Dual Boot Windows 7 and Windows 10

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by samsonite5, Feb 25, 2025.

  1. samsonite5

    samsonite5 MDL Novice

    Nov 27, 2022
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    I would like to dual boot Windows 7 and Windows 10 on separate SATA HDD drives.

    With both drives connected, booting to the Win10 drive works without issues. However, when booting to the Win7 drive, I get chkdsk messages saying it must check my drive for consistency.

    Is there anyway to get rid of these chkdsk messages on boot? Now just once, but for all time?

    I understand if Windows marks my drive as dirty, then I must run chkdsk to remove it, otherwise it will bug me forever. But, what if these drives are not dirty, and I'm still getting chkdsk messages on boot? What then?

    Another question. I noticed there is no Boot menu on startup, to select my operating system. Do boot menus only show up when the OSes are partitioned on the same drive? Because having to go into BIOS to select my boot drive every time is not fun.

    my BIOS settings:
    Boot Mode CSM
    Fast Boot Disabled
    Secure Boot Disabled

    Win10 power settings:
    Fast Startup Disabled

    Specs:
    MSI Z590 Pro Wifi

    HDDs:
    Windows 7 Pro (64-bit, SP1)
    Windows 10 Pro (64-bit, 22h2)
     
  2. siliconbeaver

    siliconbeaver MDL Member

    Apr 29, 2022
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    70
    10
    no,
    as long as two separate disks.

    because it means, two separate boots.

    after 1st chkdsk. it shouldn't re-run any more.
     
  3. samsonite5

    samsonite5 MDL Novice

    Nov 27, 2022
    17
    21
    0
    #4 samsonite5, Feb 25, 2025
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2025
    (OP)
    Thanks! I read about turning off "Fast Startup", but I didn't know about the Win10 logfile format. Need to turn that off too.

    Just recap:
    1. turn off "Fast Startup" in Win10 power settings.
    2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
    Create DWORD key, NtfsDisableLfsUpgrade, set to 1.
    Restart (not Shutdown) Windows 10 to downgrade logfile format to 1.1.

    It worked for me. No more chkdsk messages.

    As for the boot menu, I just noticed something. If I use my mouse to select and click on the boot drive in BIOS, the drive goes straight to boot. But, if I use my keyboard to select and click on the boot drive in BOS, it goes to the Boot Menu. And since that drive only has one OS partition, it lists only one OS.