Is it possible to multi-boot two installations of Windows 11 without complications and filesystem corruption?


BadAnalysis

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tl;dr: last lime I tried with Windows 10 was a complete mess so I need advice.

Hello,

I use my PC for both work and gaming. Unfortunately the two don't really co-exist well. Years ago I attempted multi-booting on two different drives but had issues with file corruption and bootloader confusion that I never managed to completely resolve. Below is a list of issues I came across, is there a better way of doing this stably or is it just not possible?

Fastboot: This was a killer. I learned the hard way to disable this. Each time I swapped OSs the loading OS would detect improperly closed files and other issues and attempt to 'correct' them leading to massive file corruption.

Sleep/Hibernate/power loss: Any time I switched OSs without a clean shutdown there would be substantial file corruption where the loading OS would attempt to 'fix' perceived errors.

Bitlocker: I use this for security on my work drive. I did manage to get that working however each time I swapped OS the bootloader would swap between two versions; one for the locked work drive and one for the gaming drive.

Disk boot order: I don't know how this one happened but I ended up in a situation where I could only change OS by selecting a specific disk during system startup.

I managed to mitigate some of these problems. I disabled fastboot, unmounted and offlined drives related to the other OS. This prevented the corruption issues however occasionally, often after a system update one or more of these would revert to default and cause problems again. By using a script to check for these on startup and shutdown I managed to mitigate the problem.

I never managed to work out the issue of having multiple bootloaders or the scenario where I ended up having to select drives during system startup. Perhaps a third-party bootloader could help but with the introduction of Windows 11, the mandatory use of secure boot and my use of Bitlocker I'm guessing this would be difficult at the least. Also, with secure boot, would it even be possible to use two OSs?

If anyone out there has any words of wisdom I'd be grateful.

Thanks.

BTW: My system is Windows 11 compliant and I have two licenses.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10/11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-assembled
    Other Info
    Changes every few days :)
tl;dr: last lime I tried with Windows 10 was a complete mess so I need advice.

Hello,

I use my PC for both work and gaming. Unfortunately the two don't really co-exist well. Years ago I attempted multi-booting on two different drives but had issues with file corruption and bootloader confusion that I never managed to completely resolve. Below is a list of issues I came across, is there a better way of doing this stably or is it just not possible?

Fastboot: This was a killer. I learned the hard way to disable this. Each time I swapped OSs the loading OS would detect improperly closed files and other issues and attempt to 'correct' them leading to massive file corruption.

Sleep/Hibernate/power loss: Any time I switched OSs without a clean shutdown there would be substantial file corruption where the loading OS would attempt to 'fix' perceived errors.

Bitlocker: I use this for security on my work drive. I did manage to get that working however each time I swapped OS the bootloader would swap between two versions; one for the locked work drive and one for the gaming drive.

Disk boot order: I don't know how this one happened but I ended up in a situation where I could only change OS by selecting a specific disk during system startup.

I managed to mitigate some of these problems. I disabled fastboot, unmounted and offlined drives related to the other OS. This prevented the corruption issues however occasionally, often after a system update one or more of these would revert to default and cause problems again. By using a script to check for these on startup and shutdown I managed to mitigate the problem.

I never managed to work out the issue of having multiple bootloaders or the scenario where I ended up having to select drives during system startup. Perhaps a third-party bootloader could help but with the introduction of Windows 11, the mandatory use of secure boot and my use of Bitlocker I'm guessing this would be difficult at the least. Also, with secure boot, would it even be possible to use two OSs?

If anyone out there has any words of wisdom I'd be grateful.

Thanks.

BTW: My system is Windows 11 compliant and I have two licenses.
I presume you mean fast start, not fast boot.

You should turn off hibernation on all instances, but this may not be possible on work installation depending on access rights.

You talk about bitlocker - is the whole drive encrypted, or just C drive?

Windows 10 does not require secure boot but should have no issues if set (as well as TPM).
 

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 had a experience dual booting Windows 10 and 11 (but on the same drive), and here's what I learned about it:

1. Enabling Fast Startup (or Hibernation) in the 2 OSes leads to boot straight up to the OS that is shutdown with Fast boot or Hibernated. I used shutdown /s /t 0, restarting or disabling Fast Startup or Hibernate can fix this issue.
2. You can mix and match a desktop folder, or even a Downloads folder in the 2 OSes.

If you are using different drives per OS,

1. you can use your BIOS bootloader, use a 3rd party bootloader, or even using the Windows bootmgr to boot to different drive. It can be GRUB, or others. If you want to use GRUB, you need a Linux disk on hand and know the Terminal.
2. You can use a script to disable the drive regarding to the other OS in the current OS.

Notes:

1. Secure Boot can be enabled. Secure Boot is not one of the requirements to install 11.
2. UEFI or Legacy can be used. Even 1 is Legacy (CSM on UEFI), and the another 1 is UEFI.

