Can I create a dual/multi boot system in this manner??

[MrCabinetry]

Please bear with me while I try to describe what I would like to accomplish. I had Win7 and did the free upgrade to Win10.

Before the upgrade I was smart enough to do a complete system image of Win7.

1. If I disconnect the Drive that Win10 is installed on and reinstall Win7 on a different drive, can I use the system image to recover Win7 back to the state it was before the upgrade?

2. Reconnect the Win10 drive and and boot up the system, will system ask which OS I want to boot up with at that point or will there be a conflict?

It's not that I don't like Win10 given I just upgraded on Thursday, September 17th and I need time to fully go thur all the operations and functions. I want to get a reasonable working knowledge and understanding of the Win7 OS, till I do I want the ability to keep and use Win7.

It took me quite some time to migrate from XP Pro to Win7 because I created a dual boot system for that purpose and I do not want to be FORCED cold turkey to switch to a new OS till I am ready to do so. Thank you for any support you can provide to this question.

 

[davidhk129]

. If I disconnect the Drive that Win10 is installed on and reinstall Win7 on a different drive, can I use the system image to recover Win7 back to the state it was before the upgrade?

My understanding is......
Reinstalling Win 7 in a different drive is impossible because you need to enter the Win 7 product key before you can start reinstalling and the product key will not be accepted because it is still tied up with the Win 10 you have installed.
Either that, or after reinstalling, it won't get activated, for the same reason.

 

[jmccleary50]

Exactly.

 

[MrCabinetry]

I have the Win7 product key and the win10 has an entirely different product key after the upgrade was done.

 

[davidhk129]

I have the Win7 product key and the win10 has an entirely different product key after the upgrade was done.

I have told you what I know.
That's all I can do.

Good luck.

 

[BigFeet]

The Windows 10 upgrade, if done over your version of Windows 7, will make the Windows 7 key invalid. You can install it, but it won't be "genuine". Which I believe will make it a 90 day trial.

 

[jmccleary50]

Exactly.

 

[MrCabinetry]

How can the Win7 product key made " not genuine " if your Product is a legit Microsoft product???? That makes no sense to me that a GENUINE PRODUCT KEY is negated as INVALID because a different OS was installed over another.

That's like saying when I had a dual boot system xp pro / win7 that the product key for xp pro was invalid the moment I installed win7 on the other hd and i know that was not the case because I had to reinstall xp pro.

 

[Trouble]

That's like saying when I had a dual boot system xp pro / win7 that the product key for xp pro was invalid the moment I installed win7 on the other hd

No..... not exactly.
When you upgrade it is quite different than doing a seperate install of another OS on a seperate drive or partition.

 

[davidhk129]

Mr.Cabinetry,

Microsoft says if you have a genuine copy of Win 7 or Win 8.1, you can have a free upgrade install of Windows 10 over your current operating system ( Win 7 or Win 8.1).

Microsoft does not say, after upgrading to Windows 10, your previous operating system is free to be installed in another computer.
In fact, it is the opposite. Why do you think Microsoft insists that we must have either Win 7 or Win 8.1 before we can have a free upgrade ?

By the way, the Activation "grace period" for Windows 7 is 120 days.
One 30 days + 3 subsequent 30 days "re-arm" = 120 days.
*** That only applies to Win 7 ( and Vista )***
The 90 days trial is for Enterprise version.

 

[jmccleary50]

I now own a 2nd activated copy of windows 10. All I had to do was pay for it.

The download stopped unexpectedly but I already had the new product key written down so I canceled out of everything went to control panel/systems and clicked activate then entered the key.

Whoopee! I finally got what I wanted. Two laptops one with 10 and one with 7 and 10 and all of it activated.

So now you want me to shut up and go away right? No such luck.

 

[MrCabinetry]

I bought Windows 7 Professional Version and I am NOT, repeat NOT installing it on another computer, As the topic states and questions asked - I want to create a dual boot system which win7 was on this system and then updated to win10. If the case is I cannot do so, I will be more than happy to stop the conversion here and revert back to Windows 7 since I have a LEGITIMATE VERSION of Windows 7.

I'm sorry I wasted your time asking if I could so .

 

[BigFeet]

If you upgrade to Widows 10, that makes your Windows 7 key, your new Windows 10 key (even if the actual keys are different). You can't run both, even on the same PC. The only way you could do it is revert back to Windows 7, and buy a Windows 10 key. An upgrade is just that. It upgrades your old version to the new version. The old version will now be invalid (as it is now the new version). That's the way it works.

And you're not wasting anyone's time. That's what we're here for.