Windows 8 beats Windows 7 in most performance tests

While there is a lot of debate about the Metro user interface that Microsoft has created for Windows 8, it seems that in terms of sheer performance, the new version of the Windows OS is better overall than the current version, Windows 7.

That's the conclusion of a new report on PCWorld.com. Its PCWorld Labs division recently ran a number of tests on the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. It included a test using its own proprietary benchmark software WorldBench 7.

Both Windows 8 and Windows 7 were installed on a PC with the same hardware specifications. It included an 3.3 GHz Intel Core i5-2500K processor with 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, a 1 TB hard drive, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card.

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[GMan]

I don't think it matters at all where the active partition is. In case I'm wrong, you can easily make another partition active after copying the boot files (bootmgr and Boot folder) manually to it, skipping over copying bcd file when it says it can't, and then running this command from elevated prompt:

bcdedit /export X:\boot\bcd

where x=the partition letter you copied bootmgr and Boot folder to, at root.

In fact, it's good to do that anyway in case of future problems. Can't boot? Mark a different partition as active (that you copied to) and on you go.

Or if more than one physical drive is on the system - can't boot? Use bios to change to a different drive you copied to, and on you go.

 

[thatmanbrian]

This may be irrelevant as I'm not sure what is going on with this thread (!) but...

If windows is installed in IDE mode it may not like booting in AHCI mode I've found. I had to reinstall with AHCI enabled.

 

[whs]

I don't think it matters at all where the active partition is. In case I'm wrong, you can easily make another partition active after copying the boot files (bootmgr and Boot folder) manually to it, skipping over copying bcd file when it says it can't, and then running this command from elevated prompt:

bcdedit /export X:\boot\bcd

where x=the partition letter you copied bootmgr and Boot folder to, at root.

In fact, it's good to do that anyway in case of future problems. Can't boot? Mark a different partition as active (that you copied to) and on you go.

Or if more than one physical drive is on the system - can't boot? Use bios to change to a different drive you copied to, and on you go.

This is certainly the geeky way of doing it. But if you do not want to be bothered with partition deactivation and activation (and I am not even certain whether you also need to update the MBR), then there is this easy solution that does everything for you: Bootmgr - Move to C:\ with EasyBCD - Windows 7 Forums

 

[thatmanbrian]

Win 7/8 doesn't use MBR does it?

 

[whs]

Win 7/8 doesn't use MBR does it?

Not sure how to interpret your post. How do you think the BIOS finds the active partition without an MBR.

 

[thatmanbrian]

My PC uses a UEFI instead of a BIOS. The UEFI uses a bootmanager to replace MBR and the limitations of MBR such as large drive sizes. The boot device in my bios is referred to a Windows Boot Manager, not a specific drive. I forgot most machines still use the older type of bios which requires an MBR!

 

[whs]

I guess I have to read up on UEFI and how it finds the bootmgr. There must be something in the first 512 bytes of the disk.

 

[thatmanbrian]

This might clarify what I was thinking about when I said windows had to be installed in AHCI mode. It's from ASUS

It is UEFI top to bottom. There is no more BIOS. It is dead.

ASUS should really remove all mention of the word BIOS on these boards. I think will confuse people. It should be called UEFI, EFI or Firmware.

1:
Yes it has a boot manager. The boot manager is accessed by either the "Esc" or "F8" key. I have ASUS 1st board - the P5Q Deluxe with beta UEFI and it is "Esc". I believe they changed this back to "F8" on the new boards such as yours. "F8" was the old style boot menu on all previous boards.

You need a UEFI bootable option.

You may also boot from them in the full Firmware interface.

They will normally be prefaced with:
"UEFI: "

Once Windows or Linux is installed in UEFI mode, they will add entries like "Windows Boot" or "Ubuntu"

YOU must install the operating system in UEFI mode by booting to a UEFI boot install of the operating system.

2.
You can boot from 2+ TB disks in UEFI mode + GPT partitioned drives.

3.
You should use GPT drives, but again the operating system must be installed in UEFI mode.

 

[GMan]

then there is this easy solution that does everything for you: Bootmgr - Move to C:\ with EasyBCD - Windows 7 Forums

Good stuff. I wasn't aware that EasyBCD added that to its abilities.