Tips:
1. You can use a VHD disk to boot to the another OS.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    EndeavourOS, Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    custom PC
    CPU
    Core i5 8400
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B360M-HD3
    Memory
    8gb DDR4-2400
    Graphics Card(s)
    iGPU
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    some generic 1080p 75hz monitor * 2
    Screen Resolution
    1080p * 2
    Hard Drives
    GIGABYTE NVMe SSD 256GB (GP-GSM2NE3256GNTD)
    Internet Speed
    200MBit/s
    Antivirus
    WD
I do that all time, dual (even triple with Linux) booting but always on separate drives. Last time I had W10 and W11 together is when W11 came out and used together with W10 until I got sure W11 i good enough. They never got mixed up or had and problems mentioned above.
Now I have regular W11 on one disk abd W1 insider dev on other
The "Secret" is to install each one while other other disk is disconnected. No mixing of BOOT possible. I'm using EasyBCD to make a BOOT menu to choose. Had to choose from BIOS only to BOOT Linux because of incompatibly file systems which EasyBCD can't recognize.
 

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
I have one drive with triple boot, win 10, win 11 and ubuntu. Just need make partitions and install SO. The last one to nstalling Ubuntu for the grub install.
I didn't need to install any boot manager, when installing the OS it is added at startup. I have another drive only with windows 11 on the same pc and it is also managed at startup. It starts with Ubuntu grub, we choose the windows boot and then we select the system we want to boot.
And a laptop with triple boot too.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 64-bits 23H2 22631.2861
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 3 2200G with Radeon Vega Graphics 3.50 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI B350 PC MATE
    Memory
    16,00 GB TeamGroup DDR4-2667
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GT 730 & Radeon™ Vega 8 Graphics
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GK208 HDMI/DP High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 27"
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160
    Hard Drives
    SSD Team Group T-Force Cardea Zero Z440 1TB Gen4 M.2 NVMe (5000/4400MB/s), SSD Team Group CX2 512GB SATA III (530/470MB/s) and 2x Seagate 1TB BarraCuda 64MB 7200rpm SATA III 3.5 - ST1000DM010
    PSU
    LC-Power 650W V2.3
    Case
    ATX Nox Hummer ZS
    Cooling
    No cooling
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    1000/200
    Browser
    Firefox 120.0.1
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Optical Drive ASUS DRW-24D5MT
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 64-bits 22H2 22631.2861
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus VivoBook Max X541NA
    CPU
    Intel Celeron N3350 @ 1.10GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS X541NA
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Apollo Lake SoC - Graphics and Display Controller (12 EU) [B1] [ASUS]
    Sound Card
    Intel Apollo Lake SoC - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    NT156WHM-N42 15.6"
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate ST1000LM035-1RK172
    PSU
    Asus Battery
    Internet Speed
    1000 Mbps / 200 MBps
    Browser
    Firefox 120.0.1
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Windows Defender
I am doing this now with no issues. I carved out 100GB when Win11 first came out so I could give it a trial run, so I had Win10/Win11 on it. A month ago I did an in-place upgrade on the Win10, but I haven't bothered removing the other install yet. The only thing I did was go into Disk Mgmt in each instance & remove the drive letter for the other OS. I do have a shared D: that both can access.

I haven't had a need for it in years, but for a long time I used the Terabyte product, BootIT. It's rock-solid and is designed for stuff like that. They have a UEFI-specific version. Those guys know their stuff.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    built myself
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 10700K
    Motherboard
    MSI Z490-A Pro
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    built myself
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 6800K
    Motherboard
    Asus X99-E
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    no TPM
I triple boot. 2 drives, 1 with Windows 11 beta and the other driver with W11 Dev and W10 on separate patroons, I use the windows bootmgr without issues
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro Beta, 11 Dev, W11 Canary
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Alienware M15 Ryzen Edition R6
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen™ 9 5900HX
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070 8GB GDDR6
    Hard Drives
    1 x Samsung 980 Pro 1TB
    1 x Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB
If you fear to see one is destroying the other for whatever reason, bitlock them both, which makes files inaccessible for the other OS. See my article for instructions:
(Works for Win11, too)
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11
If you fear to see one is destroying the other for whatever reason, bitlock them both, which makes files inaccessible for the other OS. See my article for instructions:
(Works for Win11, too)
Minor point - this would only work for Pro (+).

I actually did a post a few days ago about this using basically the same method for a user who wanted to let a friend use pc but limit access to his files and programs. You can play around with permissions but it can get quite messy.

I suggested a dual boot solution, and bitlocking main OS (of course friend would only have standard account on secondary drive).

Actually using a native boot vhd for secondary drive is a good idea as owner can easily backup vhd, and even if friend screws it up, easy to restore backup vhd.

