How to put two systems on one computer. Installing a second copy of Windows on a PC

This article will walk you through the steps of installing Windows 7 on a second system.

This method is suitable if you want to install Windows 7, in addition to the already existing operating system (OS) of the Windows family, for example Windows Vista or Windows XP. The correct order of installing two operating systems on one computer is as follows: first install the earlier one (Windows XP, Windows Vista, etc.), then the later one (Windows 7). In this case, after installing Windows 7, a boot menu is automatically created (selection menu, which of the 2 OS to load).

Minimum system requirements

First of all, make sure that your computer complies with minimum requirements:

Processor: 1 GHz, 32-bit or 64-bit
RAM: 1 GB (32-bit) / 2 GB (64-bit)
Free disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) / 20 GB (64-bit)
Video adapter: DirectX 9 graphics support, 128 MB memory (to enable the Aero theme)
DVD Reader / Writer / USB Flash
Internet connection (to download beta and updates)

Preparing the media

If you have a Windows 7 disc, go to.

If you downloaded the image, read on.

Installation can be done:

Burning an image to a USB Flash (flash drive) or DVD

There are many recording methods, I suggest several of them for your choice:

Unpacking an image to a hard disk (HDD)

To unpack the image, I suggest using a program or any other, according to your taste.

Download the distribution, install, run, click "Open", specify the path to the image:

We choose "Actions" -> "Extract", specify the folder for extraction:

Preparing the hard disk partition into which the installation will be performed

It is advisable to transfer all important information and formatted (during installation).

In order not to get confused, you can set the volume label in advance:

Installation

Boot into an existing OS, insert a disk (or flash drive) or navigate to the desired folder on the HDD.

Run "setup.exe":

If you have an Internet connection, it is advisable to get the latest updates:

Read License agreementif you agree - check the box and click "Further":

We choose "Full installation":

Select the desired section and click "Disk setup":

We press "Format" (desirable but not required)

Attention, all data on the selected section will be deleted!

The machine will restart and the installation will continue.

Some software not compatible with modern operating systems. In this case, you can install a separate OS for it, which will work specifically for this program. Also, the need for another system may be due to the fact that more than one person uses the computer. Let's figure out if it is possible to install two operating systems on one computer and how to do it.

Features of installing multiple operating systems on one computer

Indeed, it is possible to install several operating systems... Users try to diversify the capabilities of their computer by installing operating systems from different manufacturers.

Installing multiple operating systems is possible if you boot them on different physical or virtual disks... It should be borne in mind that Windows adequately perceives only a similar operating system of a different version. If you want to install Lunix, you first need to download it, and then install Windows as an alternative.

It is also necessary to carry out the installation in order of priority - download the newer version last. In this case, you do not need to configure the computer startup menu for a long time. often called a selfish system, if you have it, then you will have to make changes to the boot menu.

Using a second operating system with a virtual machine. Video instruction

- a program that emulates different operating systems. For Windows, you can use a product from Oracle - Virtualbox. Its advantages are that:

even the oldest versions of the operating system can be run;
on one PC, you can use several dozen operating systems at once, including;
a virtual machine and all data can be easily transferred to another PC;
if volume random access memory allows you to run multiple operating systems at once.

Such programs also have their disadvantages:

some programs do not run on a virtual machine, since 100% rendering cannot be achieved on it;
from hard disk It is impossible to work directly, first you need to transfer the files to the virtual machine disk.

We will not dwell on it in detail, since this is a very broad topic, and our article is devoted to the constant use of several operating systems on one computer.

Installation instructions for two OS

On modern computer most often they install Windows 7 and 10. With the installation of the XP operating system, problems may arise, since this system may not see hDD, it is currently out of service and does not receive drivers automatically. Let's analyze a standard situation when you already have it installed, but for some programs you want to have a second option, for example, the seventh version of the operating system.

Installing two operating systems on a new PC always starts with the older one, and the new one needs to be written to free hard disk or dedicated volume. But in most cases, users are faced with the opposite situation. We will dwell on it in more detail. The instructions given can be used in the opposite situation when you have Windows 7, and you decide to try the tenth version of the OS.

Before installing two operating systems on your computer, you need to connect a blank hard drive or allocate space on the existing media. It is worth dwelling on the second option in more detail, since it will require a little time from you:

In most new PCs, disks are not partitioned into separate volumes, which makes it difficult to install additional operating systems on them. In order for the operating systems to work normally, it is necessary to allocate a volume for the second with a volume of 40-50 GB.
Highlight without data loss additional disk is possible only if it has enough free space... To do this, press the Win + R keyboard shortcut and enter the diskmgmt.msc command.
You will see the Disk Management window. Click on the meta you want to cut from another disk, right-click and select from context menu item "Compress volume".
Indicate the amount of space you need. For normal work operating system, at least 40 GB must be separated.
The unallocated space will be displayed in black on the graph. Click on this area with the right mouse button and select the "Create empty volume" function from the list. Now you just need to set a letter for it and select the file system - NTFS.

