Solved Is Windows 8 compatible to dual boot?

Versal T

New Member
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22
Location
Australia, NSW
Hello,

I am just about to buy a new PC with the Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H, does this motherboard have UEFI? or can legacy mode be turned on? Also can I dual boot Windows 8 with Linux? (if their is an option to turn UEFI off in Windows 8? Otherwise my other option is to get Windows 7 and dual boot). Can someone help me or point me in the right direction please?

Also does anyone have any recommendations on my hardware? (I will be doing streaming, minor video editing, mostly gaming).

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Thanks :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 2400
    Motherboard
    Asus P8Z68-V Pro
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz - G.Skill Sniper
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 1280MB DDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Monitor: Asus VS248 24" (Primary) & Benq G220HDA 22" (Secondary Display)
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 - 128GB
    Hard Drive: Western Digital Black Caviar - 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX 650w
    Case
    Corsair 650D
    Cooling
    Air Flow
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70
    Mouse
    Corsair M65
    Internet Speed
    700kb/s
    Browser
    Chromium
    Antivirus
    Avast
30 views and no replies? Surely someone has experience with this Motherboard and Dual Booting Windows :/
- Bump.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 2400
    Motherboard
    Asus P8Z68-V Pro
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz - G.Skill Sniper
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 1280MB DDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Monitor: Asus VS248 24" (Primary) & Benq G220HDA 22" (Secondary Display)
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 - 128GB
    Hard Drive: Western Digital Black Caviar - 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX 650w
    Case
    Corsair 650D
    Cooling
    Air Flow
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70
    Mouse
    Corsair M65
    Internet Speed
    700kb/s
    Browser
    Chromium
    Antivirus
    Avast
The board is UEFI and can be dual booted with certain releases of Linux, Ubuntu 13.04 or later for instance. The can both be booted using the Windows 8 Secure Boot configuration.

How you install Windows 8 depends on how you boot the install media, UEFI or Legacy. It will run as Legacy, but will not allow Secure Boot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
The board is UEFI and can be dual booted with certain releases of Linux, Ubuntu 13.04 or later for instance. The can both be booted using the Windows 8 Secure Boot configuration.

How you install Windows 8 depends on how you boot the install media, UEFI or Legacy. It will run as Legacy, but will not allow Secure Boot.

Thanks for the reply, if I get this Motherboard can I turn on legacy mode on and disable UEFI Bios and turn off Windows 8 UEFI through advanced settings? Then could I be able to dual boot Arch Linux, Debian, etc. or only certain distros such as later versions of Ubuntu?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 2400
    Motherboard
    Asus P8Z68-V Pro
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz - G.Skill Sniper
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 1280MB DDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Monitor: Asus VS248 24" (Primary) & Benq G220HDA 22" (Secondary Display)
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 - 128GB
    Hard Drive: Western Digital Black Caviar - 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX 650w
    Case
    Corsair 650D
    Cooling
    Air Flow
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70
    Mouse
    Corsair M65
    Internet Speed
    700kb/s
    Browser
    Chromium
    Antivirus
    Avast
You can run everything in Legacy mode. The only complications might show up if you want to boot a combination of UEFI and Legacy installs.

I think they still do sell non-UEFI boards...but I haven't looked in the last 4 years.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
You can run everything in Legacy mode. The only complications might show up if you want to boot a combination of UEFI and Legacy installs.

I think they still do sell non-UEFI boards...but I haven't looked in the last 4 years.

Legacy is the same as non UEFI isn't it? Hopefully legacy mode is non UEFI so I can dual boot Windows and Linux, I am pretty sure that UEFI can be turned off in Windows 8.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 2400
    Motherboard
    Asus P8Z68-V Pro
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz - G.Skill Sniper
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 1280MB DDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Monitor: Asus VS248 24" (Primary) & Benq G220HDA 22" (Secondary Display)
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 - 128GB
    Hard Drive: Western Digital Black Caviar - 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX 650w
    Case
    Corsair 650D
    Cooling
    Air Flow
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70
    Mouse
    Corsair M65
    Internet Speed
    700kb/s
    Browser
    Chromium
    Antivirus
    Avast
good specs and at 2300.00 it should be able to walk on water ,lol
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1.1 enterprise
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hinze57
    CPU
    AMD FX 6100 6core 3.30gHz
    Motherboard
    gigibyte ga-78lmy-s2p
    Memory
    4gig ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radon hd5000 Series
    Sound Card
    onboard realtek hd
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" viewsonic/ 22"Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    128gig ssd Kingston
    80gig WD 10000 rpm spinner
    Case
    micro
    Keyboard
    microsoft curve 200
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless M215
    Internet Speed
    high speed 20
    Browser
    ie 11
    Antivirus
    windows defender
    Other Info
    updated enterprise apr 2/14
You are building a rather beastly computer, will definitely be able to game, stream and minor video work...

Even if you do not end up wanting to dual boot you will have plenty of resource to run a linux VM on Hyper-V :)

When those parts arrive enjoy your premature Christmas!

Cheers,
Harry
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Server 2012 R2 / 8.1
If you want my advice, don't double boot but run Linux in Virtual. I run a few distros like that and it is a LOT easier. I made a little package that should give you an idea what I am talking about.

Multiple Operating Systems
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
If you want my advice, don't double boot but run Linux in Virtual. I run a few distros like that and it is a LOT easier. I made a little package that should give you an idea what I am talking about.

Multiple Operating Systems

You are building a rather beastly computer, will definitely be able to game, stream and minor video work...

Even if you do not end up wanting to dual boot you will have plenty of resource to run a linux VM on Hyper-V :)

When those parts arrive enjoy your premature Christmas!

Cheers,
Harry

Thanks for the response guys, I will definitely try out Virtual Box, but before I do I just want to run Windows 8/7 and then see if I can get dual boot to work without any issues, if I cannot manage to do that I will clean install Windows and run Virtual Box.

Thanks guys, I hope you all have a great day :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 2400
    Motherboard
    Asus P8Z68-V Pro
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz - G.Skill Sniper
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 1280MB DDR5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Monitor: Asus VS248 24" (Primary) & Benq G220HDA 22" (Secondary Display)
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 - 128GB
    Hard Drive: Western Digital Black Caviar - 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX 650w
    Case
    Corsair 650D
    Cooling
    Air Flow
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70
    Mouse
    Corsair M65
    Internet Speed
    700kb/s
    Browser
    Chromium
    Antivirus
    Avast
Use VMware Player. I think it's easier than vBox which I have used for years before.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
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