Dual boot Windows 10 and 11 but keep the drives separate

UnauthorizedUser1298 · Dec 13, 2023

So I recently bought a new PC (W10) for flight simulation. My little sister wants to use it for browser games, many of which are known to put viruses on the disk. I decided the best option would be to put a separate OS (might as well be W11) on a separate drive and run a dual boot, so that it could be easily wiped and reset. It would be preferable if the two drives were completely separate, so that she couldn't access my drive and vice versa, which would also serve as a barrier for viruses.
Also she's not very techy so I don't want her to have to go through BIOS every time.
Is there a way to do this? I have only found ways to have it on a separate drive but still have access to both.
This is my first PC build, so I'm still in the learning stages.

ussnorway · Dec 14, 2023

1 yes its possible
2 you want a fresh install of Windows 10 first before adding W11
3 once you have Windows installed how you want it go into the disk manager and tell it not to assing a letter to the unallocated 100G you plain to install the other system on
note exturnal usb drives are not an option here it must be internal drive space and you may want to consider a upgrade/ new drive before starting

4 install Windows to the unallowocated 100g drive... then tell it not to allowcate a letter to the drive the other system has as it C

once thats done you pick which system boots by default and how many seconds you want it to wait for you to imput a change before doing so and your dual boot is finished until Microsoft hacks into your computer and tries to auto update everything

option b

An image from 'Dual boot Windows 10 and 11 but keep the drives separate'. A Google search results page for 'swap harddrive bay' with product ads and FAQ links.

buy a swap drive bay and put your two drives in it... this allows you to physically block Microsoft [or anyone else] changing your system while its not conected and you don't need to worry about dual booting because only one of the drives is in the system at any given time... its a bit more unusual looking but ultimately less tecky to use and again most the time only one system is wanted so you only change when needed [does help with backup recovery of files]

UnauthorizedUser1298 · Dec 14, 2023

ussnorway said:
1 yes its possible
2 you want a fresh install of Windows 10 first before adding W11
3 once you have Windows installed how you want it go into the disk manager and tell it not to assing a letter to the unallocated 100G you plain to install the other system on
note exturnal usb drives are not an option here it must be internal drive space and you may want to consider a upgrade/ new drive before starting

4 install Windows to the unallowocated 100g drive... then tell it not to allowcate a letter to the drive the other system has as it C

once thats done you pick which system boots by default and how many seconds you want it to wait for you to imput a change before doing so and your dual boot is finished until Microsoft hacks into your computer and tries to auto update everything

option b
View attachment 43304
buy a swap drive bay and put your two drives in it... this allows you to physically block Microsoft [or anyone else] changing your system while its not conected and you don't need to worry about dual booting because only one of the drives is in the system at any given time... its a bit more unusual looking but ultimately less tecky to use and again most the time only one system is wanted so you only change when needed [does help with backup recovery of files]

Thanks. To confirm, I basically fool each version of Windows into thinking that the other drive is unallocated?

ussnorway · Dec 15, 2023

the drive starts unallocated until you install the 2nd os... it makes it very easy to spot where you should install it

once you have both systems installed the drive will no longer be 'unallocated' because it will have an os on it... at that point you make a note of what letter it was given [the other systems os] and then open disk manager and tell it to remove the drive path

An image from 'Dual boot Windows 10 and 11 but keep the drives separate'. Windows Disk Management showing option to change or remove the drive letter for partition D:.

both systems can share storage drives and cd rom etc but be careful not to install any software to these other drives

Dual boot Windows 10 and 11 but keep the drives separate

UnauthorizedUser1298

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ussnorway

Windows Forum Team

UnauthorizedUser1298

New Member

ussnorway

Windows Forum Team

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