Solved Dual Boot Windows 7 and Windows 8 Upgrade?

sgage

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I would like to buy the $39 Windows 8 download. I have a very nice and established Windows 7 installation currently, which I am dual booting with the Windows 8 Evaluation version. Will I be able to install the upgrade download on a different partition, or does it only install over an existing Windows 7 installation? Does anyone know definitively?

TIA
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Compac Presario SR5518F
    CPU
    Dual Pentium E2180 (2 GHz)
    Motherboard
    MS-7525 (Boston)
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT
Yes, this has been asked several times. You can do a full clean install of Windows 8, but you must have a qualifying OS as well.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
Yes, this has been asked several times. You can do a full clean install of Windows 8, but you must have a qualifying OS as well.

It hasn't really been made clear to me. I know that you can do a clean install if there is a qualifying OS installed. But can it be on a different partition, or does it have to be "on top of" the existing installation?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Compac Presario SR5518F
    CPU
    Dual Pentium E2180 (2 GHz)
    Motherboard
    MS-7525 (Boston)
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT
You could Upgrade your Windows 8 RP to Windows 8 RTM.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
You could Upgrade your Windows 8 RP to Windows 8 RTM.

I'm actually running the Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation version, not the Release Preview. My understanding is that, while you can upgrade the RP, you can't upgrade the Enterprise Eval.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Compac Presario SR5518F
    CPU
    Dual Pentium E2180 (2 GHz)
    Motherboard
    MS-7525 (Boston)
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT
The answer is yes :) You can do a clean install on a separate partition from where your qualifying OS is installed.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Compac Presario SR5518F
    CPU
    Dual Pentium E2180 (2 GHz)
    Motherboard
    MS-7525 (Boston)
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT
Just an extra query I have - Does Windows 8 need to be installed to a freshly formatted drive, or can it go onto any drive?

I have a 128 Gb SSD for Win 7, plus a 512 Gb for games (plus a pair of 2 TB for everything else + backups), can I simply install Win 8 to the 512 Gb drive without losing anything on it, or will I need to back it up first?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self built
    CPU
    Intel I7 980
    Motherboard
    Asus Rampage III Extreme
    Memory
    12 Gb Geil Ultra Series
    Graphics Card(s)
    KFA2 Nvidia GTX 670
    Sound Card
    Creative X-Fi Titanium HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer G24
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M4 128 Gb + 512 Gb SSDs
    2 x Samsung 2 Tb HDDs
    PSU
    Tagan BZ-1100
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    Phanteks ph-tc14pe
    Keyboard
    Microsoft sidewinder X4
    Mouse
    Gigabyte M8000X
    Internet Speed
    7.2 Mbps HSDPA
Just an extra query I have - Does Windows 8 need to be installed to a freshly formatted drive, or can it go onto any drive?

I have a 128 Gb SSD for Win 7, plus a 512 Gb for games (plus a pair of 2 TB for everything else + backups), can I simply install Win 8 to the 512 Gb drive without losing anything on it, or will I need to back it up first?

I believe it can go anywhere, so long as a 'qualifying Windows version' is installed somewhere on the system. The installer looked just like the installer from the Eval - I think that once it sniffs out a Windows installation, it then allows you to do pretty much whatever you want.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Compac Presario SR5518F
    CPU
    Dual Pentium E2180 (2 GHz)
    Motherboard
    MS-7525 (Boston)
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT
Hmmm, so what happens if you format your previous windows installation then?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self built
    CPU
    Intel I7 980
    Motherboard
    Asus Rampage III Extreme
    Memory
    12 Gb Geil Ultra Series
    Graphics Card(s)
    KFA2 Nvidia GTX 670
    Sound Card
    Creative X-Fi Titanium HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer G24
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M4 128 Gb + 512 Gb SSDs
    2 x Samsung 2 Tb HDDs
    PSU
    Tagan BZ-1100
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    Phanteks ph-tc14pe
    Keyboard
    Microsoft sidewinder X4
    Mouse
    Gigabyte M8000X
    Internet Speed
    7.2 Mbps HSDPA
Hmmm, so what happens if you format your previous windows installation then?

