Installing Windows 11 and Windows 10 together on the same computer is a good option for users who want to continue using Windows 11 as their primary system, but they also want to try the novelties that are coming from the latest Microsoft development.
The Redmond firm promised many improvements and novelties for Windows 11. Some have arrived, others are on the way and the rest… we will see. After a couple of months of use, most comments suggest that Microsoft is halfway there, that is, has produced a Windows 10.5. It supports much of the legacy of the gigantic Windows ecosystem and has brought a breath of fresh air in the visuals and user interface. But essentially it remains the same as we already knew: the base of Windows 10, some components of Windows 10X and all of it “tuned” for the occasion.
Without “revolutionary” news, with the increase in minimum hardware requirements such as sword of Damocles for when Microsoft wants to apply them and with the expected errors (some large ones such as the SSD performance) most users continue and will continue to use Windows 10 for quite some time. weather. The final version of Windows 10 21H2 has just been published and although it does not include the announced news, it has achieved the necessary stability that we users requested. Their technical support will be out until October 2025 and, well, is there time to jump to a windows 11 which has a lot of development left.
Windows 11 and Windows 10
Windows 11 can be upgraded for free on computers with valid Windows 10 licenses, or it can be installed directly from scratch using ISO images provided by Microsoft. But what if you want to try it without having to give up your copy of Windows 10 that you will continue to use as before?
Dual boot systems are perfect for this. You can install two (or more) operating systems on the same computer without interfering with each other and with the possibility of starting the one you prefer quickly and easily. We have seen it in previous guides to install Windows and Linux on the same computer and it is the same type of process that we are going to detail.
For the example, we start with a laptop with Windows 10 installed that meets the hardware requirements of Windows 11, although you really already know that it could be installed on almost any computer. Without further delay and once the files and data are backed up, which we always recommend, in case something goes wrong, let’s get started.
Creating disk space
Our laptop only has one storage drive installed (a PCIe SSD in this case) and the Windows 10 installation takes up the entire disk. If your computer has other additional units (as is usual on desktops) you can save yourself this step that we dedicate to create space to install Windows 11. Let’s go with it:
- Press the “Win + R” hotkey shortcut to access the run function (you can do it the same way by right-clicking the start button) and type diskmgmt.msc to open the Disk Management tool.
- You will see several partitions, the recovery one or others. We are interested in acting on the main partition, in the example C: called SYSTEM.
- Right-click on the main partition and select reduce volume.
- In the dialog box that will appear, select the amount of space to reduce, which will be the size of the partition for Windows 11. We select 80 GB for the example:
Here each user will have to select the space they want to reduce depending on their availability and the focus of use. In our case, we will continue to use Windows 10 as the main one and Windows 11 we will only use it for testing. If we had a second storage unit available (like on the desktop) we would use that one.
- Although we could do it later during the installation of Windows 11, since we are in the disk manager we leave the partition ready.
- To do this, in the space that we have reduced, we click with the right mouse button and create a new simple volume. We assign the following drive letter and format (quick option) the partition that in the next step we will use to install Windows 11.
Downloading the Windows 11 ISO
If you follow us you should know it by heart. Microsoft has made it easy by offering the ISO image of the system without having to use its media creator (about time). Although the image can be mounted from Windows 10, we prefer to do it with the usual method of create installation media on USB. Step by Step:
- Access the Windows 11 download portal.
- Click on the Download Windows 11 disk image (ISO) button.
- Select language and you will get the download link to obtain the image “Win11_Spanish_x64v1.iso”
- Download Rufus or use your preferred application to create the medium.
- Use a pendrive with at least 8 Gbytes of capacity and create the medium.
Restart your computer and make sure to boot into the newly created media. All computers have special keys programmed to access UEFI / BIOS or the computer’s internal boot menu. They are activated by pressing the corresponding key during the hardware testing phase that happens when we start the personal computer. If you don’t remember yours, you can review this practical.
Installing Windows 11
The installation of the new Microsoft operating system is trivial and is done in the same way as Windows 10:
- You boot with the USB media created in the previous step and select language
- Choose the type of custom installation
- When it asks you where you want to install select the partition that we prepare for Windows 11
- Select the edition. Remember that you will have to have a license to activate it.
Little more. The rest of the account creation and privacy screens are the ones you already know. On an SSD with a new generation laptop the system installs in six minutes.
Managing the boot
At the first start you will see the menu to choose between Windows 11 and Windows 10. And this will happen every time you restart the computer. The screen is self explanatory, just start one or the other:
In Windows, these dual-boot systems can be customized to change the default operating system.
- Press the hotkeys “Windows + I” to enter the Configuration tool.
- Go to System> About> Advanced system settings> Startup and recovery> Settings.
- In the drop-down menu you can select the default operating system that will start by default, the time that the menu will be displayed and the recovery options when necessary.
During the reboot, the system will offer you the option to choose one of them. If you don’t select any, the default operating system will start automatically. As you have seen, it is a simple method to implement as well as powerful, since you allows you to have Windows 11 and Windows 10 installed on the same computer, together, but not scrambled and with a boot menu that allows you to start one or the other in seconds.
And if you want to try a GNU / Linux distribution alongside Windows, you can use exactly the same method whether you are using Windows 10 or Windows 11. Actually, you can make combinations of all kinds (even macOS under hackintosh). You just have to have free storage space to add partitions and take care of the installation order. If you use Linux, this must always be the last operating system to install so that the GRUB multiboot loader is the one that manages the start of one or the other.
