Patrick Lamber

Microsoft Office Development MVP

How do I install multiple Node versions on my Windows computer?

When working with Node.js you might encounter situations where you need multiple versions of Node.js on the same machine. In my case, I want to create SPFx components for SharePoint Online and on the same machine create components for the Office 365 CLI.

Both solutions require different versions of Node.js. This adds the burden of manually installing or uninstalling Node versions and their global packages when switching projects.

Luckily, you can tackle this problem by using a project called Node Version Manager.

Install nvm for Windows

Before installing the latest package, ensure that you cleanup your environment first:

• Uninstall existing Node instances and remove existing installation directories
• Uninstall existing npm install location (e.g. “C:\Users \AppData\Roaming\npm”)
• Download the latest version of nvm for Windows and install it

After installing nvm, I have to install the desired Node instances using a PowerShell command prompt in an administrative context. I need Node v10.19.0 for SPFx and Node v12.16.1 for Office 365 CLI. Therefore, I executing these commands.

The commands above install the desired Node versions and the global utilities required by both Node versions.

Using nvm for Windows

Adding multiple Node instances and switching between these is much easier with this approach.

The change of the current Node instance can be performed with the use command.

Remember that the operations have to be executed in an administrative context.

How to install two versions of software under Windows 10? [duplicate]

I have two versions of software, one is an old beta version, one a new distributable version. I need both as they each include specific capabilities. However, the old version refuses to install when a newer version is pre-installed, the newer one auto-deletes the old version upon install. This all in a Windows 10 environment. The software is specific purpose software to fit hearing aids (PhonakTarget).

edit: To emphasize the difference with the previous question I’ll elaborate on the situation:

The thing is both software packages use one and the same local database and it would be great when both versions can access that data base. This makes a virtual machine a lesser favorable option. I may be able to work around it (copy the database to the VM or the reverse) but that will increase the chance of making human errors. Best would be to find a solution such that both versions can run on the same Windows install. They do not need to run simultaneously, however.

Stuff I tried but did not work:

• installing both versions in a different folder resulted in the same behaviors as detailed above;
• generating another user in Windows didn’t help, because both users have access to the same C:/ components.

Hence, I am stuck. Two options provided under this previous question I tried above, and generating a virtual disk has the drawback of the split local databases. There is no database on a server or anything; all must be dealt with locally due to safety restrictions in my company (laptops can’t access the intranet).

Installing Multiple Versions Of A Windows Service On The Same PC

I have a .NET 3.5 Windows Service that comes in several different configurations/flavours ie. Release, Test, Debug etc. I’ve created an installer package for the service which is built as part of an msbuild script, but I need to be able to build the installers in a way which would allow each flavour of the service to be installed on the same machine. Does anyone know the best way to do this?

2 Answers 2

Perhaps this article will be of help?

When reviewing the ServiceInstaller class using Reflector, you’ll see it does a Win32 call to CreateService in the ServiceInstaller.Install method. CreateService will return the ERROR_DUPLICATE_SERVICE_NAME return code whenever the method is called with a serviceName or displayName parameter that matches that of an already installed service. This is what causes the Win32Exception to be thrown in the above window and ultimately causes the second install to fail. You can view the complete documentation on the CreateService function here.

To get around this, all that needs to be done is to dynamically set the service name during installation and service startup to a known value and to make sure that value is different for each instance of the service you install.

The Solution

All that needs to be done is to make sure that the name of each service installation instance is unique. Then you need to have copies of installation directories for each service instance you’d like to have. Finally, you need to be able to set the service name dynamically during installation and startup. This will be facilitated using the app.config file.

The article continues by providing step-by-step instructions on how you can install multiple instances of a .NET Windows Service on the same machine.

Of course, I can’t help but wonder why exactly you would need to run a Debug and Release version at the same time on the same machine.

AIO Boot

AIO Boot > Grub2 > How to install multiple operating systems on one computer

How to install multiple operating systems on one computer

Bootloaders

For an operating system to be ready to use, the computer will have to boot through several stages. The computer will boot the BIOS in the first stage. Here you can access and change the settings by pressing a key. Most modern BIOSes will support selection of devices for booting, either a hard disk, USB, CD/DVD or network boot.

The BIOS will boot the device you chose in its settings. Most BIOSes now support quick access to the Boot Menu by pressing a corresponding key. You will see a list of devices that you can choose to boot.

To boot a device, it needs to have a bootloader installed on that device. And then the bootloader will boot the operating system. But does the bootloader you have installed support booting the operating system you want? So, it is important to choose a suitable bootloader so that you can boot all the operating systems you want.

You can install multiple operating systems on a single hard disk. But you can not run two operating systems on one computer at the same time (unless you use a virtual machine). And the bootloader is the same, you can install multiple bootloaders but can not use two bootloaders at the same time. During the installation or repair of an operating system, the current bootloader can be replaced by another bootloader. For example, if you can not boot Ubuntu after installing Windows, because the current bootloader has been replaced by Windows. Simply reinstall the previous bootloader. Or you can not boot Ubuntu after installing it in UEFI mode, because Ubuntu does not install Grub2 as the default bootloader. Just copy the file /EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi to /EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi. Other Linux distributions like Linux Mint, CentOS and Debian… are also similar.