This volume will now appear in File Explorer. Even if physically you do not have additional HDD , you will be able to create two operating systems on different disks.

The next stage of work on installing the operating system will be a flash drive or disk. The only rule in this work will be that you need to record an image of only one windows versions ... Also, you do not need to host images with different bit depth - choose only one option. We will not dwell on this work in detail. It is carried out in the same way as for a single OS.

To start the installation new version operating system, you need to enter the BIOS and take the following actions:

Disable Security Boot Mode.
Find the CSM or Legacy option, it must be turned on on the contrary, then the computer will support different operating systems.

If your computer has a more modern UEFI shell, then you need to do a little differently:

Set the Csm Support option to Enable mode. It can be found in the BOOT section.
Go to the SECURITY section. Find Secure Boot Control in it and put it in Disabled mode.

Then, in any of the shells, you need to choose from which media the system will boot - from a USB flash drive or a DVD drive. Regardless of which shell you worked in, you need to save the changes and proceed to further installation. It is not too difficult. The installation wizard will guide you through each step. The only thing worth remembering is that the installation must be carried out on the disk partition that you created at the very beginning of the procedure.

After completing and rebooting, you need to select in the BIOS from which disk the system will boot. This must be the HDD. If you have used two physical disks and they both appear in the list, you must select the one that contains the most frequently used operating system.

Create a launch menu

If your main operating system is Windows 10, then after restarting your computer, you will have a choice of which system you will use. By default, the time to choose is about 30 seconds. If necessary, you can change this time in the "System" menu of Windows 10. To do this, you need to follow the instructions:

go to the "Control Panel";
go to the "System and Security" tab;
select the "System" item;
in the left column of the menu select the item "Additional parameters";
the "System Properties" window will open in front of you, in it select the "Advanced" tab;
click on the "Options" button.

In this part of the menu, you can choose which operating system will boot by default. If there is no marker next to the line "Display a list of operating systems", then mark this item and enter the desired time (in seconds) with numbers. Save your changes.

Acronis OS selector

If you used a different system by default or the selection menu is not displayed, then you need to load the Acronis OS selector utility. The setting will be done with its help. It will help you decide how to switch between the two operating systems.

Install the modern version of the utility and restart your computer.
During the reboot, you cannot turn off the PC, the software will create a special FAT partition on the hard disk and write to it boot files... Then you will need to restart your computer again.
After rebooting, the utility will start searching for the operating systems installed on your PC. Based on its results, it will form a list of available operating systems.
Switching between operating systems is very simple, for this you need to go into the application and select the OS that is not currently highlighted in color.
After selecting the operating system, you need to open the settings menu (it is located at the top of the window). From the list available options select "Download".

The operating system will restart immediately after these steps. The version you selected will start. This method helps a lot when two operating systems on a PC are installed on different hard drives, and in BIOS you only need to select one. The utility helps if you installed older versions of operating systems, and not the tenth or eighth version.

With this utility, you can also, without delving into system settings select the default operating system and load it. For example, if you have two Windows 7 operating systems, you can stay on the one that is working and boot from it. The second can be removed using the built-in system methods. To do this, in the settings menu, you need to stop at the item "Select by default and load." Now, after turning on the computer, the selected system will boot. This method works well if you have installed the OS on different physical disks.

How do I uninstall the second operating system?

If you no longer need a second operating system, the first thing you want to do is uninstall it. After all, few people want to perform an additional action during computer startup. Let's figure out how to remove two operating systems. You can do this in a radical way by completely reinstalling Windows with formatting hard drives... But if you want to keep the files of the default system, then you need to proceed in other ways. For less experienced users, the following instruction is suitable:

Load the operating system you want to keep.
Go to the "Start" menu and find the line "Run". You can just press Win + R.
The window that appears will contain the only line in which you need to enter the msconfig command.
Press Enter or click on the "OK" button with the mouse.
You will see the "System Configuration" window. Go to the "Download" tab.
The list should show two operating systems. Next to one there is a mark (Current, loaded by default), near the second there are usually no marks.
Click on the line of the operating system you want to get rid of. Below the list box there is a "Delete" button. Click on it.
After you press this button, "Apply" will become active, confirm your actions with its help, and complete the operation by pressing the "OK" button.
The configuration window will close and a new "System Setup" will appear in front of you. It will indicate that you need to restart your computer to make changes. Click on the "Restart" button.

