Possibly like many of you, I do a variety of things on a single main computer. Gaming, programming, editing, etc. Sometimes I get annoyed at having so many programs installed when I rarely use some, others need to run in the background so that if I need it it's already setup, my machine isn't great for virtual boxing many of these programs, and my chrome tabs pile up due to several ongoing projects happening at the same time. I have several laptops, but they do other tasks already and aren't up to par for what I do on my main machine. Besides, having one machine that does all is great, it just needs some fine tuning.
I am considering stripping my Windows 10 install down (uninstalling almost everything), creating an image, and then create several partitions for each type of task I do where I would then copy that image to. Then I would install programs on specific partitions that way each has a very optimized install. I expect it to be a pain occasionally to have to reboot just to use a program for maybe only a few minutes, but I think in the long run it would be beneficial.
Concerns:
-Licensing. Since it's the same hardware, possibly even the hard drive would be the same, would Windows notice or care? I'm thinking maybe the changing install location would be a possible red flag for it. I'm in the Windows Insider program and have used two free installs through that and don't know if I can use more or what. I've never entered a key either so I would assume the keys are tied to my account.
-Booting. Since each Windows will be from the same image, I'm not sure how it will handle booting and how I can name them so I know which 'environment' I'm selecting.
-Networking. I have static IPs set, host names are important, I use network shares, and I use remote desktop often. Since it's the same hardware for each install and only one can be used at a time, is it fine to leave all these the same?
Thanks in advance for any help, feels good to be back on the forums. Also just using separate user accounts isn't something I would like to do for a few reasons.
- Licensing: Since Windows licenses are tide to the computer id aka motherboard number,
it should theoreticlly not matter on how manny partitions or hard drives you install it on.
As long as the motherboard stays the same.
- Booting: If create multiple installs of windows on sepperate partitions or drives.
Then you should get a windows boot loader menu,
from which you should be able to select the one you want to boot.
I´m not sure if you can give those installs a specific name.
- Networking: i think that doesnt change.
1 Like
Alright, thank you. Will post an update once I do this.
This reminds me of rebooting DOS, every time I wanted to run a different program, so I'd have the correct, custom config.sys and autoexec.bat configuration active.
I'm not here to tell you that you are a bad person for using Windows, but in the event that you weren't aware, I did want to mention that folks like you tend to like Linux, because of the multiple desktop feature. In Linux, you can customize multiple different desktops for specific activities and then switch between them, just as effortlessly as you can ALT-Tab between running Windows programs.
If you MUST use Windows due to ... REASONS, I completely understand.
Trust me, I run Linux whenever I can, simply seeing Linux with the wobbly windows and such is what got me into the IT field actually. Before I saw that I never thought of computers as anything more than a way to play pinball and type up homework, but it started a spark in me that quickly grew. It is unfortunate I don't use it as much as I used to on a day-to-day basis and I don't know if I'm being corrupted, but so far I actually like Win 10 really well, if you overlook all the questionable telemetry. I used to dual boot with Linux, but it seemed like I used it less for some reason although it is installed on pretty much every other computer I have. About to install Ubuntu with KDE on my laptop that is running 10 since it's slowing it down now.
Still have hopes for Linux taking over the desktop with so much stuff going to the cloud and web clients being used more and more. I'd like to see WINE and projects like that get some serious funding though to help make windows developed programs more platform agnostic.
Also that makes me wish I was around in the DOS days and such since I sort of enjoy tinkering around like that, only 20 and Win 7 was in it's prime when I started so my experience with older stuff has only been with fixing up old PCs. My only DOS experience is with running Daggerfall and Doom via DOSBox.
I think we're right on the verge of seeing Vulcan make some serious inroads, in this respect.
So here is what I decided to do since I had trouble getting the versions I was going to have would be over 500GBs and I don't have any 2TBs on hand.
- Ordered a 5 1/4 Hot Swap bay and put it in my PC
- Setup the three Windows Environments I have and installed them on individual drives. Didn't have any 2TB drives, but I have plenty of 1TBs lol.
- Before boot I manually put in the drive I would like to use.
Maybe I'll switch to a software solution at some point, but currently this is the path of least resistance and time required.