.2 SATA 500GB
    PSU
    Seasonic 750W
    Case
    Custom Raidmax
    Cooling
    Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360mm
    Internet Speed
    20/19 mbps
Thank you all for your answers.
To clarify that i do not want each instance to has any access to the other instance disk space, programs or anything.

I am not sure that dual boot can do it. CountMike's answer seems the most interesting . Also virtualization maybe a good way since i only want to run a couple programs in the new instance but have to be completely isolated from the rest of the data.

I will mark it as solved and if i have problems i will ask back.

Again thank you for your suggestions.

Regards,
Nik.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 5 4500
    Motherboard
    ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING (AM4)
    Memory
    32.0GB Dual-Channel DDR4 (15-15-15-36)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon RX 6600
...
I am not sure that dual boot can do it. CountMike's answer seems the most interesting . Also virtualization maybe a good way since i only want to run a couple programs in the new instance but have to be completely isolated from the rest of the data.
...
I run VMware Workstation software to run either Windows 11, macOS 13 Ventura, or Ubuntu 22.11. I use this quite often and almost always have a VMware window open, usually with Windows 11 running in it since my host machine is still using Windows 10. I like to contrast and compare the two machines (physical and virtual) and analyze the differences. Rarely do I run into a problem where something will run in Windows 10 and won't run in Windows 11. I fact I can't think of a single problem I've run into while using the Windows 11 virtual machine.

- bob3d
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Professional (x64)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inc. G16
    CPU
    Intel Core i9
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 0FDMYT A00
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX
    Sound Card
    Realtek(R) Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor (15.3"vis)
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    4TB SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    Air
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    10 Mbps (Dismal, slow DSL over phone line)
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Webroot SecureAnywhere
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
I remember Mac os having the option to encrypt your boot partition so it couldn't be read by anyone but I don't really remember how it works. Is it possible to have both drives encrypted so whatever os you boot can decrypt it's own drive but not the other one?

Virtualizing would likely be less of a headache though, and if you have a clear primary OS it makes sense to just run the secondary when you need it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    "Selene"
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 5 3600
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte A520I AC Mini ITX AM4
    Memory
    G.Skill Flare X 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    Dell OEM RX 5700
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 29UM69G-B 29.0" 1.5X Ultrawide 75 Hz Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel 660p 1.02 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
    Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive
    PSU
    Corsair CX650M 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply
    Case
    Thermaltake Suppressor F1
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries APEX RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Rival 300 Wired Optical Mouse
    Other Info
    SteelSeries Arctis 5 7.1 Channel Headset
I remember Mac os having the option to encrypt your boot partition so it couldn't be read by anyone but I don't really remember how it works. Is it possible to have both drives encrypted so whatever os you boot can decrypt it's own drive but not the other one?

Virtualizing would likely be less of a headache though, and if you have a clear primary OS it makes sense to just run the secondary when you need it.
BitLocker with Windows.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 and Insider Dev.+ Linux Mint
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home brewed
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 7900x
    Motherboard
    ASROCK b650 PRO RS
    Memory
    2x8GB Kingston 6000MHz, Cl 32 @ 6200MHz Cl30
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Rx 6600XT Gaming OC 8G Pro
    Sound Card
    MB, Realtek Ac1220p
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x 27"
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    Kingston KC3000. 1TBSamsung 970 evo Plus 500GB, Crucial P1 NVMe 1TB, Lexar NVMe 2 TB, Silicon Power M.2 SATA 500GB
    PSU
    Seasonic 750W
    Case
    Custom Raidmax
    Cooling
    Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360mm
    Internet Speed
    20/19 mbps
BitLocker with Windows.
encrypting one drive is easy, but can the hardware handle two independant drives with their own encryption? I'd suspect the TPM of only being able to hold one encyption key at this level.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    "Selene"
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 5 3600
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte A520I AC Mini ITX AM4
    Memory
    G.Skill Flare X 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    Dell OEM RX 5700
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 29UM69G-B 29.0" 1.5X Ultrawide 75 Hz Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel 660p 1.02 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
    Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive
    PSU
    Corsair CX650M 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply
    Case
    Thermaltake Suppressor F1
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries APEX RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Rival 300 Wired Optical Mouse
    Other Info
    SteelSeries Arctis 5 7.1 Channel Headset
Thank you for your additional answers.

Probably the virtualization should be the best options. On the other hand i have not ever done one in windows 11 and i wonder, since i want to run only one program which is very demanding in system resources , will it be possible to give to the virtual pc all or at least the majority of pc resources or are there any limitations?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 5 4500
    Motherboard
    ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING (AM4)
    Memory
    32.0GB Dual-Channel DDR4 (15-15-15-36)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon RX 6600
If you do decide to dual boot, removing the drive letter of the drive you want to hide should do what you want.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SAM0A87 Samsung SAM0D32
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec G156
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
    Motherboard
    AsusTeK Prime B360M-S
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Speptre HDMI 75Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe
    Mouse
    Logitek M185
    Keyboard
    Logitek K270
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

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