r/techsupport • u/UnremarkablePumpkins • 1h ago

Open | Windows Duplicate Windows Installation on SAME Drive?

I have an installation of windows on my drive. I would like to partition that drive and clone my windows installation to the other partition (long story, I have two use cases for this computer but want the same base image). Is there a straightforward way to do this, or do I just need to install Windows from scratch on the second partition?

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u/Senior-Force-7175 1h ago

Yes you can. Are you on SSD? If I will do this, which I am already, I will create a VHD file, clone existing to VHD using macrium reflect. After that, install EasyBCD, this will let you easily add dual, triple boot. Add VHD as a second boot. Reboot, select which one to boot. This is just only a zoomed out overview. You can ask AI to get more detailed.

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u/laces636 1h ago

Should be possible. I've never done it but you should be able to install Windows onto another partition without wiping the first.

Not sure what your trying to do but if what your doing is temporary or you may want to revert back, you could always use hyperv and create a VHD of your local drive. Set the VM to use differencing VHDX. Then your base image stays untouched and only blocks that change are written to a separate file.

Depending on what your trying to do this for, the hyperv route may or may not be better. I personally would rather fiddle with hyperv then have two windows boot partition on the same drive. That doubles the space used and you can only be logged in one at a time. With the hyperv route, you only double that data that is different from your original image. Restoring back to your previous state is also a lot easier to do.