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I'm configuring a PC with Windows 10 and Windows 7 dual boot. This PC is shared among some users that some of them need Windows 10 and some of them need Windows 7.

The users are not expert and having troubles to switch them.

What is the simplest way to switch the system? Can I configure a shortcut on the desktop that switch between them? If so, how?

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2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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You can use a batch file to change the default OS when booting using bcdedit.exe, then you could create two desktop shortcuts to boot into one or the other. The big problem here is that to run bcdedit.exe you need to be an elevated administrator. So a normal user can not use this.

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I would use Windows 10 as the main OS and install Oracle's VirtualBox for free (or other Virtual Machine software) with Windows 7. Then yes, you could have a shortcut to Windows 7 on the user's desktop.

Please provide more details of your environment if you don't think a VM is the right solution.

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  • Thank for the advise, but the PC is shared among several people that aren't technical expert. Most of them will need one operating system (User1 will never use Windows 10 and User2 will never use Windows 7). If User1 will leave the Windows 7 open, User 2 probably will not know how to return to Windows 10. So I want to do that as simple as possible (because I'm not always near by to support them)
    – nrofis
    Commented Nov 20, 2020 at 17:57
  • I saw that there are Windows/Android tablets with dual boot that each of them contains an app that switches to the other OS. I wanted to do something similar - click to switch...
    – nrofis
    Commented Nov 20, 2020 at 17:58
  • Honestly, if your users are not savvy, I think a VM would be easiest. I have similar users and some environments that need an older OS for some legacy software. My non-savvy users have no problem double clicking on an icon on their desktop to take them to Windows XP, then shutting it off to bring them back to their OS. It's much easier than a dual boot, by far, and it's much easier for me to remotely manage.
    – Josh Casey
    Commented Nov 20, 2020 at 18:33
  • I can try it. The Windows 7 is required for a legacy software and hardware (hardware via USB with legacy software that control it). I hope that the Windows 7 will be able to read the hardware from the virtual machine :)
    – nrofis
    Commented Nov 20, 2020 at 21:30
  • Depends on the hardware, but usually it does well, may require some configuring. You could also have Win7 as the main OS, and Win10 as a VM, but I recommend having Win10 as the main OS and have the unsupported OS as the VM if at all possible.
    – Josh Casey
    Commented Nov 20, 2020 at 21:35

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