If you pressed the buttons correctly, then after restarting the computer you will not see the selection menu, the second operating system will be deleted. In some cases, files and folders will remain on the disk that will need to be removed manually. Do not confuse which disk is located on working system (if you installed according to our instructions, then this will be section C) so as not to delete the necessary files.

Advanced users can do the same job in automatic modeusing command line... In it, you call the inline command tool BCDEdit and then use the deletevalue tool. We will not dwell on this possibility in detail, since the above method is much simpler and will suit a user with any skill level.

Now you know everything about working with multiple operating systems: how to install, download, or even uninstall them. Placing two versions of Windows on one computer is possible if you follow all the rules described above. If you have any difficulties and questions, you can ask them in the comments. Share information with your friends and invite them to discuss.

In this article I would like to consider the installation of two OS (operating systems) on one computer, that is, without removing the Windows system that is already installed on our computer. The article describes windows installation 7 to a computer with already installed Windows 8.1

First, we need an empty local disk on which we will install the Window 7 OS, in my case it is " New volume (E: \\) "it is advisable to devote at least 30 GB to install the system. If you do not have an empty disk and you do not want to delete anything from other local disks, you can simply partition one of your local disks. How to do this, see the article Partitioning a Local Disk Using Acronis Disk Director or How to Partition a Hard Disk Using Windows Tools.

So, you have decided on the disk, now we insert the disk or flash drive with Windows and boot from it.

Push Install.

We choose complete installation

And after the installation is over, when the computer boots up, we will be given the choice of the operating system. But in most cases, at this stage, only Windows 7 is loaded without giving us a choice from which system to boot, because the installation overwrites the bootloader of the system that was the first in our case, it is Windows 8.1. To solve this problem, read the article to the end.

As we can see in the picture below, the local drive that was with the letter (E: \\) now has the letter (C: \\). But this is only in Windows 7. And when we boot into Windows 8.1 the drive letter will again become (E: \\).

To fix the boot problem we need a program called EasyBSD. You can download it from the link http://www.softportal.com/get-41415-easybcd.html.

After downloading, run the program installer Next.

Leave the checkboxes Next.

Push Install.

The program is installed, run it ( required as administrator) and select the language Russian.

So we see that there is only Windows 7 in the bootloader, our task is to add Windows 8.1

In point "edit boot menu"only Windows 7 is also visible. To add to the Windows 8.1 bootloader, click on the item " Add a note".

In the drop-down list in the type item: select Windows Vista / 7/8/10, write any name below, this name will be displayed at boot, then select the disk on which our system is located, in my case it is the disk (D: \\) and click add.

In the boot menu, we see that a new entry, which will be displayed on the initial boot screen and we can choose the one we need. You can also select the operating system that will be loaded (by default) at the end of the 30 second delay by simply checking the box next to it. Push the button save.

Now when the system boots, we can choose which one to boot from.

ABOUTgive your opinion about this article, and of course, ask your questions if something suddenly went wrong with you.

Thanks for attention!

I decided today to prepare a small article in which to talk about how to remove one windows system from a computer on which you have installed two operating systems, for example, Windows 8 and Windows 7. I already wrote an article on how to do this correctly,. This article can be considered a small supplement.

It is clear that if you installed two operating systems on your computer, for example, in order to test Windows 8, then sooner or later, you will want to remove one of the systems. Either leave the fresh eight and uninstall Windows 7, or vice versa, uninstall Windows 8.

I don't see much point in keeping two systems on the computer. Although, now hard drives are of such volume that you can put ten pieces 🙂. But, for example, on my SSD storage on 120 GB, this is not very correct. Therefore, when you have already checked everything and decided, the question arises, how can I remove Windows 7, or Windows 8. Now I will write how I did it.

You probably already thought, they say, what is difficult here, formatted the partition with an unnecessary system, and that's all. But not everything is so simple, the loader remains exactly the same. You also need to remove the system from the boot menu. There is nothing difficult in this, now I will demonstrate.

Completely remove Windows (if two systems are installed)

It is best to carry out the removal from the system that you decide to keep. I don’t know how important it is, but it’s better to do it this way.

For example, I decided to leave Windows 8 and show you how to remove Windows 7.

So, in this case, we carry out all actions from the eight. First, let's make our system, which we decided to keep, the main one (it should load by default), and then, remove the system we do not need from the boot.

Go to your desktop and press the keys Win + R... In the Run window, enter the command msconfig, and press OK.

In a new window, go to the tab, select the operating system that we want to keep (in our case, this is Windows 8), and click on the button Use as default (opposite OS, the corresponding status “Bootable OS by default” should appear).

Now, select the system that we want to remove (in our case, this is WIndows 7), and click on the button Delete.

