trying to get rid of dual booting for windows 7 and 10 seperate ssds

[chickenmanic]

Hi all,
i recently bought another ssd for my computer to have for a windows 10 Pro os that i would use every once and a while for games and certain programs but i will mainly be using my win 7 os most of the time.

i have been able to get windows dual boot system working okay so it will automatically boot to wins 7 and without the stupid time delay.

however im looking for a way that can be better then all this bull.
My hopes are to find a way that will automatically run windows 7 but will give me the option to change to wins 10 without having to go back into settings to add time to the option window and then having to change back after ive used 10 every blue moon.

my original idea was to have the 2 drives completely seperate from each other which i had when i first tried all this but i was not able to change the boot drive to the windows 10 one as it would bring me back to the bios.
The only way my bios seems to be booting up is by the windows boot manager.

Im now using a asus strix z270 board and wishing i could go back to my previous build which was old school as i know i can just press F12 at startup to change which boot drive to use then and there.
this is the kind of simplistic approach i want to use.

can it still be done or is the uefi never going to allow that???

 

[ArtPog]

Since you're obviously working with a desktop PC hopefully you have two vacant 5 1/4" external bays available.

If you have, you might want to consider installing mobile racks with removable HDD/SSD capability in each of those bays. By doing so it will give you the flexibility you're looking for in that it will be a simple matter to boot to either your Win 7 or Win 10 installations simply and nearly instantaneously. And it's not costly to achieve this capability.

Every desktop PC we build for ourselves & others are equipped with these mobile racks.

If you're interested, indicated such and I'll provide additional details.

 

[The Paladin]

Thou ARTPOG solution is easy and I have used such a setup in my office,

Here is another option (one I use because specialize Business O/S usage has
become less important since windows 10 usage has grown in the industries)

1. backup data
2. clear both ssd partitions. install Windows 7
3. install Oracle VM, install Windows 10 in VM (so if you need it you can still use it)

enjoy..

PS: ( I use win10 as main and VM win 7) I run my system this way and I runs 13 O/S with applications in VM

 

[chickenmanic]

the case i have does indeed have some 5 inch bays and i do like the idea of having said bays, in fact the case i really wanted but couldnt find included 4 bays with 2 of them as hot swappable to.
I kinda got impatient and just bought the nearest good looking case.


i was hoping to not use VMs because if my main crashed ild be left having to fix it and said data however my idea was to have 2 os systems so i can keep them separate and usable if one was to crash.(I had a game steam destroy my os program files too many times to trust having my eggs in one basket)

also both SSDs dont have any real data on them right now as all the programs im running have the data stored on my HDDs

 

[The Paladin]

then hotswapp caddy tray are for you look at here the numerous options you have for cheap
https://www.frys.com/search?search_type=regular&sqxts=1&cat=&query_string=hot+swap+hdd&nearbyStoreName=false

 

[ArtPog]

In the event you're interested in installing and working with removable HDD/SSD in your desktop PC here's a broadside we prepared for members of our local computer club who expressed an interest in this type of hardware configuration...

Assuming you're working with a desktop PC and your computer case has available at least one (or preferably two) vacant 5 1/4" external drive bays, you may wish to consider purchasing one (or two) "mobile racks" to house removable HDDs (or SSDs).

There's an enormous advantage in doing so and the cost isn't particularly prohibitive.

I can virtually guarantee that you will never regret installing one or more mobile racks in your desktop PC to house one or more removable HDDs or SSDs. Just about every user we're aware of who uses this type of hardware configuration hardly ever returns to the "old way" of installing their HDD(s)/SSD(s) internally in their desktop PC systems.

Consider the advantages...

1. The beauty of installing removable HDD/SSDs in a desktop PC is that the user can easily work with multiple installed drives, each effectively isolated (when desired) from any other installed drive. Thus, multiple operating systems may be installed on different drives installed in the system and no conflicts will arise from this situation since each drive can be completely isolated from another drive. In addition, the use of removable drives facilitates accommodating different storage/backup needs that the user may desire since it's a simple matter to add, remove, modify a HDD/SSD using a removable drive in the system.

