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- 37
If I have 8.1, how do I add 7 as dual boot - or reverse?
I may be in the wrong place - my wife says I'm ALWAYS in the wrong place - but at least I ask for directions.
1) Where is there another great thread that tells me how to add Win 7 Pro 64-bit as a dual boot if I am starting with Win 8 (or 8.1) Pro 64-bit already installed? (Maybe it's here, but on which of these 36 pages?)
2) Can I do that by adding a second hard drive instead of partitioning my existing Win 8 (or 8.1) hard drive?
3) In sevenforums, a great (and also very long) thread says I should NOT turn off UEFI or I'll brick the machine. So I'm already scared. Is that right? (See UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Help Forums )
4) If my Win 7 Pro 64-bit install disk is a Dell OEM Reinstall disk for my PC (a Dell Optiplex 7010 MT), will this work? I don't have a separate MS retail product key for the Win 7 install.
5) Is this just too hard and I should do something else with my life?
Thanks.
I may be in the wrong place - my wife says I'm ALWAYS in the wrong place - but at least I ask for directions.
1) Where is there another great thread that tells me how to add Win 7 Pro 64-bit as a dual boot if I am starting with Win 8 (or 8.1) Pro 64-bit already installed? (Maybe it's here, but on which of these 36 pages?)
2) Can I do that by adding a second hard drive instead of partitioning my existing Win 8 (or 8.1) hard drive?
3) In sevenforums, a great (and also very long) thread says I should NOT turn off UEFI or I'll brick the machine. So I'm already scared. Is that right? (See UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Help Forums )
4) If my Win 7 Pro 64-bit install disk is a Dell OEM Reinstall disk for my PC (a Dell Optiplex 7010 MT), will this work? I don't have a separate MS retail product key for the Win 7 install.
5) Is this just too hard and I should do something else with my life?
Thanks.
Last edited:
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
- 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.