Quad-Boot Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 8.1 question

@GoKay,

Thanks for the reply and sorry for the very late reply here. I was hoping that greg would be around but I saw.... tsk..

Anyway please do read replies below.

1- No, you can't boot them independently because they are on the same physical hard disk. If they were different hard disks, you could select the one to boot from during POST (Power On Self Test), with the quick boot menu of your BIOS.

2- Same as (1).

-- OK thanks. I thought I'd just do a start-up repair or so...

3- If you have boot menu with both Win8.1 and Win7 and can select fine at the moment, you can select which one is the default, I don't have EasyBCD installed though, but you can manage it with msconfig. You can also specify how long it waits for an input until it auto-selects the default. For example, I have Win7 default with another Win10 install, and only waits 5 seconds. It will be slower than a single OS if you are booting to the other OS than the default always as it will have to re-start.

You don't need EasyBCD installed anywhere, you won't need it after you set the boot menu. Can be un-installed later. If you can boot to Win7, you definitely don't need it on Win8.1.

-- Okay thanks.

4- I was once told you need to somehow install Recovery Environment while installing the OS, however, you can just use a spare USB flash drive to make the repair disk. You can even get a large USB stick and put both recovery disks on a single one with a multiboot program like Easy2Boot.

-- Now that's another question that I forgot to post. I was having issues with the creation of the USB restore drive. That wasthe reason I used the usb uefi install usb.

5- Hmm, not sure about this one, you shouldn't have issues though. And if you do, repair disk is good enough for fixing. Also, image your hard disks so you can just recall in a matter of minutes instead.

6- No idea what this is. Properly imaging your OS partitions negates the use of System Restore.

-- I do am relying on system image backup with Acronis True Image / Macrium Workstation in a usb multiboot created with YUMI. I was just trying to test System Restore as this was a first time Windows 8.1 usage in this particular desktop. The laptop I use at the office --well seldom because the top programs I use AutoCAD/Statistical software's (as mentioned previously in other post's) are not installed on it as the tech's encountered issues with it. So it's just MS Office and some unneeded stuff there.

When I started this endeavor this week I have made 4 image backups so I will not re-install and re-install. That provd to be very useful because I just recovered from a raw install.

7- This is the tutorial for running sfc in command line at boot - SFC /SCANNOW : Run in Command Prompt at Boot

-- Thanks I will check it out and print it.

Will be back here for follow-up.

Back here to report on the progress.

I noticed that the boot time of Windows 8.1 on a single hard disk with 2 partitions Windows 7 sp1 was taking longer to load. Disabled "Fast Boot" but the issue was the same. I also seem to notice that booting to the Windows 7 partition also took time where it was just around 12-16sec before.

So I made a system image backup and took another turn.

I deleted the partitions in the Disk 0 and from that unallocated disk I recovered just the 2 Window 7 sp1 partitions. I marked my main partition as primary and active. The other was just marked logical.

I then deleted all partitions in Disk 2 and formatted that one with Windows 8.1 Pro. (Removed/disconnected all hard drives when I did that as instructed. Formatted via a Rufus created USB of Windows 8.1 Pro). Formatting went okay and I was able to finish fine. Boot time from Disk 2 was fast maybe just about 10seconds.

After formatting and installing programs. I tested if I can boot to Disk 0 and Disk 2 via the BIOS boot arrangement. It was okay and there was no issue.

I then connected the other drive I use which was Disk 1. Kindly see image below.



I am updating the AV / Firewall etc., as of this writing but I wanted to ask some questions again.

Disk 2 has the Windows 8.1 Pro partiton and it's own System Reserved. There are mo OS installed on this hard drive (as this was mainly a data storage).

Windows 8.1 -- Primary
System Reserved -- Active / Primary

(1) I'd like to ask if I can mark the Windows 8.1 partition as Primary / Active instead of the System Reserved?

Or is it better to leave it at that?

(2) In Disk 0 where all the Windows 7 partition resides. I created a 350mb unallocated space for the System Reserved. But I did not recovered it. I just recovered the Windows 7 partitions that I need and marked the main partition WD320_X647sp1 as Primary/Active. For a moment there I thought it would not boot but as mentioned when I observed it wasn't an issue.

I deleted the Disk 0 via Acronis True Image>Tools>Add new disk. Then from there I recovered WD320_X647sp1 partition. Rebooted and used Minitool Partition Wizard to resize and alot 2 more partitions for WD320_A647sp1 and WD320_V647sp1.

Now I am no expert but I thought that the other partitions would not boot without the System Reserved. Can you guys explain it or teach me about it. How was this so. I got confused here.

(3) In Disk 0, will I need to mark WD320_A647sp1 as Primary or will I just leave it as Logical like WD320_V647sp1..?

(4) Kindly look at the disk arrangements.

Disk 0 -- Windows 7 partitions
Disk 1 -- System Image backup storage
Disk 2 -- Windows 8.1 partitions and 5 data storage partitions.

I am tempted to switch the SATA plugs so Disk 2 (which has the Windows 8.1 partitions and 5 data storage partitions) will be nearer to Disk 0. I was thinking that if both partitions with OS's in it will be side-to-side boot will improve....Is that thinking correct or wrong..?

What may be the benefits (if there will be) of placing the drives with OS's in it side-by-side(closer to each other)..?

Thank you again for you patience with me guys. Am really not a techy here so I am asking more questions so I can get a grasp of it and understand it better. Was hoping that greg would be around but please do take a stab on this topic. More info > more ideas > better understanding :)

I am not home to look at this closer, however:
- you don't need system reserved (it is for bitlocker app) for Windows to function/boot
But:
- Windows can't boot from a logical partition (Windows can be installed on logical but the boot files need to be on a primary partition, like system reserved)

So, what is the current situation?

Please include a recent Disk Management screenshot and attach it to SevenForums (I can see there is an attachment but it is possibly on imgur? it is banned here for whatever reason so I can't see the actual screenshot) - Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

Also, list everything you want to configure. (Partitions to get rid of, etc.)

How is the boot time now? Does it increase only when you attach that Disk 1 you mention?

@GokAy,

Currently busy at work and I have not been able to tinker with the Windows 8.1 partition actually. Imgur banned here? Hmmm...here is the image again below via Bildme. I was to use Tinypic but for some reason the captcha is annoying and it is more difficult to read now as compared to before. What are you using by the way?

Boot time increases when I attache the other disk with the Win 7 OS. Can be manageable but not as fast as when it's the Windows 8.1 disk only.

Allow me a couple of days to respond as we are currently in the thick of a customer audit of which I play a major role. I will be back here for more results and I do thank you for your patience and assistance.

It is banned here as in "banned in Turkey where I live" not in SevenForums.
Attach the screenshots to SevenForums instead of 3rd party sites (SF keeps the attachments forever). Use the paperclip icon.