2. Through a simple turn of a mobile rack's keylock or pressing its power switch the user can thus boot to this drive or that drive without the need for any "bootloader" or any other multi-booting software, as well as avoiding the need (in most cases) to access the motherboard's BIOS to change the boot priority order in order to boot to this or that particular HDD or SSD that contains a different OS.

3. With removable HDD/SSDs desktop PC users have an UNLIMITED number of drives to work with should they choose without the need for opening their computer cases to install (or remove) the drive in the machine. Again, each removable drive is isolated from other drives at the user's option.

So in your situation (assuming you were able to install two mobile racks) the drive containing the Windows OS would be in one removable tray and the other removable tray would contain the Linux OS. Anytime you powered-on the PC you would simple press the desired power button on the rack containing the OS you desired to boot to. No need to install or uninstall any drives; no need to access the BIOS; no need to get inside your PC case to install this or that drive to the motherboard. All from the comfort of your computer chair.

On the other hand, if you could install only a single mobile rack you would still have the ability to easily boot to this or that OS depending which HDD (or SSD) you slipped in the removable tray of the mobile rack. Again, you would have an UNLIMITED number of HDDs or SSDs at your disposal right at your fingertips.

4. Should a removable HDD/SSD become defective/dysfunctional and need to be removed & replaced in the system, it's a simple & quick process for a user to remove & replace it from the comfort of his or her computer chair.

We've been particularly partial to the Athena Power MR-125PB model.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817995104
The mobile rack is a two-piece affair - the removable tray and the rack itself which is affixed to the desktop PC's 5 1/4" bay (identical to affixing an optical drive or some such 5 1/4" device). Its current cost is about $20 at Newegg.

An enormous advantage (for us) of this particular mobile rack is that unlike many, if not most HDD/SSD mobile racks that are on the market, the Athena Power model is equipped with an ON-OFF power switch button, a most desirable feature in our opinion. Assuming a user is working with multiple removable HDD/SSD in their mobile racks (or has also installed a fixed internally-connected hard drive), it's a simple matter to press the ON-OFF button and "on-the-fly" temporarily disable one or more of the mobile rack's hard drives from the system without the need of using the rack's lever to remove the rack's tray (caddy) containing the HDD or SSD from the rack's internal SATA power/data connectors.

Of course should the user choose to do so it's a relatively simple matter to press the removable tray's lever release button and thus physically disconnect the removable tray containing the tray's HDD/SSD SATA data/power connectors from the mobile rack's connectors. A simple pull of the tray's lever is all that is necessary.

Because of this rack's ON-OFF power button switch there's no need for a keylock mechanism that's found on virtually every other mobile rack. Personally, I've always found those keylocks to be a decided annoyance in my day-to-day operation of a PC.

The rack contains a small fan that is dead silent in operation.

We have a preference for a mobile rack that contains a removable tray to house the HDD or SSD since we can easily work with a variety of drives that are contained in the tray which are easily removed/inserted in the rack when the need arises.

I've never encountered a single problem with the mobile rack's solid plastic construction. It's a sturdy piece of equipment in my experience. As far as I'm concerned its light weight is a decided plus. We've installed (or help install) hundreds of these mobile racks and their removable trays for about 20 years now and they've held up remarkably well.

5. Cons: Unfortunately this mobile rack is designed to house a 3 1/2" hard drive in its removable tray. Four screws are provided to secure the hard drive in the tray (although truth to tell since we frequently switch HDDs we rarely ever use any of these screws and simply slip the HDD in the tray unsecured - connects perfectly to the rack's SATA power/data connectors and it's simple to just slip the drive out of the tray and slip another one in whenever needed).

Since, like many PC users, we're working more & more with 2.5" SSDs, fortunately we can easily install these drives in the removable tray using double-sided tape. Works just fine and like the 3.5" HDDs the SSDs are easily removable when necessary. Pieces of foam blocks work just fine too.

So consider the above if it holds any appeal for you.

 

[jpe1701]

Use a device like the one I will Link to power off the drive you don't want to use before you boot up.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0197WIEA4/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1516413727&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=sata+switch&dpPl=1&dpID=41MezfWahcL&ref=plSrch