Unsolved
1 Message
0
133
Dual Boot
I am replacing a Dell XPS Win10 machine with a new Inspiron 3910, which of course comes with Win 11. I'd rather keep using the exact Win10 config from the XPS for a while but also keep the Win11 option--i.e. I want to be able to boot either Win, which I gather is referred to as "dual boot". It seems to me it should be easy because I have the internal SSD that I've been using on the XPS, however after mounting it in the Inspiron and changing the boot order, when I start up, the Inspiron skips over the old SSD and boots Win11. I know the old SSD is readable because I can access all the data on it. For what it's worth, I also have a Win10 sys image on a portable HDD (USB) but if I restore that onto the new SSD I lose Win11, right?
vishvajitd
2 Intern
2 Intern
•
278 Posts
0
February 17th, 2023 22:00
Yes, what you're describing is dual booting, which allows you to have two different operating systems installed on the same machine and choose which one to boot into at startup.
To set up dual booting with your old Windows 10 installation and the new Windows 11 installation, you'll need to make sure that both operating systems are installed on separate partitions on the same internal drive.
It sounds like you've already connected the old SSD to the Inspiron and changed the boot order, but the computer is still booting into Windows 11 instead of giving you the option to boot into Windows 10.
One thing to check is whether the old SSD is using the same boot mode as the new installation of Windows 11. For example, if Windows 11 is installed in UEFI mode, make sure that the old SSD is also set to boot in UEFI mode.
You may also need to repair the Windows 10 installation on the old SSD by using the Windows 10 installation media to boot the system and access the repair options. From there, you can use the "Startup Repair" tool to repair the boot files for the Windows 10 installation.
If you decide to restore the Windows 10 system image onto the new SSD, it will overwrite the existing Windows 11 installation and replace it with the Windows 10 installation. However, you could still set up dual booting by installing Windows 11 on a separate partition on the new SSD after restoring the Windows 10 system image.
Keep in mind that setting up dual booting can be complicated, and it's important to make sure you have a backup of any important data before making changes to your system.