Before or after you install Windows 8? I wouldn't format it before, unless with the 'advanced' feature of the installer itself. After 8 is installed, I seriously doubt it would make any difference, until/unless you wanted to reinstall it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Compac Presario SR5518F
    CPU
    Dual Pentium E2180 (2 GHz)
    Motherboard
    MS-7525 (Boston)
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT
I hope I am in the right place? I have tried the Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluate on my Windows 7 32Bit pc. The installation went fine until windows came to "Checking Devices" section. It got as far as 65% and then re-booted the pc. When my pc re-started I saw three headings under "Choose an operating system" 1 was "Windows Developer Preview2 the middle one was "Uninstall" or something like that the third was "Windows 7". Then Windows 8 started to uninstall finished. PC re-booted to my original Win 7 and when I checked the partition, where I had installed Win 8, it was empty?? I have checked the windows 8 compatability centre and the only "device I can find not compatable is my trusty Epson R300 Photo printer.
My rig is:
CM690II case,
Asus P6X58D-E mb, onboard sound
Intel i7 950 cpu,
Gigabyte GTX 470 1280Mb Gpu,
Corsair DDR3 2Gbx3 PC 12800 1600 XMS3 memory,
Liteon BR reader IHOS104,
WD 1Tb SATAIII 64Mb 6Gb/s WD1002FAEX hard disk,
WD 320Gb hard disk I use for back-up,
Samsung dvdrw SATA,
Avenge PSU 850W,
BenQ G2420HDBL monitor,
Logitech MX-100 mouse,
Logitech Y-SAE71 kb,
Epson R300 Stylus photo printer.

The pc was built by Cyberpower about 18 mnths ago. What I am asking is, with all the checks I have made, would the R300 stop the install and then the uninstall Windows 8.

Sorry if I am in the wrong thread but any/all help appreciated.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion 15-e020sa
    CPU
    Intell(R) Core (TM) i3-3110M CPU @ 2.4Ghz 2.4Ghz
    Memory
    8GB (7.89GB usable)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Antivirus
    Vipre Internet Security, CCleaner, MalWare Bytes, Revo Uni'r
Hmmm, so what happens if you format your previous windows installation then?
Before or after you install Windows 8? I wouldn't format it before, unless with the 'advanced' feature of the installer itself. After 8 is installed, I seriously doubt it would make any difference, until/unless you wanted to reinstall it.

So how do you do a fresh clean install to the same directory? I want a clean install of Win 8, not an install over my current OS.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self built
    CPU
    Intel I7 980
    Motherboard
    Asus Rampage III Extreme
    Memory
    12 Gb Geil Ultra Series
    Graphics Card(s)
    KFA2 Nvidia GTX 670
    Sound Card
    Creative X-Fi Titanium HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer G24
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M4 128 Gb + 512 Gb SSDs
    2 x Samsung 2 Tb HDDs
    PSU
    Tagan BZ-1100
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    Phanteks ph-tc14pe
    Keyboard
    Microsoft sidewinder X4
    Mouse
    Gigabyte M8000X
    Internet Speed
    7.2 Mbps HSDPA

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
Thank you bhavy and theog for your replies.
:eek:
I tried the dual boot installation- windows 8 and windows 7 or vista. From 6 through to 8 all looked fine then after the last re-boot the "checking devices" came on screen, 65%, and then re-booted and uninstalled win 8. Is it better to have the main disk partition formatted or unallocated? Ahh! I have just re-read the dual boot installation and 1, can I use the already formatted partitioned section of C: or should I unallocate this partition? I have System reserved, Windows 7 and then 197 Gb partition formatted, on C: which now is unallocated.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion 15-e020sa
    CPU
    Intell(R) Core (TM) i3-3110M CPU @ 2.4Ghz 2.4Ghz
    Memory
    8GB (7.89GB usable)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Antivirus
    Vipre Internet Security, CCleaner, MalWare Bytes, Revo Uni'r
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