How do I dual boot windows 8 safely on an existing windows 7 install?

[Tomha]

I have a install of Windows 7 on my computer which I am not willing to remove and reinstall. I would like to try out the Windows 8 developer trials, it seems logical given my situation to dual boot, allowing me to keep my current install and test Windows 8 simultaneously. I have a spare 80gb hard drive I could use, or I could create a partition on one of my existing hard drives, but a partition is much less ideal. I have tried dual booting linux on the hard drive before, but the linux drive over rode my dual boot set up (I obviously did something wrong), and I could only boot to linux.

How can I safely dual boot Windows 8 on this hard drive (or a partition if necessary), while keeping my Windows 7 install and data in-tact? Just to let you know I have over a TB of data spread over 2 drives but only 2 TB of hard drive space, so I can't back up a lot of my data, just a heads up.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[seavixen32]

Hello Tom.

Please check this tutorial by our resident expert, Brink: Dual Boot Installation - Windows 8 and Windows 7 or Vista - Windows 8 Forums

As you already have Windows 7 installed, you should find it straightforward.

I dual-booted the two on separate partitions on the same hard drive without any problems whatsoever.

 

[Tomha]

Oh, perhaps I should have looked just a bit harder Sorry. Ill let you know how it goes.

 

[whs]

Safest is to install it on your spare drive - but disconnect your main drive whilst you are doing it. Then you can switch with the BIOS boot sequence.