Jonbouy
Hi Susan, it doesn't matter which Windows version you upgrade as long as you've got at least one eligible product on your machine as once the upgrade happens it's your device (computer in this case) that gets authorized and licensed to use the new version.
 
Once that has happened and your machine is activated you can install whatever operating system you want on it provided you still have the installation media and product keys to hand.  Your existing licenses for 7 and 8.1 will still be valid and you'll be licensed for 10 as well.
 
The edition of windows you are running is more important as the upgrade will go from like to like so if say W7 is the Pro edition and 8.1 is the Home edition then you'd probably want to upgrade your Pro edition as you'll end up with W10 Pro registered to that machine.
 
If however they are both the same edition of Windows then it will make no difference which partition gets upgraded other than choosing which version you personally prefer to keep on your spare boot partition.
 
You can force an upgrade now with the download tool so you don't have to wait but you don't have to do a thing otherwise as the upgrade will turn up in its own good time.

Hi Jon-
 
[Sorry for the late reply. I was offline for a few days.]
 
Thanks so much for the very thorough explanation and great info! I'm in no hurry to upgrade, so I don't mind waiting for the confirmation, knowing that others are in the same boat.
 
Very, very helpful, so thanks again!
 
-Susan
 
 

Doktor Avalanche
I've been using dual boot for a decade or more..

BCD is the microsoft default and a stinking turd and will force all OS's to have a separate drive letter rather than just C: It also won't hide partitions effectively. Perhaps it's got better with win10 but I don't trust it.

Up until today I used Acronis OS selector which is buggy as hell but managed to get by. Finally I've managed to install grub with Linux which is no thrills but perfect. People not used to Linux will probably drown in it's complexity however.


I am still only running Windows 8.1 (3 different versions) and Linux.

Rumours are windows 10 will insist upon secure boot mode. Not only that motherboard manufacturer may later decide to enforce secureboot in the BIOS making dual to to Linux impossible.

There are lots of hard choices out there. I'm still curious to see if anybody has actually done Windows 10 dual boot (have you actually done it yet?), whether it moans about registration and whether they've got Linux working with it or not, and what their approach was.

Otherwise I guess I will dive into the deep end in the next few months. The DAW partition will be done last.

Thanks for the response.

Hi Alex-
 
I'm going to hold off even after I get the upgrade just to see how things shake out for folks using multiple boot systems. 
 
Thanks-
 
-Susan

Yup cheers Susan.. Jons experiences sound promising though.

One thing I forgot to say is having BCD on each Windows partition is a must regardless of what bootloader you use. Often Windows puts BCD on one partition only for multiple windows partitions to boot on causing nightmares. I'm writing this here in case I forgot to check this..

Currently I'm using Grub in the MBR which looks at the grub config in the Linux partition. When selecting windows in the boot menu this will make a selected windows partition active executing the BCD on that windows partition. ... Whilst standing on one leg...

Cheers..

Well if anybody wants to do Linux's grub here's a sample script which will multiboot 3 windows OS's (hd0 - 2,3,4) (not tested under Windows 10 yet). BCD must be installed for each OS partition. The result is a zillion times better than M$'s bootloaders could ever do (Windows OS's are kept entirely separate from one another, blissfully unaware of each other, and Windows always boots on a C drive) , but certainly requires a lot more effort.


File: /etc/grub,d/40_custom:

