Dual Boot windows 7 and 8 on new toshiba satellite?

gregrocker said:

Every PC has a BIOS setup key. The key on Toshiba is F2.

How To: Enter the system BIOS or UEFI in Windows 8 - Toshiba Forums

Did you notice the special instruction under "pre-installed"? It requires access to the OS. Is there a way around this with a command prompt? I can access one through a windows 8 disc.

Try booting into the Win8 Repair disk or installer Automatic Repair - Run in Windows 8 to access the Advanced Options and UEFI settings as shown in the tutorial.

If you need further help I would take this to our sister site Windows 8 Forums as they are more experienced dealing with Win8 and possibly even Dual Boots related to Win8.

gregrocker said:

Try booting into the Win8 Repair disk or installer Automatic Repair - Run in Windows 8 to access the Advanced Options and UEFI settings as shown in the tutorial.

If you need further help I would take this to our sister site Windows 8 Forums as they are more experienced dealing with Win8 and possibly even Dual Boots related to Win8.

EDIT: I finally figured it out. You must hold shift as the computer shuts down in order to get the toshiba logo and the option to enter the bios with F2 to show up at startup.

Thanks for the suggestion, I posted a thread over there. I eventually got the windows 7 to install and run after I accidentally downgraded the bios while trying to use a bios "upgrade" disc from toshiba to access the bios, after that it was able to boot from USB. I have still been unable to access the bios or windows 8. The automatic repair doesn't do anything, it thinks everything is ok and there is no option to access the uefi settings, is there a different kind of disk to use? My disk was used to install windows 8 professional as dual boot on a computer that originally came with windows 7 and no uefi. Its also a different version of windows 8, the disk is professional and the computer is probably home premium. Is there a place to download windows 8 disk images legally like the large library of windows 7 iso hosted by digital river?

EDIT: I finally figured it out. You must hold shift as the computer shuts down in order to get the toshiba logo and the option to enter the bios with F2 to show up at startup. This isn't a very convenient setup for dual boot, having to change between CSM and UEFI to choose operating systems but it works.

Downgrade Windows 8 to Windows 7

You to do step 3 first.

theog said:

3) Reset BIOS to default, and reboot to BIOS make sure Secure Boot is disabled.
NOTE: Check your manufacturer's uEFI BIOS manual for settings.
Make sure CSM is ENABLED, & set to UEFI boot.

How to enable CSM for a Toshiba.(Satellite Pro C870, Satellite Pro L830, Satellite Pro C850, Satellite Pro R950, Portege R930, Portege Z930)

Toshiba said:

To downgrade from a installed Windows 8 OS to a Windows 7 OS, using a Windows 7 recovery media, follow these steps:

1) Boot unit and press F2 to get into BIOS

2) Go to "Security" tab and disable "Safe Boot"

3) Go to "Advanced" tab, select "System Configuration" then change boot mode from "UEFI" to "CSM"

4) Press F10 to save changes and exit.

5) Boot unit from recovery media (Press F12 on bootup to boot from USB or DVD media)

6) At the first screen prompt during recovery, double click on the top left hand corner to open a command prompt

Steps to Install Windows 7 on a Windows 8 Unit
Necessary changes in the UEFI Firmware (BIOS) for a successful downgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 7



Toshiba How-To: Resetting your UEFI Bios Firmware on Windows 8 - YouTube
How To: Enter the system BIOS or UEFI in Windows 8 - Toshiba Forums

gregrocker said:

worf65 said:

This isn't a very convenient setup for dual boot, having to change between CSM and UEFI to choose operating systems but it works.

You should not have to do this. One of the CSM settings should be Dual Mode where you can have one OS installed in UEFI to a GPT disk and the other installed in BIOS (Legacy) to an MBR disk. Check again.

Otherwise I'd reinstall the one now in Legacy with UEFI, or vice versa,- if you can't choose Dual for Compatibiity Support Mode.
UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums
Bypass UEFI to Install WIn7

There is no dual mode on this toshiba, only UEFI and CSM. I set up a flash drive as instructed in that link but it didn't install as UEFI, the hard drive did not automatically partition as it did in the tutorial. I was in CSM mode still trying to get back into the bios when I finally got the flash drive to boot, could this have caused it to not install properly? I can no longer get to the bios menu to get back to change the boot settings, after I installed some drivers and windows updates I was again unable to get the logo screen to come up even when holding shift on shutdown.

How To: Enter the system BIOS or UEFI in Windows 8 - Toshiba Forums

Toshiba said:

F2 key method


1.Turn the computer on.
2.If you see an invitation to press the F2 key to enter Setup, do so.
3.The Setup (BIOS) screen will appear.



F12 key method


1.Turn the computer on.
2.If you see an invitation to press the F12 key, do so.
3.Boot options will appear along with the ability to enter Setup.
4.Using the arrow key, scroll down and select <Enter Setup>.
5.Press Enter.
6.The Setup (BIOS) screen will appear.

theog said:

How To: Enter the system BIOS or UEFI in Windows 8 - Toshiba Forums

Toshiba said:

F2 key method


1.Turn the computer on.
2.If you see an invitation to press the F2 key to enter Setup, do so.
3.The Setup (BIOS) screen will appear.



F12 key method


1.Turn the computer on.
2.If you see an invitation to press the F12 key, do so.
3.Boot options will appear along with the ability to enter Setup.
4.Using the arrow key, scroll down and select <Enter Setup>.
5.Press Enter.
6.The Setup (BIOS) screen will appear.

Its not an upgrade, it came with windows 8 preinstalled (look farther down that page). There is not option to push F2 or F12. The computer goes directly to the starting windows screen, the toshiba logo never comes up. It acts similarly to if it had been hibernated. I once got the boot menu options to show up by following the directions for a bios update (hold shift as the computer shuts down) but I was only able to get that to work once and it no longer worked after installing some drivers and updates.

Your Toshiba comes with one year full repair, replacement and tech support warranty which you should use to its fullest to familarize yourself with the new UEFI vs. BIOS modes.

I'd ask them how you can set CSM to recognize both UEFI and BIOS installs. There should be a way to do this, likely a sub-setting to CSM for Dual Mode as we've seen on others. One user yesterday had to create a BIOS Supervisor password to accesss those choices.

If you'll report back what you find it will help countless others during google searches.

gregrocker said:

Your Toshiba comes with one year full repair, replacement and tech support warranty which you should use to its fullest to familarize yourself with the new UEFI vs. BIOS modes.

I'd ask them how you can set CSM to recognize both UEFI and BIOS installs. There should be a way to do this, likely a sub-setting to CSM for Dual Mode as we've seen on others. One user yesterday had to create a BIOS Supervisor password to accesss those choices.

If you'll report back what you find it will help countless others during google searches.

I called Toshiba support last night. The person I spoke with didn't know anything about the CSM or UEFI issues and the call dropped before I could try to learn more. He was able to tell me how to get back into the bios menu though. He had me shut down the computer and remove the battery, that seems to be standard procedure with Toshiba so I don't know if it was important, then I had to hold f2 BEFORE pressing the power button and continue holding it when I pressed the power button.
I disabled the fast boot option to make the Toshiba logo screen come up each time but I still have to make sure to do either a restart or a full shutdown using command prompt in Win 8 or the computer acts like it was hibernating. Was that other user using a similar computer, I didn't have time to try setting up a password after I finally got into the bios.