dual boot

[bassfisher6522]

I now have windows 8 pro and I'm thinking of dual booting again. My question is I have a free drive, completely empty, can I install 8 Pro on that drive and still be able to switch between what OS I want to run at start up? Will I be able to switch from one OS to the other once an OS is booted up evern though they are on separate drives?

The reason I'm hesitant about installing 8 is that there are no chipset drivers or audio drivers for windows 8 with my current mobo. Which was causing me some problems with the dual boot up with the 8 beta.

 

[theog]

The reason I'm hesitant about installing 8 is that there are no chipset drivers or audio drivers for windows 8 with my current mobo. Which was causing me some problems with the dual boot up with the 8 beta.

As you have drivers problems, I will say NO.

I would look at hardware upgrades first.

 

[D3LL]

I would agree with theog. Don't install it if you know you don't have a few compatible drivers. Keep searching around for some or do some upgrades to your computer.

 

[LittleJay]

My question is I have a free drive, completely empty, can I install 8 Pro on that drive and still be able to switch between what OS I want to run at start up?

My Asus board has a bios boot menu that I access by pressing the f8 key during the bios post screen. From that menu I have the option to boot from either drive, or even a USB flash drive.

Will I be able to switch from one OS to the other once an OS is booted up evern though they are on separate drives?

A restart is required whenever I want to switch from one OS to the other.

The reason I'm hesitant about installing 8 is that there are no chipset drivers or audio drivers for windows 8 with my current mobo. Which was causing me some problems with the dual boot up with the 8 beta.

My question would be, is it worth the effort to install Windows 8 if the proper drivers aren't available? I would do the necessary hardware upgrades first, if it was my PC.

 

[bassfisher6522]

Thanks guys....for confirming my situation.

 

[gregrocker]

You can try it since there are more drivers included in each iteration of the OS. By installing it to another HD with the other HD unplugged it's kept independent and can easily be deleted.

If you have issues check for the latest Win7 or Vista chipset to try it. But Win8 like Win7 is mostly driver complete in the installer and after doing all Windows Updates after enabling Automatically deliver drivers via Windows Update (Step 3)

 

[bassfisher6522]

OK I went for it...found a chipset driver from nivida that said it would work with 8. I installed 8 on a separate drive, however I left the drive with 7 installed plugged in. It went through the motions and choose custom setup selected empty drive and all good to go. Now when I boot up I'm given a choice of which OS I want to boot up like I wanted. So far a half day spent updating drivers, MS updates and no ill effects to report.

@ Greg; even though I didn't unplug drive with 7 installed, and set 8 up like I have, does this mean I won't be able to delete it?

 

[gregrocker]

When installed last Win8 merely updates the Win7 boot files if it isn't disconnected. So if you look in Disk Mgmt you'll likely see only the Win7 System Reserved or C partition marked System Active meaning it contains the boot files for both OS's.

To remove Win7 you would mark Win8 partition Active then from it's DVD or Repair CD run Startup Repair up to 3 separates times with reboots until it holds the System Active flags and boots on its own.