Considering a Duel Boot System: Need Advice/Suggestions

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  1. Posts : 56
    Windows 8
       #1

    Considering a Duel Boot System: Need Advice/Suggestions


    Hopefully this is the best forum category for my query.

    I have a computer with a clean install of an OEM Windows 8.1
    By the looks of Windows 8, I will have to return to college for a semester on Using Windows.
    Thus, I am considering a dual boot system with Windows 7 & Windows 8. Windows 7 for the main OS and Windows 8 to learn how to use and eventually migrate to.

    This leads me to many questions:

    1) Can Windows 8 do everything Windows 7 can?
    2) Will all or most of the windows 7 software be compatible with Windows 8?

    3) If a dual boot system is the path I should follow should I install 7 before 8?
    4) I have a 128GB SSD I plan to use. I plan to install the OS's and programs to this drive and use
    a 1TB mechanica HDD for data. I want to keep most of the data writes to the mechanical HDD and thus was considering using this for the pagefile, despite the slower access. I will have 32GB DDR3 RAM with a 3.9GHz Quad-core processor.

    5) Is there a step-by-step guide for installing such a dual-boot system?

    Suggestions, comments, help!
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  2. Posts : 19,383
    Windows 10 Pro x64 ; Xubuntu x64
       #2

    dTonic said:
    Can Windows 8 do everything Windows 7 can?
    Yes - it also boots up and shuts down quicker.

    dTonic said:
    Will all or most of the windows 7 software be compatible with Windows 8?
    Yes. I've yet to find something that runs on 7, and not on 8.

    dTonic said:
    If a dual boot system is the path I should follow should I install 7 before 8?
    Thats what I did,

    dTonic said:
    Is there a step-by-step guide for installing such a dual-boot system?
    There is - its the same one I followed to have my 7/8 dual boot. Its dead easy

    Here you go:
    Dual Boot Installation - Windows 8 and Windows 7 or Vista

    If you have trouble getting used to the look and feel of 8, try this:
    Start Menu - Restore in Windows 8
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  3. mjf
    Posts : 5,969
    Windows 7x64 Home Premium SP1
       #3

    A number of third party software versions accredited to run under Windows 7 are not accredited for Windows 8 (eg. versions of Adobe Photoshop software etc.).

    Most members of this forum consider Windows 8 substandard to Windows 7. If you have a Windows 7 install capability I suggest you stick with that. Why dual boot to an inferior OS (ie. W8).
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 56
    Windows 8
    Thread Starter
       #4

    mjf said:
    A number of third party software versions accredited to run under Windows 7 are not accredited for Windows 8 (eg. versions of Adobe Photoshop software etc.).

    Most members of this forum consider Windows 8 substandard to Windows 7. If you have a Windows 7 install capability I suggest you stick with that. Why dual boot to an inferior OS (ie. W8).
    Most members of "this" (windows 7 forum) consider... sounds a bit biased...

    Non-the-less, Windows 8 and it's new interface may be the future OS's and the user interface. Learning this may be a necessity.

    Of course, coming from an XP user I really was looking forward to skipping VISTA to 7, and 8 looks like a perpetual bing advertisement. The question is, is 8 another vista, and 9 the next big deal? Seems like Microsoft is pumping out OS's life Firefox pumps out versions of their browser.
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  5. mjf
    Posts : 5,969
    Windows 7x64 Home Premium SP1
       #5

    Bias always exists but you only have to look at broader comment outside of this forum.
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  6. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #6

    If I were you, I would run Windows 7 in virtual. Have a look at this demo I made how to run 7 and 8 side by side. Mine is with 7 as host but it works just as well with 8 as host and 7 as guest.

      My Computer


  7. Posts : 56
    Windows 8
    Thread Starter
       #7

    whs said:
    If I were you, I would run Windows 7 in virtual. Have a look at this demo I made how to run 7 and 8 side by side. Mine is with 7 as host but it works just as well with 8 as host and 7 as guest.

    I have also been flirting around with that idea as well, and I just may do this. I want to have 7 as the primary system and 8 as the secondary. Does this equate to 7 at Host and 8 As Guest?

    One could also have XP as a guest as well, correct?
      My Computer


  8. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #8

    Does this equate to 7 at Host and 8 As Guest?

    One could also have XP as a guest as well, correct?
    That is correct. Any Windows or Linux system can be host or guest.

    In your case you have a little problem though since the PC came with Windows 8. You may have to buy a new license to run under VMware because VMware is considered like another real PC. I have never transferred an existing Windows 8 license to VMware so I don't know how that would play out.

    Installing Windows 7 on a UEFI system with secure boot needs also special considerations. There are tutorials here that cover the subject.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 56
    Windows 8
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Now it's getting a bit more complicated. In other words, Microsoft licensing issues are a nightmare. For example: I just build a system for my mother and installed a retail version of Windows 7 on her computer. Now, less than 3 months later the mobo is shot, (which is apparently what the licence is tied to). Putting a new mobo in the computer would require a new license...according to Microsoft. But in my opinion, not over my dead body... Thus if I have Win 8 on the system I feel I should be able to put it on the system any way I see fit.

    Perhaps I should use the "anytime downgrade" option and just get Windows 7!!! I know this does not exist.
      My Computer


  10. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #10

    Putting a new mobo in the computer would require a new license...according to Microsoft
    Not with a retail version. A retail version is transferrable but can only be installed on 1 system at a time.

    That is different with your Windows 8 licanse that came with the PC. That is an OEM license and cannot be transferred to another system - real or virtual. But one can always try. Sometimes these things work for strange reasons.
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