How To Install More Than One Operating System
Most computers ship with a single operating arrangement, only you can have multiple operating systems installed on a single PC. Having 2 operating systems installed — and choosing between them at kicking time — is known equally "dual-booting."
Google and Microsoft ended Intel's plans for dual-boot Windows and Android PCs, merely you can install Windows 8.ane alongside Windows vii, have both Linux and Windows on the aforementioned computer, or install Windows or Linux aslope Mac Os Ten.
How Dual-Booting Works
Your reckoner's operating system is more often than not installed on its internal difficult bulldoze. When you kick your calculator, the BIOS loads the boot loader from the hard bulldoze and the boot loader boots the installed operating system.
There'due south no limit to the number of operating systems you he installed — you're non just express to a single one. You could put a second hard drive into your computer and install an operating system to it, choosing which hard drive to boot in your BIOS or boot carte. You could also boot an operating organisation — like a live Linux organisation or a Windows To Go USB drive — from external storage media.
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Fifty-fifty if you only take a unmarried hard drive, you tin accept multiple operating systems on that hard drive. Past partition the drive into several unlike partitions, you tin can have ane partitioning for one operating arrangement and some other partition for another operating system, splitting the bulldoze between them. (In reality, many operating systems employ multiple partitions. The point is you're devoting role of the drive to ane operating system and part of the drive to another.)
When y'all install a Linux distribution, it typically installs the Grub boot loader. Grub loads instead of the Windows kick loader at boot time if Windows was already installed, allowing you to choose the operating system yous want to kicking. Windows also has its own kick loader, which tin be used to select between different versions of Windows if you take more than one installed.
Why Bother Dual-Booting?
Different operating systems have different uses and advantages. Having more one operating system installed allows yous to chop-chop switch betwixt 2 and take the best tool for the job. It also makes it easier to fiddle and experiment with dissimilar operating systems.
For example, yous could accept both Linux and Windows installed, using Linux for development work and booting into Windows when you need to employ Windows-only software or play a PC game. If you lot similar Windows vii but want to effort out Windows eight.1, yous could install Windows 8.ane alongside Windows vii and cull between the two at boot time, knowing you lot'll always be able to get back to Windows 7. If you're using a Mac, you can have Windows installed aslope Mac Os X and kick into it when you need to run Windows-only software.
You could apply virtual machine software instead of setting upwardly a dual-kicking system, simply a dual-kicking organisation lets you actually employ both operating systems on your hardware at full, native speed. You don't have to bargain with the overhead of a virtual auto, which is particularly bad when it comes to 3D graphics. The downside is you can only apply one of your installed operating systems at a fourth dimension.
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Switching Between Operating Systems
If each operating system is installed to a separate drive, yous could actually switch between both by selecting a different drive every bit your boot device every fourth dimension you kicking. This is inconvenient and you'll probably accept two operating systems installed on the same drive, so that'southward where a boot manager comes in.
Switch betwixt your installed operating systems by rebooting your estimator and selecting the installed operating system you want to utilize. If you lot accept multiple operating systems installed, you lot should see a menu when y'all commencement your calculator. This menu is typically set up when you lot install an boosted operating organization on your computer, so you won't see if you just have Windows installed or just take Linux installed.
Setting Up a Dual-Kicking Organization
Setting upward a dual-boot system is fairly piece of cake. Hither'south a quick overview of what to expect:
- Dual Boot Windows and Linux: Install Windows showtime if there's no operating system installed on your PC. Create Linux installation media, boot into the Linux installer, and select the option to install Linux alongside Windows. Read more than about setting up a dual-boot Linux system.
- Dual Boot Windows and Some other Windows: Shrink your current Windows partition from inside Windows and create a new partition for the other version of Windows. Boot into the other Windows installer and select the partition you created. Read more almost dual-booting two versions of Windows.
- Dual Kicking Linux and Another Linux: You should exist able to dual-boot two Linux distributions past installing one first and and then installing the other. Choose to install the new Linux system alongside your old Linux arrangement. Resize your one-time Linux partitions in the installer and create new ones to brand space if the installer won't do this autoamtically.
- Dual Kick Mac OS 10 and Windows: The Boot Army camp utility included with Mac OS X allows y'all to easily set upwardly a Windows dual-kicking system on your Mac.
- Dual Kick Mac OS X and Linux: Kicking Camp doesn't allow you to set a dual-boot Linux arrangement, so you'll demand to do a bit more footwork hither. Follow our guide to installing Linux on a Mac for more details.
RELATED: How to Install Windows on a Mac With Boot Army camp
You aren't limited to just two operating systems on a single figurer. If you wanted to, you could accept three or more operating systems installed on your computer — you could have Windows, Mac Bone X, and Linux all on the same computer. You're only restricted by the storage infinite bachelor on your computer and the time you want to spend setting this upward.
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Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/187789/dual-booting-explained-how-you-can-have-multiple-operating-systems-on-your-computer/
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