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Problems dual booting Windows 7/10 (UEFI?)


Hi all,

This is my situation:
  • Running Windows 10 x64 on a UEFI-system.
  • Trying to install Windows 7 x64 on a VHD for dual booting (such as in )


I running into troubles that I think are having to do with UEFI. Secure boot is disabled.

I've tried these things:

Situation 1:
  • Create a bootable USB using Rufus (GPT partition)
  • When booting I get this error.


Situation 2:
  • Mount the VHD.
  • Manually install Windows 7 using Dism /apply-image command.
  • Add bootfiles
  • Add entry in Boot Loader (using EasyBCD).
  • When booting I get a black screen (nothing else, even ''starting Windows'' does not occur).


So currently I have no idea what to do next. Could anyone give me assistance?

Thanks in advance!
 

Hi,

Add entry in Boot Loader (using EasyBCD).
That's what's caused it. So, yes it is UEFI related and GPT related too.

Cheers,

Hi,

That's what's caused it. So, yes it is UEFI related and GPT related too.

Cheers,
Thanks! So I should follow the steps again without adding the Boot Loader Entry?

Hi,

Either that or using the inbuilt command bcdedit but I'm no expert on that one on a VHD.

Bottom line is EasyBCD isn't really UEFI aware which is why it wrote a MBR to the disk and you now see the textual boot menu.

I'm assuming you didn't try to boot the machine to the VHD prior to running EasyBCD ?

So far, the only boot record editor other than the one that comes with Windows itself I've used reliably is Bo Yans' VisualBCD.

Have you tried letting Windows set up trying to self repair the start up problem running from the install media ?
Not that that has ever worked for me once VisualBCD had had a go a the boot record but YMMV.

Cheers,

I tried it again today, but it still boots to a black screen. I'm wondering if there are any old boot files left behind, as I got a Windows 7 style boot loader.

These were the exact steps I followed:

In disk management:1. I created a new expandable VHD.
2. I initialized the VHD. It asked for the partition style (GPT/MBR). I chose GPT.
3. I created a new NTFS volume on the VHD and assigned drive letter X: to it.
4. I mounted the Windows 7 ISO on drive E:

In the Command Prompt
5. I installed Windows on the VHD using the following command:
Dism /apply-image /imagefile:E:sourcesinstall.wim /index:4 /ApplyDir:X:
6. I added boot files to the partition using the following command:
bcdboot X:Windows (source)

I have attached a screenshot of the boot entries.

Thank you for your help

I also noticed that I seem to have two recovery partitions (450 MB each) on my primary drive. Is this normal? Could it have something to dow with the problem?

Below is a screenshot of my disk manager:


Problems dual booting Windows 7/10 (UEFI?)