W7+W10+"Linux"

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davecabezo

New Member
I'm wanting to dual boot between W7 & W10 with possible addition of Linux later
I've got a 4 way HDD switch on the front panel of my computer to control my HDD's
I want to be able to switch at boot between W7 & W10 without constantly having to point the Bios to where to go, which is what happens if I switch off the W7 HDD. I've seen that Easy BCD does not run on W10 and I'm not sure how BCD operates but I want to be able, at boot, to choose between any of poss 3 different HDD's. Does BCD give a choice before loading any system
 
EasyBCD works on W10.
If your PC uses BIOS/MBR get the latest version, install it on W10 and add entries for the other OSs
If your PC is UEFI/GPT, then MS won't allow booting of Linux from the BCD.
You could use EasyBCD to boot W7 from W10, but the only way to boot all three is to allow Linux to control the boot and add the Windows entries to grub.
 
I think that I've seen the answer in this thread, but I'd like someone to confirm it, and it will end my trying to do something that isn't possible?
I've built my desktop with 3 HDD, one has Ubuntu Linux, one has Win 7, and I've just added a 3rd with Win 10. I've installed Easy BCD and at boot up, it goes to the grub menu, where I select Windows. This brings up Easy BCD menu with both Windows, and I added Linux as well. I was hoping to have boot up go straight into the Easy BCD menu and choose my OS from there. But Terry60 wrote, "...but the only way to boot all three is to allow Linux to control the boot and add the Windows entries to grub."
So I either live with things the way I have them (and remove Linux from the Easy BCD menu because it isn't serving any purpose) or update/reinstall grub within Ubuntu, to have both Windows versions (7 and 10) shown as a separate grub option? At present, I have one Windows option shown in grub, and use Easy BCD to select which Windows to boot into. Lastly, using the boot menu list in BIOS brings up grub, whichever HDD I select.
I'd appreciate a quick reply to let me know that I understand the situation---and if not, please set me straight! Cheers.
 
You are correct if your PC is UEFI/GPT.
For BIOS/MBR you can still control everything through bootmgr using EasyBCD for convenience.
 
Terry, thanks for the comment. I'm using BIOS/MBR, and since I asked my question, my Win 10 drive crashed (it was a 'refurbished,' I made the wrong decision, so I now have a new drive with Win 10) and after everything was back on the drive, I needed to spend quite a bit of time getting my boot menu to work. Read a lot in the EasyBCD documentation, and in the forum, and I now have things all set. Thanks again!
 
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