So bootloader is an indispensable part to boot an operating system, choose a suitable bootloader.

BOOTMGR and NTLDR

Bootmgr is the official bootloader of Microsoft used to boot the Windows operating system. It supports Windows 10, 8.1, 7 and even Windows XP. The boot settings are stored in the BCD (Boot Configuration Data) file.

NTLDR is an older bootloader that only supports booting to Windows versions prior to Vista. Boot options are stored in the boot.ini file. BOOTMGR also supports boot options in boot.ini. So if you want to install dual OS Windows XP and Windows 10, you should install Windows XP first.

In Legacy BIOS mode, you need to have an ACTIVE partition, and only the primary partition can be set to ACTIVE. An MBR hard disk has up to 4 primary partitions; if you want more than 4 partitions, you can create 3 primary partitions and multiple logical partitions. And of course, you can install multiple Windows operating systems on these Logical partitions. BOOTMGR and BCD will be installed and stored on the ACTIVE primary partition.

Grub2

If you want to install dual OS Linux and Windows, Grub2 is probably the best choice. Ubuntu and many other Linux distributions use Grub2 as the default boot loader. Windows and other operating systems will also be automatically detected and added to the Grub2 menu. Or you can install Grub2 manually without having to use Linux, then add the menu to boot Windows from Grub2.

Grub2 supports booting Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and many other operating systems. AIO Boot also uses Grub2 as the default bootloader, it supports booting Grub4dos, Clover Bootloader, Syslinux, Enoch Chameleon and rEFInd from Grub2. This tool also supports integrating multiple operating systems on a single drive.

You can boot Grub2 and Grub4dos from Windows Boot Manager, but this only works in Legacy BIOS mode. You can also create dual boot with EasyBCD, which also works on this principle and does not support UEFI. So it is best to use Grub2 as the default bootloader for dual booting Windows and Linux operating systems.

For macOS on Hackintosh, use Clover Bootloader, Enoch or Chameleon.

Install multiple operating systems

As mentioned above, it is important that you choose the right bootloader to boot all the operating systems that you need. You can install multiple operating systems on one computer, on a single hard disk and of course on two hard disks.

We need to create new partitions and then install each operating system on a separate partition. For MBR disks, you can only create up to 4 primary partitions. If you want more than 4, just create the Logical partition.

How to install any version of Windows from one USB flash drive

With the advent of USB drives, our activities with CD/DVDs are also decreasing considerably. The same has happened to the process of installation of Windows. Earlier Windows setup mostly had a CD/DVD involved, but with the time we have moved to USB drives. Installing Windows from a USB is okay, but have you ever considered installing multiple versions of Windows, like say, Windows 10, Windows 8,1, and Windows 7, from the same USB drive. Well, this tutorial is here to guide you on installing any version of Windows from one USB flash drive using a tool called WinSetupFromUSB.

Install any version of Windows from one USB flash drive

Things you’ll need:

• A USB drive
• ISO files for Windows
• WinSetupFromUSB
• A working Windows PC

Step 1: Download WinSetupFromUSB from here. Extract the downloaded file and run WinSetupFromUSB as per the architecture of your system (x64 or x86).

Step 2: Plug in your USB drive and ensure that there is enough free space or you can directly format the USB drive using WinSetupFromUSB. FAT32 file system is recommended for installing Windows from USB. Choose your USB drive according to the number of setups you want to add to the USB drive. For more than two setups it is recommended to have a USB drive of 16 GBs or more.

Step 3: Open WinSetupFromUSB and head to Advanced Options, and enable Custom menu names for Vista/7/8/Server Source. This option will let you add your own custom names to Windows 7/8/10 menus.

Step 4: Select your USB drive in WinSetupFromUSB and then select the versions of Windows that you want to add to the USB drive. You can add Windows ranging from Windows 2000/XP/2003 to Windows Vista/7/8/10.

Step 5: Locate the ISO files and hit the ‘Go’ button. The entire process will take a bit of time and will display a ‘Job Done’ message at the end.

Install multiple Windows versions using WinSetupFromUSB

To add more setups, repeat the process for more ISO files. For instance, I’ve added Windows 10 and Windows 7 to the USB drive. Since it cannot be done in one go, I added Windows 10 first and then added Windows 7 after the first job was complete.

Step 6: Now remove the USB drive and plug it into the computer where you want to install Windows. Go to the boot settings of the computer and boot from your USB drive and then select the desired option from the list and you are good to go.

That is all you need to do!

In addition to Windows, you can also add Linux Distros to the same USB drive and do a lot more with WinSetupFromUSB.

Do also check out our tutorial on downloading Windows 10 ISO files.