#!/bin/sh
exec tail -n +3 $0
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
echo "START - Adding Windows OS to Grub 2 Menu"
menuentry "DAW - Windows 8" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(/dev/mapper/isw_ifefcjibh_ARRAY0p2)'
parttool (hd0,1) hidden+ boot-
parttool (hd0,2) hidden- boot+
parttool (hd0,3) hidden+ boot-
parttool (hd0,4) hidden+ boot-
parttool (hd1,2) boot-
set root='(hd0,2)'
chainloader +1
}
menuentry "GAMES - Windows 8" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(/dev/mapper/isw_ifefcjibh_ARRAY0p2)'
parttool (hd0,1) hidden+ boot-
parttool (hd0,2) hidden+ boot-
parttool (hd0,3) hidden- boot+
parttool (hd0,4) hidden+ boot-
parttool (hd1,2) boot-
set root='(hd0,3)'
chainloader +1
}
menuentry "DEV - Windows 8" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(/dev/mapper/isw_ifefcjibh_ARRAY0p2)'
parttool (hd0,1) hidden+ boot-
parttool (hd0,2) hidden+ boot-
parttool (hd0,3) hidden+ boot-
parttool (hd0,4) hidden- boot+
parttool (hd1,2) boot-
set root='(hd0,4)'
chainloader +1
}
echo "FINISH - Adding Windows OS to Grub 2 Menu"

For those interested in Linux grub and dual boot I've managed to get it to work with a Windows 8 installation, two Windows 10 installations and Linux on one PC.
 
Instructions...
 
a) Install Grub MBR again.
b) Boot from win DVD.
c) After picking the language, select 'Repair your computer' (do not install windows!)
d) Select 'use recovery tools that can help fix problems starting Windows...'
e) Select 'Command Prompt' (CMD) to launch CMD with admin privileges.
e) Then do this:
 
diskpart
list disk (Find the disk number of windows you are repairing)
select disk {Your Disk Number}
list partition {Find the partition with windows on}
select partition {Your partition Number}
detail partition
exit
c:
bcdboot c:\Windows
Reboot
 
It's a tricky and can be a frightening procedure, but after it works perfectly afterwards, however it's probably only suitable for advanced users or those really confident with their backups...
 
Thanks..

Hi-
 
I upgraded my Win 7 boot to Win 10 last night without issues and decided I liked it, so tonight I went ahead and upgraded my 8.1 boot (same PC) as well, so the good news is you can do that. I wasn't sure.
 
I now have a dual boot system with Win 10 running just fine on both.
 
In the olden days, I used to be able to use bcedit or edit the boot.ini file directly to change the "friendly" names of the different OSes, but apparently neither bcedit nor boot.ini exist any longer. It's not a huge deal, since I now know which is which when I restart, but I'd like to name them differently, if possible. Does anyone know how to do that?
 
Thanks-
 
-Susan
 
P.S. I haven't had any problems so far running SONAR, REAPER or FL Studio with my Komplete Audio 6, and my trusty email client, Forte's Agent, still works perfectly after lo these many years, yay!

Bcdedit is alive and well. Boot.ini is gone it's a different method via bcdedit now.

What normally happens with dual boot upgrades (and new installs) is that all the OS's boot off one BCD located on some partition somewhere. Personally I don't like that, I prefer a separate BCD install for each windows os partition, so if one partition screws up it does not screw up the other. So I have to get BCDEDIT out. You may even have a dedicated boot partition at the beginning.  And that's another reason why I use Linux grub as I don't trust the MS bootloader on the master boot record, and I don't want one instance of windows screwing up another instance of windows later on. In effect I isolate them.
 
On the other hand if you want to use HD encryption you must boot off a dedicated partition (I don't).
 
So I assume you are left with running different drive letter for each OS you boot on?
Anyway hope you've backed up now.. :)

Doktor Avalanche
So I assume you are left with running different drive letter for each OS you boot on?
Anyway hope you've backed up now.. :)

Hi-
 
If I understand your question, no. My OS is always on drive C:, regardless of which I boot to.
 
And yes, I backed up everything before I started all this. ;)
 
Thanks-
 
-Susan

Doktor Avalanche
Bcdedit is alive and well. Boot.ini is gone it's a different method via bcdedit now.

What I get when I try to run bcdedit from the command prompt is this:
The boot configuration data store could not be opened.
Access is denied.
 
Thanks-
 
-Susan

Right click the start button and try the administrative command prompt... Cheers...