Dual boot, separate hard drives:

[lockheart]

I'm not very computerish, and I've tried to figure out how to make some changes, and it seems to me that if I had a dual-boot Windows computer, with one OS on one drive and another OS on another drive, that would do it.
My current main machine is a Gigabyte desktop, and I have space there for other drives. Could I not buy another hard drive and have Windows 7, or 8.1, or 10, or 11 on one drive, and another one of those on the other? How would I set that up, if possible?
Thanks very much.

[GaryG]

In theory, you should just be able to install Windows to the other drive and it will get added to Windows boot info on the MBR (master boot record). It's a few years since I've done this but sure that's all that was needed. You can check which OSs are detected in the Startup settings (settings > system > advanced props > startup (and recovery?).

Sorry a bit vague but think what you want to do should be fairly run of the mill. Just be careful playing with boot options, can be easy to end up losing sight of your installations.

[BertKoor]

You don't need a whole new drive, partitions work equally well. There are good articles online about how to do it, explaining it much better than any of us probably can.

BUT. Some decades ago I had a multi-boot machine running MS-DOS 6, OS/2 Warp, Windows 95 & 98. In the end it was a complete waste of my time, energy, storage space etc. Murphy's Law ensures the file you need right now is on a drive or partition or in a folder you cannot access. For example "My Documents" can only be accessed by you, or put better: the identity you are using. If you have another OS and switch, that identity changes and you cannot access anything anymore.

In your specific case, the differences between the versions of Windows are not big enough (imho) to warrant dual booting. Just upgrade and be done with it.

One case I imagine is worth it: doing a complete fresh install and still be able to switch back. I don't call that "make some changes"

[lockheart]

In theory, you should just be able to install Windows to the other drive and it will get added to Windows boot info on the MBR (master boot record). It's a few years since I've done this but sure that's all that was needed. You can check which OSs are detected in the Startup settings (settings > system > advanced props > startup (and recovery?).

Sorry a bit vague but think what you want to do should be fairly run of the mill. Just be careful playing with boot options, can be easy to end up losing sight of your installations.

Thanks very much. It seems, then, that it is doable. For the record, I wish to install a drive with another DAW on it. Eventually I may have to figures out transferring files between DAWs, if that arises. I think a side-benefit is that if a drives goes belly-up, I won't lose both DAWs.

[BertKoor]

I wish to install a drive with another DAW on it.

imho dual-boot is in this scenario not worth the trouble. Daws can live happily side by side, no issues expected. Authorizing plugins again will be an issue as well, for example. So I'd advice against it. You're being over cautious. imho ofcourse...

if a drives goes belly-up, I won't lose both DAWs.

Buy that drive, an external one, and make good backups on that with good backup software.

Come to think of it, no biggie if software gets lost. Have backups of installers & registration keys. Installation is then just some clicks away. Less error prone than rescueing from a backup of /Program Files, because the installer installs all the crap scattered everywhere again.

Your files & projects cannot be replaced, so make backups of these! And all your online passwords. I back them up to a very small usb thumb drive.

[ThomasHelzle]

I have Windows 8.1, 10, 11 and Linux all installed on separate SSDs and it works great.
I use the same username on all installations and it's not a problem to access files from other drives here.
Windows does indeed automagically add your installations to the boot menu.
Linux I use very rarely and use the bios to boot into it - that silly GRUB was annoying on the main drive.

Backups make sense, but often they will not be what you need or things go wrong anyway. Recently I lost a drive while backuping from it...

Also be aware that if for instance a power surge occurs, you may easily lose both drives.

So nothing is 100% secure, but you sure can do what you intend.

[jordanyeo]

Agreeing here that you don't necessarily need separate drives, partitions can do the trick if you have enough storage space.

[maanga]

Mount both drives as usual.
You install the first OS in the whatever drive choose by the installer.
Disconnect that drive and run the second installer.
The second OS will be installed in the second drive.
Put back the first drive and boot.
The new boot menu will allow to select which drive you want to start.
If you install the second OS with both drives still connected, the new installer will partition the first drive and you may find it difficult if you need to change something.
Regards.

[imrae]

Windows/Linux dual boot here. I didn't trust Windows to respect other bootloaders so they're on separate drives and BIOS chooses the startup disk.