Question Can I just swap SSDs depending on which OS I want to run?

[jmacintosh]

Recently I found out that two services I use... Steam and iRacing have made the jump to using only Win10 or higher. My current box is in my signature. Can I get away with Win10 on another SSD (Having no other storage connected at time of install) and just plug whichever one I want to use? I want to just have to games that need to be on the win 10 SSD, then when I want to do my normal stuff just swap it out, or can I set up dual boot and select which one I want on startup? I've been building my own rigs for a while, but I have never gotten into dual boots or multi OS in one box.

Does my system have enough oomph to run Win10 or 11?

Which is better... 10 or 11?

I would much prefer a stripped down version of windows without the bloatware and intrusion if that is possible. Can you point me in the right direction where to find a more leaner version ?

What would you suggest?
Thank you in advance for your time!

Jeff

 

[USAFRet]

For that hardware, ignore Win 11.

Can you do what you surmise?
If done correctly, Yes.

But what software do you use that won't run in Win 10?
Why the need for 7?

 

[hotaru.hino]

If you're really paranoid about using Windows 10/11 to the point you're wanting to find a way to strip it of things, the only suggestion I have here is to go to Linux. It has Steam and Steam has its own compatibility layer to play Windows games, in addition to WINE.

Sticking around with an unsupported OS as your primary, internet connected workhorse isn't a good idea.

 

[Math Geek]

as you planned, remove all drives and install win 10 to it.

once it is up and running, updated and so on, then put the other drives back in.

set your win 7 as default boot drive in BIOS and it will boot to win 7 like it does now.

when you want win 10, reboot and press F8 (most motherboards also have another key you can press to get to the boot menu but f8 works). select your win 10 drive to boot to and it'll go to that one. no need to swap drives in and out.

 

[Misgar]

I'm sure enough people change rigs for Steam to have enabled a way to move your account from one machine to another. Check the Steam web site.

Booting from muliple drives is as easy as pressing a function key to change the boot drive. One of my machines has four separate boot drives, including Windows XP, 7 and two Windows 10. I press F8, F9, F11 or F12 on various mobos to enter the Boot Menu.

Just make sure you install each operating system with all other drives disconnected, until the installation is complete.

You can certainly run Windows 10 on an i5-4690K, but the only way you'll get Windows 11 to run is to "bodge" it to ignore the requirement for a modern CPU, TPM and Secure Boot, using Rufus to burn a special boot USB stick.

Unless (like me) you have old hardware with programs that only work under XP or Windows 7, you really should move up to a more recent Operating System if you connect the machine to the internet. Security update support for Windows 7 lapsed years ago and your machine could become infected as a result.

If you have a legitimate (licensed) version of Windows 7, you should still be able to upgrade it to Windows 10, if you can find the installation media (ISO).

 

[CountMike]

There's easier way to dual boot from 2 drives.
Install EasyBCD

EasyBCD

EasyBCD is a software utility for Windows that lets you control and configure the BCD/BOOTMGR bootloader for Windows 7, Windows 10, and Windows 11 for dual-boots.

neosmart.net

on drive chosen to be default in BIOS and set EasyBCD to make a boot menu. Every time you boot you will be able to choose windows version. Once you do that you can even uninstall program.
It can be done even in from MSCONFIG in windows, just copy the line in Boot tab and change letter to second drive.
That way you don't have to enter BIOS every time to change default drive and windows version