In this particular case, bitlocking secondary OS is not really needed, unless friend wants total privacy as well, but not really possible as owner has admin rights. Friend would have to store data on a usb stick or sd card (or similar).

But you are right, bitlocking both, protects both ways. For OPs case, sounds a good idea.

As an aside, I presume bitlocking main OS reduces risk of infections from secondary OS?
 

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
Thanks for your responses. If I install the second OS while the first one exists without disabling the drive, will windows be smart enough to use the existing bootloader or insist on using its own?

With respect to the bitlocker question, the entire work drive is encrypted including the OS.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10/11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-assembled
    Other Info
    Changes every few days :)
Minor point - this would only work for Pro (+).

I actually did a post a few days ago about this using basically the same method for a user who wanted to let a friend use pc but limit access to his files and programs. You can play around with permissions but it can get quite messy.

I suggested a dual boot solution, and bitlocking main OS (of course friend would only have standard account on secondary drive).

Actually using a native boot vhd for secondary drive is a good idea as owner can easily backup vhd, and even if friend screws it up, easy to restore backup vhd.

In this particular case, bitlocking secondary OS is not really needed, unless friend wants total privacy as well, but not really possible as owner has admin rights. Friend would have to store data on a usb stick or sd card (or similar).

But you are right, bitlocking both, protects both ways. For OPs case, sounds a good idea.

As an aside, I presume bitlocking main OS reduces risk of infections from secondary OS?
That's an interesting idea but I want to leave the games drive unencrypted.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10/11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-assembled
    Other Info
    Changes every few days :)
Thanks for your responses. If I install the second OS while the first one exists without disabling the drive, will windows be smart enough to use the existing bootloader or insist on using its own?

With respect to the bitlocker question, the entire work drive is encrypted including the OS.
Hmmm - are you sure it is entire drive because if the whole drive is encrypted, I am not sure you could boot from other drive using a dual boot menu as EFI would be encrypted as well?

I think you would only be able to boot second drive from bios (assuming it has its own EFI partition) but I do not know for sure without testing it.

Maybe the TPM is clever enough to handle this.
 

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
Hmmm - are you sure it is entire drive because if the whole drive is encrypted, I am not sure you could boot from other drive using a dual boot menu as EFI would be encrypted as well?

I think you would only be able to boot second drive from bios (assuming it has its own EFI partition) but I do not know for sure without testing it.

Maybe the TPM is clever enough to handle this.
Hmm. I can't remember the details but Im not sure if the EFI partition is also encrypted or if its just the OS (C) partition.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10/11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-assembled
    Other Info
    Changes every few days :)
"That's an interesting idea but I want to leave the games drive unencrypted." - why would you? The disk performance will be marginally slower, games will not suffer from that.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11
"That's an interesting idea but I want to leave the games drive unencrypted." - why would you? The disk performance will be marginally slower, games will not suffer from that.
I was actually just reading about bitlocker performance. With CPU acceleration the performance loss is negligible. One issue that I found mentioned several times was an increase in driver access latency. Not something I have much knowledge of though.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10/11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-assembled
    Other Info
    Changes every few days :)
To hell with it. I'll do it. I've got dick imaging software so I'll take a backup or three.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10/11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-assembled
    Other Info
    Changes every few days :)
Oops! DISK imaging. 🤭

I disabled word filtering on gboard.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10/11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-assembled
    Other Info
    Changes every few days :)
If 2 OSs on separate disks, one can only "Hide" the other one by removing letter from other OS partition.
 

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
Hello, hope you have success with all your endeavors. If you have good internet speeds as an alternative, you could use a secondary device like a laptop (I have a Steamdeck device formatted with a Windows 11 OS) and use Windows Remote Desktop Connection with just ALT + TAB between your Work and Games so to speak. I am quite impressed with the Remote Desktop Connection which is the built-in windows program. I am not referring to the Microsoft Remote Desktop App available on the app store and what, not. Those are to put it frankly, crap... they have weird screen resolution scalings and funny stuff, and a mess to connect and manage but if you can manage it good for you. But I am referring to using the 'old school' Remote Desktop Connection from Windows Pro (You'll need Pro I guess) The flow is just seamless and the latency for your 'work' environment is just great. I have my gaming setup on my performance PC and my Windows work environment on my Steamdeck (and some games cause it's on my Steamdeck so I can just unplug it on the go and play remotely when I am not stationed but it's religiously set apart from my work stuff) I can imagine a laptop shall work in this instance as well. I have them set up and connected to the same network. I just log into my Secondary OS so to speak with Remote Desktop Connection on my Performance PC and the whole Secondary OS runs in a Window that I can just switch through at ease using ALT + TAB. It's awesome quality, fullscreen and I can unpin the menubar. I can't even tell which OS I am using! so seamless it feels for argument's sake. This is only an alternative but I quite like this ecosystem.
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11

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