A window will appear, I advise you to choose.

The computer will reboot, and already without the possibility of choosing an operating system, the system that we left should boot immediately. In our case, this is Windows 8.

What to do with files from the old system?

Yes, the only thing left to do is to deal with the partition on which the operating system used to be. The easiest way is to format it and store files on it.

Just be careful when you format the partition. Check its contents, there should be folders: Program Files, Windows, Users, etc. And it cannot be drive C, it will have a different letter.

Attention! Formatting will delete all information on local disk... If we consider specifically our case, then all information that was stored on the local drive C will be deleted (desktop, folder my documents, my photos, etc.), on the operating system we want to remove.

Second way.

You can delete a partition, and the free space that appears after deleting it can be added to the already existing partition. I do not know how much this is a necessary procedure, because it is much easier, just leave this section for storing files.

But, if you decide to delete it completely, then this can be done standard means Disk management, which I wrote about in this article ““. Never mind that the article was written for Windows 7, on the eight, everything is exactly the same.

In Disk Management, click right click to the section you want to delete and select “ Delete volume ...“.

Then, right-click on the partition to which you want to add memory from the deleted partition, and select Expand volume... Follow the instructions, everything is simple there.

Afterword

Here is such a proven way to uninstall the operating system if you have two or even more of them on your computer. I think that there shouldn't be any problems. Most importantly, be careful not to delete something wrong, or format the section with valuable information.

If anything, then ask your questions in the comments, I will try to help. Share information, perhaps you did this procedure somehow differently. Good luck!

Which operating system to install first?

It may sound unimportant, but the order in which you install each operating system is important. Although you can install in any order, it is recommended that you install Windows 7 before Windows 10. The reason for this is due to Windows Boot Manager.

Dispatcher windows boot Is a program that runs before Windows and lets you choose which operating system to boot. Windows 7 has more than old version of this program, and installing it on a computer with Windows 10 already installed will also install an older version of Windows Boot Manager.

This old version does not recognize future versions of Windows like Windows 10 and boots into 7 by default. To install Windows 7 after Windows 10, you will need to reinstall updated version Windows Boot Manager to resolve this issue before dual booting.

What you need to prepare for work

First point: prepare two installation disc, with the required operating systems.
For a practical and comfortable work with two operating systems, you need to create three partitions on your hard disk. The first is for Windows 7, the second is for Windows 10, the third is for user files (movies, music, photos, etc.).

Installing Windows 7

To install Windows 7, you need the following items:

Valid Windows 7
DVD Windows 7 Product Key
PC that meets the minimum requirements for Windows 7

To install Windows 7

Place Windows DVD 7 to your computer and restart.

When prompted, press any key to boot from DVD.

Follow the instructions on the screen and click on your settings.
Accept the license terms.
Click Custom Installation.
Windows will then ask where you want to install Windows 7. Click on the partition you created earlier.
Follow the instructions on the screen and enter your settings and product key.

After Windows 7 installation is complete, you must activate your copy within 30 days

To activate your copy

You must first connect to the Internet

Click Start and right-click Computer.
Next "Properties" in the list.
The last one is "Activate Windows Now".

You may be prompted for an administrator password. Enter it if necessary. Enter your product key, click Next and follow the instructions on the screen.

Installing Windows 10

To install Windows 10, you need the following items:

Valid Windows 10 CD
Windows 10 product key
PC that meets the minimum requirements for Windows 10

Regardless of whether you have a different OS installed, " Clean install Windows 10 ”The process for installing Windows 10 is the same. However, you must take into account that installing Windows 10 will overwrite any other OS on the hard drive you install it on.

To install Windows 10:

Place the Windows 10 CD on your computer and restart.
Press the Spacebar when prompted to boot from the Windows 10 CD.
Follow the instructions on the screen and accept the Windows 10 License Agreement.
Click on the hard drive where you want to install the OS. This will erase any data or OS installed on the hard drive.
Click "Enter" and select "Divided Space".
Press Enter again to format this space to NTFS, which is file systemused by Windows 10.
Once your hard drive is formatted, Windows 10 will restart and present you with several options. Select the region and language options that apply to you.
Enter your name and other information to personalize your installation.
Enter your product key from the back of the CD case. This verifies that you have a legal copy of Windows.
Follow the instructions on the screen and enter the appropriate information. Time and date, usernames, passwords, etc.
Windows 10 will restart again and start the last step.

At the last stage of the installation, continue to follow the instructions on the screen, then set up your Internet connection. This is done by connecting a cable from a router or modem, as well as entering information about wireless network... Windows will ask you if you are ready to activate. Selecting yes will validate your copy with Microsoft to prove it is a legitimate version.