Share your gaming or work PC while keeping the operating system and drives separate.
Share your gaming or work PC while keeping the operating system and drives separate.
I'm working through my reasoning to justify upgrading my setup. My current laptop is an i5 with 8GB RAM, but it struggles under load—especially during video calls and when running design apps and screen sharing at once. The USB 3.0 dock adds complexity since I use two external monitors, which increased CPU usage via DisplayLink. I currently have two separate laptops: one for gaming and one for work, and I don’t share them. My son uses the gaming machine, so I want to keep work files secure. With a new dual-purpose machine, I’m considering adding two M.2 SSDs—one for gaming, one for work—each with its own Windows installation. I need guidance on how to configure OS settings and boot options so that: 1) I’m asked to pick the boot device each time it starts, and 2) the SSDs don’t interfere with each other. If I were using regular SATA drives, I could install power switches on a front panel, but that’s not possible with M.2 drives. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I’ve tried something similar before with dual booting Ubuntu and Windows 10. When I power on the laptop, I see a choice between Ubuntu or Windows Boot Manager. The slowest method was adjusting the BIOS every time, which was frustrating. I came across an article suggesting installing two different Windows 10 versions on the same drive. I’m not sure it would work with multiple drives, but it seems possible. You’d normally install the first OS as usual, then add the second OS to another partition and get a boot menu that should appear as described. The article I found is here: https://www.howtogeek.com/214477/how-to-...f-windows/
I’m beginning to consider a middle ground. Perhaps store work files on an external hard drive, though it won’t match the security of keeping both Windows versions isolated.
Work provided a laptop, though it runs slowly sometimes while I run design programs and screen share during video calls. Work will help fund the project, but won’t cover the entire cost since it’ll be handling both work and personal tasks. From a tax perspective, in Australia I can claim the percentage of usage for work expenses.