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Dual Boot Installation - Windows 8 and Windows 7 or Vista


J

JackW

New Member
#361
Posts
3
#361
I have few questions about dual boot.

I have installed Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit on one hard drive and I would like to install Windows 8.1 64-bit on the other hard drive.

Would it work if I unplug installed Windows 7 hard drive then reattach empty hard drive where I will install Windows 8.

After installing Windows 8 I reattach Windows 7 hard drive to my pc.

Would they still work together?

Also is it possible to remove one hard drive and attach removed hard drive to another computer without having to reinstall Windows? And the other hard drive which I didn't remove from the original pc, will it also work on it's own? For example, remove Windows 8 and put it to another computer and keep Windows 7 on the original pc. Would they still work as standalone?

What are the downsides of dual boot (Windows 7 and Windows 8.1) ? How much will it affect my computer? Can I still see both hard drives when logged in?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Brink

Brink

Administrator
Administrator
mvp
#362
Posts
23,574
#362
Hello Jack, and welcome to Eight Forums.

If you would like to be able to select which OS to run at startup, you would need to leave the Windows 7 disk connected and the disk that you are going to install Windows 8 on. Any other data disk can be disconnected if you like until after the installation has finished.

Usually it's not possible or very problematic to boot a Windows drive on another computer that the Windows wasn't originally installed on. If you like, you could format (uninstall) a retail Windows on one PC, and clean install on another PC.

About the only downside to dual booting is having to restart the PC to switch between the two Windows instead of being able to run them at the same time on two separate PCs. Unless you have Windows set to automatically boot to a Windows 7 or Windows 8 at startup, then you'll also have a slight delay at startup while it waits on you to select an OS to run.

Hope this helps some, :)
Shawn
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    16 GB (8GBx2) G.SKILL TridentZ DDR4 3200 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x 27" Asus VE278Q
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung 960 EVO M.2,
    256GB OCZ Vector,
    6TB WD Black WD6001FZWX
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    Linksys EA9500 router,
    Arris SB8200 cable modem,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Lumia 1520 phone
J

JackW

New Member
#363
Posts
3
#363
I adding Windows 8 to try it out and see if I like it or not. So I'm going use Windows 7 most of the time.

But what if Windows 8 doesn't work properly or installation wasn't successful. (Still talking about Dual Boot - Each Windows on its own hard drive)

Could I just remove or clean Windows 8 hard drive and Windows 7 will work alone just fine.

How much this dual boot connects two operation systems. Now I'm not talking about moving hard drive to another computer, I just would like to know if one Windows fails can the other work just fine alone?

I'm asking it because I'm trying to prepare for worst scenario.

One more question. When logged in to Windows 7, can it see and share files from it's own hard drive to Windows 8 hard drive and vice versa ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Brink

Brink

Administrator
Administrator
mvp
#364
Posts
23,574
#364
Answers inline. :)

JackW said:
I adding Windows 8 to try it out and see if I like it or not. So I'm going use Windows 7 most of the time.

But what if Windows 8 doesn't work properly or installation wasn't successful. (Still talking about Dual Boot - Each Windows on its own hard drive)

Could I just remove or clean Windows 8 hard drive and Windows 7 will work alone just fine.
Click to expand...
Sure, you could just remove the Windows 8 boot entry using the tutorial below, and format the Windows 8 drive. Afterwards, you'll just have Windows 7 again.

Windows Boot Manager - Delete a Listed Operating System - Windows 7 Help Forums

JackW said:
How much this dual boot connects two operation systems. Now I'm not talking about moving hard drive to another computer, I just would like to know if one Windows fails can the other work just fine alone?

I'm asking it because I'm trying to prepare for worst scenario.
Click to expand...
Both the Windows 7 and 8 installation are completely separate, but you can still view the files on each OS's hard drive.

If one should fail, you would still be able to select to boot to the other.

JackW said:
One more question. When logged in to Windows 7, can it see and share files from it's own hard drive to Windows 8 hard drive and vice versa ?
Click to expand...
Yep, just like from any other hard drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    16 GB (8GBx2) G.SKILL TridentZ DDR4 3200 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x 27" Asus VE278Q
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung 960 EVO M.2,
    256GB OCZ Vector,
    6TB WD Black WD6001FZWX
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    Linksys EA9500 router,
    Arris SB8200 cable modem,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Lumia 1520 phone
Brink

Brink

Administrator
Administrator
mvp
#366
Posts
23,574
#366
You're most welcome. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    16 GB (8GBx2) G.SKILL TridentZ DDR4 3200 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x 27" Asus VE278Q
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung 960 EVO M.2,
    256GB OCZ Vector,
    6TB WD Black WD6001FZWX
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    Linksys EA9500 router,
    Arris SB8200 cable modem,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Lumia 1520 phone
glnz

glnz

Member
Member
#367
Posts
36
#367
Brinks wrote above: "About the only downside to dual booting is having to restart the PC to switch between the two Windows instead of being able to run them at the same time on two separate PCs. Unless you have Windows set to automatically boot to a Windows 7 or Windows 8 at startup, then you'll also have a slight delay at startup while it waits on you to select an OS to run."

True, of course. But I'm using a little thingy called iReboot on my dual-boot machine, and it works nicely to cut down the decision time on the reboot.

Made by the same folks as EasyBCD (if I'm spelling that right).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Dual boot - Win 7 Pro 64-bit and Win 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    Dell Optiplex 7010 MT
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.2GHz
    Motherboard
    Dell 0GY6Y8 - what would the Intel number be? - Q77 chipset
    Memory
    16GB RAM DDR3 (Four x 4GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics (on the CPU)
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio - and Intel Display Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell E176FP - nothing fancy
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 1024 @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    Two 500GB WDC WD5000AAKX (SATA @ 6GB/sec)

    - External WD My Book 1110 USB device

    - Leftover Momentus XT not plugged in yet.
    PSU
    What means PSU? I'm at sea level
    Cooling
    Ice cubes
    Keyboard
    Noisy
    Mouse
    Basic from Dell
    Internet Speed
    Verizon DSL @ 7Mbps down and 780kbps up
    Browser
    Firefox only with lots of security drives my wife crazy
    Antivirus
    Win 7 Avast Free - Win 8 Windows Defender for now
    Other Info
    Also have an old but important XP SP3 machine still running - Optiplex 755 Desktop w 4GB RAM and 180 GB HD. Used the registry hack to get more updates through "XP Embedded" or "POS" so now the machine rings like a cash register and the CD drawer opens to give change.
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