Installing Windows 7 to dual boot

hello, I have new pc that has windows 8 pro installed. I would like to dual boot with windows 7 because certain software for work is not compatible with win 8. I was reading that I can create a vhd from windows 8, boot to the windows 7 installation media and install win 7 to the vhd, then I have the option to select win 7 or 8. Am I missing something here or is it as easy as this? Also do I need Win 7 ultimate or will he professional one work? I do not want to partition the hard drive.

would this tutorial do what I need?
-http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2953-virtual-hard-drive-vhd-file-create-start-boot.html

The guide seem to do what you wont to do. But you should now what you are doing because this could f*** some things up. And you have tried starting those programs in compability mode?

No luck in compatibility mode. I dont have anything saved/installed on the pc so I can always reinstall. Hope it works.

Good luck then.

I use VMware for Win8 as guest and Win 7 as host. And that works great. But you can also do it the other way around. Just specify Win7 in the setup. http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2899-vmware-player-install-windows-8-a.html

VMware does give you the advantage of running 2 OS's side by side but does have to share system resource, for example: Memory and does run slower. If you decide to install Windows 7 for dual booting, here's a 5 easy steps using imagex, a program from [FONT=&amp] Windows Automated Installation kit (WAIK) [/FONT]:

1. Create a partition, assign a letter and format it.
2. If your Windows 7 is an ISO, mount it. If your Windows 7 is a DVD, put it in your DVD Drive.
3. Open elevated command prompt and type as follows:
   
   [FONT=&amp]imagex /apply E:\sources\install.wim 1 F:\[/FONT]
   
   where E: is your DVD drive/Mounted Drive and F: is your partition that you want to install Windows 7, so you need to change these 2's accordingly
   
   
4. Type: bcdboot F:\windows =====> Again, change F: to the drive letter that you assigned your partition.
5. Reboot your PC, you should have a dual boot menu for Windows 7 & Windows 8

[FONT=&amp]If you no longer want to have this option in your boot menu, use MSCONFIG (boot tab) and delete the unwanted entry[/FONT]

Here's the zip file for imagex:

I don't really notice any real performance hit from VMware - and I am even running from an external USB attached disk. See for yourself in this demo.

But the advantages of being able to run the two systems side by side are priceless.

whs said:

I don't really notice any real performance hit from VMware - and I am even running from an external USB attached disk. See for yourself in this demo.

But the advantages of being able to run the two systems side by side are priceless.

Click to expand...

Yes, I did see the demo a while back, and i agree with you it does have the advantage for running side by side so that you don't have to reboot to switch OS but to me it's only good for testing environment, For normal production environment, I think it's better to have these 2 separated. What happens if for some reason you have problem with Windows 8 and it's unbootable ? then there goes with your VMware.
BTW, you did not notice any slowness because in your demo, you just switch back and forth between the 2 but if you have some application running in Windows 8 and try to do something with Windows 7 then you'll probably notice it.

I am not an advocate for VMware and don't get any pay from them. I only use 1 system for real work and the other occasionally. And for that environment, the virtual setup is ideal.

Regarding problems - one advantage of the VMware setup is that you can easily backup the system at any time. Just copy the VMware folder to a safe place. And if the thing goes on the blink, you just bring in the backup folder. Beats imaging - but it takes appr. 40% more backup space because it is not compressed like an image file. No big deal with the acres of disk space we have nowadays.

The VHD will use your physical hardware (drivers will need to be installed).

The VM will use the VM Manager's virtual hardware and drivers.

If you have multiple HDDs you can reduce the chance of slowdowns, by running your VMs from a different HDD to your OS.
We used to get VM "lock ups" at TAFE, because everything ran from one HDD and sometimes multiple programs would "battle" for HDD access.

I have my VMs on a separate internal HDD and I don't experience those "lock ups".
If you have a SSD, you probably won't get "lock ups" either (I don't have one so I can't be sure).

Right - SSDs are the answer. I run all systems from SSDs and the ones in VMware (Windows 8 and 2x Linux) I run from an external SSD. No lockups ever.

whs said:

Right - SSDs are the answer. I run all systems from SSDs and the ones in VMware (Windows 8 and 2x Linux) I run from an external SSD. No lockups ever.

Click to expand...

I suspected as much.

lehnerus2000 said:

whs said:

Right - SSDs are the answer. I run all systems from SSDs and the ones in VMware (Windows 8 and 2x Linux) I run from an external SSD. No lockups ever.

Click to expand...

I suspected as much.

Click to expand...

Well, reason is simple. I bought a high speed USB3 stick - price $64.95 (big mistake). Then I bought 60GB Mushkin SSDs - price $59.95 a piece. And since I have a half a dozen caddies lying around, that was the way to go.

I am confused by you guys who run vms from SSD..my vms absolutely fly from standard hard drives. They boot in seconds. Did you really find poor performance running this way?

WEI

pparks1 said:

I am confused by you guys who run vms from SSD..my vms absolutely fly from standard hard drives. They boot in seconds. Did you really find poor performance running this way?

Click to expand...

Yes my VM has better performance than my installed OS (according to the WEI). :shock:

At my TAFE, the VMs and OS run from the same HDD and they regularly lock up.

I run my VMs from a separate internal HDD and they run OK.

pparks1 said:

I am confused by you guys who run vms from SSD..my vms absolutely fly from standard hard drives. They boot in seconds. Did you really find poor performance running this way?

Click to expand...

I run my VMware systems from an external SSD. I happen to have this SSD handy and unused. I also ran it from an external HDD (5400RPM). That was so, so. I have no system on an internal HDD - they are all SSDs. So I cannot speak for HDDs.

As always, it is always better to run an OS on a VM IF you got more than 4GB's of RAM.
If you only have 2GB or less (like mine), + with a x64 host, it is advisable to use Dual Boot instead.

For Installing Windows 7 after Windows 8, it'll be fine, except you will lose your new metro bootloader.

Thanks for all the ideas guys. I created a vhd and installed win 7 with no problems. I also did all of this on a mac thru bootcamp and it worked flawless but the mac part was just me experimenting since im gonna put a solid state drive inside and toss the old hdd.