Solved How to dual-boot Windows 8 with existing Windows 7.

hipwelljo

New Member
Messages
7
I want to install the Windows 8 preview alongside my current Windows 7 system, so that when I boot my computer, it asks me which OS I want to boot into.

I already shrank my internal HD by 50 GB and then created a new partition. The problem is I heard that new partition should be a Primary partition or else it will cause problems with my current Windows 7 system. Well I already had an Active Recovery Partition, a Primary Partition, and a my Boot Primary Partition (C drive). This is how it was set up by default. So when I created my new 50 GB partition for Windows 8, it is just a Logical Drive.

What should I do to correctly set this up?

Thank you!

Untitled.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
Try deleting W and 8GB partitions and extend the C partition in to unallocated space, now you should have recovery partition and the C partition(296GB), again shrink the C partition whatever you need for W8.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire E1-571
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer Type-2
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD 4000
    Sound Card
    High Definiton Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 Pro 256GB
    PSU
    Generic
    Keyboard
    QWERTY
    Mouse
    ELANTECH Touchpad
    Internet Speed
    12.68Mbps
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
One way is to use separate Hard Disk Drives, one for each OS installed.
Screenshot below is Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 32 &64.

V 7 8 x4.png
 

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
Try deleting W and 8GB partitions

Thank you for the reply. Ok so I deleted my Windows 8 partition and then the 8 GB partition. It changed the Win 8 partition into 50 GB free space and then the 8 GB partition changed to 8 GB unallocated memory. Now the Extend Volume button on my C drive is greyed out. So I tried to create a New Simple Volume from the 50 GB free space but it created it as a Logical Drive again.

Untitled2.png

@theog Thanks for the suggestion, but I want to run this on a separate partition rather than a different hard drive.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
Try deleting W and 8GB partitions

Thank you for the reply. I just read a Toshiba bulletin that explains why there are 3 partitions. Since my computer didn't come with recovery CDs, I could make them and then delete the 2 extra partitions. But I'm not sure I even want the crapware that Toshiba includes.

So, do you think it would be wise to delete the 2 extra partitions, not even make the recovery CDs, and then if I need to I can buy a brand new copy of Windows 7 and clean install it without any Toshiba crapware? Or will I run into problems since I don't have the Toshiba drivers...

@theog Thanks for the suggestion, but I want to run this on a separate partition rather than a different hard drive.
Hi,
If you are not going to do a factory restore in the future you can safely delete the 8GB and 50GB partitions.
EDIT: If you want to keep them, you need to use a third party utility like Partition Manager,
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire E1-571
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer Type-2
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD 4000
    Sound Card
    High Definiton Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 Pro 256GB
    PSU
    Generic
    Keyboard
    QWERTY
    Mouse
    ELANTECH Touchpad
    Internet Speed
    12.68Mbps
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Sorry I edited my post after you replied lol
See post #4 again.

And also, can I delete the 1.46 GB partition as well?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
UPDATE: I installed Partition Assistant 3.0 and it successfully added back my 58 GB to my C drive. So this is how it looks now:
Untitled3.png

Remaining problems:
Notice that my 1.46 GB partition is Active. And Microsoft said here that if you change your Active partition, it will not boot if that partition does not contain the Windows boot files. So should I not delete that partition and leave it there? I thought it was just recovery and not where it stored the Windows boot files, and the C partition is even labeled Boot.
How do I create a new Primary partition so that I can successfully install Windows 8 on it without affecting my Windows 7 setup?

Again, thank you. I really appreciate your help!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
Simply do !
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10.0.10122
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    My Build - Vorttex Ultimate
    CPU
    Core i7 @ 4500 MHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS Z87-Plus
    Memory
    32GB DDR3 @ 1822 MHz (OC)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon R9 280X 3GB @ 1180 / 6800 MHz
    Sound Card
    7.1 HDA
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD LG 22" + CRT LG 17"
    Screen Resolution
    1760 x 1320 / 1280 x 960
    Hard Drives
    1 x 240 GB SSD (System)
    3 x 500 GB HDD (Data/Media)
    1 x 2000 GB e-HDD (Backup)
    PSU
    ThermalTake 1000W PSU
    Case
    Corsair Carbide R300
    Cooling
    Corsair H60 (Push-Pull)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    60 Mbps (Down) 5 Mbps (Up)
    Browser
    IE, FF, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG Internet Security 2015
    Other Info
    Some wired stuff
Simply do !

I wish it were that easy. If only you knew what I had to go through to get this far.
Windows 8 better be amazing. Ok so this is my current situation:

Untitled4.png

Is there anything else I need to do before I install Windows 8 on the X partition? Will it cause any problems with my Windows 7 if I do it this way?

Thanks!!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
Your last screen shot looks exactly how I set mine up, and win8 installed without any problems at all. I now get the dual boot option on startup.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ultimate/ Win8
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