Help with creating a Win 10 dual boot

[_dawn_chorus_]

I have Win11 on my main M.2 drive and want to install Win10 on another Sata drive.
So I downloaded the Win10 media creation tool, installed it on a thumb drive and now best I can tell I just rearrange the boot menu in BIOS and install win10 on that SATA drive like normal.
What I am wondering is:

- If I boot into one windows what happens with the drive that has the other windows on it? Is it available in File Explorer like when you use a usb adapter attached to a boot drive? Or is it just unavailable?

- I assume you switch between them by just shifting the BIOS boot menu?

- Will doing this pose any risk to my initial Win11 boot drive?

 

[USAFRet]

Ideally, you do this on 2 completely individual drives.

Physically disconnect the Win 11 drive.
Connect whatever you want for Win 10.
Install.

When the WIn 10 is all up and running...
Power off
Reconnect the WIn 11 drive

Power up, interrupt the boot process, and choose which one you want to use.


Why this dual boot?

 

[Math Geek]

what he said

and yes you will be able to see and access the other hdd. so your win 11 disk will be accessible when booted to win 10 and vice versa.

you can disable the other hdd in device manager to keep them from seeing each other if you wish. so win 10 won't know the win 11 disk is there and the win 11 disk won't know win 10 is there when booted to that.

you set the default OS in the BIOS and then use F8 to boot to the other one when you want to.

as noted above though, install win 10 with the win 11 disk disconnected!!! only reconnect it once win 10 is up and fully running.

 

[_dawn_chorus_]

Ideally, you do this on 2 completely individual drives.

Physically disconnect the Win 11 drive.
Connect whatever you want for Win 10.
Install.

When the WIn 10 is all up and running...
Power off
Reconnect the WIn 11 drive

Power up, interrupt the boot process, and choose which one you want to use.


Why this dual boot?

-Definitely using 2 different drives
-Do I really need to unplug the GPU in order to disconnect it from the motherboard or can I just slot it out safely? EDIT: (with everything powered down obviously after holding power button for 40sec while PSU is switched off to dissipate power. )The 12pin on the 4080 is like pulling out a 24pin mobo cable and with all the hubbub around improperly seated cables I want to avoid trying to get it out again. The Win11 boot drive is in the M.2 slot behind it.

-The dual boot is just to test an issue that I may have narrowed down to being a Win11 vs Vulkan API issue so I wanted to test the GPU in Vulkan on Win10 to rule out bad VRAM or something wrong on my overpriced hardware. The issue is absent on my girlfriends 4070 Win10 build. More on that issue here: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/black-void-bug-in-rdr2-is-it-gpu-or-game-related.3809880/

 

[Math Geek]

if you unplug the psu and then hold the power button down you could leave the gpu power plugged in. not a big deal, but i'd only do it with the psu unplugged from the wall.

better safe than sorry

 

[USAFRet]

-Definitely using 2 different drives
-Do I really need to unplug the GPU in order to disconnect it from the motherboard or can I just slot it out safely? EDIT: (with everything powered down obviously after holding power button for 40sec while PSU is switched off to dissipate power. )The 12pin on the 4080 is like pulling out a 24pin mobo cable and with all the hubbub around improperly seated cables I want to avoid trying to get it out again. The Win11 boot drive is in the M.2 slot behind it.

-The dual boot is just to test an issue that I may have narrowed down to being a Win11 vs Vulkan API issue so I wanted to test the GPU in Vulkan on Win10 to rule out bad VRAM or something wrong on my overpriced hardware. The issue is absent on my girlfriends 4070 Win10 build. More on that issue here: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/black-void-bug-in-rdr2-is-it-gpu-or-game-related.3809880/

Not sure what the GPU has to do with setting up this dual boot.

 

[_dawn_chorus_]

Not sure what the GPU has to do with setting up this dual boot.

It's so I can test the GPU and same settings that caused issue in Win11 in a Win10 environment. Win11 apparently has some issues with Vulkan, more so than Win10.

 

[_dawn_chorus_]

if you unplug the psu and then hold the power button down you could leave the gpu power plugged in. not a big deal, but i'd only do it with the psu unplugged from the wall.

better safe than sorry

You mean: Power down PC>Switch off PSU>Hold PC power button for 30+ seconds>unplug PSU> then I'd be ok just slotting out the GPU with the 12 pin attached still?

 

[USAFRet]

It's so I can test the GPU and same settings that caused issue in Win11 in a Win10 environment. Win11 apparently has some issues with Vulkan, more so than Win10.

OK.
That has nothing to do with the install process.

But if you're trying to isolate the GPU....yes, full physical disconnection.

 

[Math Geek]

You mean: Power down PC>Switch off PSU>Hold PC power button for 30+ seconds>unplug PSU> then I'd be ok just slotting out the GPU with the 12 pin attached still?

So long as you do not turn the PC on like that it'll be fine. I'm assuming you are just putting an m2 drive under it and only need it out for a minute.

Running the PC with the gpu plugged in but not slotted is not a good idea. I'd not try it with my own personal stuff for sure. And I'd def not suggest anyone else try it.

 

[_dawn_chorus_]

So long as you do not turn the PC on like that it'll be fine. I'm assuming you are just putting an m2 drive under it and only need it out for a minute.

Running the PC with the gpu plugged in but not slotted is not a good idea. I'd not try it with my own personal stuff for sure. And I'd def not suggest anyone else try it.

Oh god no haha. Yeah just pulling out the M.2 drive while I install the Win10 on the sata drive.