How to Dual Boot Windows 7 and Windows 8

This guide will show you how to configure a dual boot for Windows 7 and Windows 8

Microsoft has recently released a developer version, for preview, of their latest and upcoming Windows 8. Windows 8 is not like any other operating system and is different from its predecessors since Windows 95.

Window 8 has a whole new look and feel. First time users of Window 8 will surely adjust (again) to this new operating system. since it’s just a developer version and not the final release, you might want to install Windows 8 in a separate drive or partition.

But since this is just a temporary OS and a preview of Windows 8, you might want to keep your Windows 7. A dual boot setup is the right solution. If you have done dual boot setup before, this might not be hard and new to you.

But if you are still unsure, here’s how. So how do we configure a dual boot setup for Windows 7 and Windows 8?

Before we start, let me just remind you that I will not be responsible for any data lose or damage resulting to setting up a dual boot for Windows 7 and Windows 8. Do this at your own risk. It is strongly recommended that you have backup everything before doing this.

Steps in how to dual boot Windows 7 and Windows 8:
1. Create a new partition (a logical drive in the same HDD) or better yet another psychical drive to install Window 8.

2. If you are going to create a new partition is the same drive with your Windows 7 and other files, better backup everything, as you are going to reformat the entire drive. Newer version of partition magic can create a partition for you without the need to reformat the whole drive.

WARNING: Reformatting and Partitioning of drives can and will result to lose of data. Meaning your data will be deleted! Proceed with caution.

3. Once your drive is ready, allocate at least 20GB of hard drive space for Windows 8. Much better if you are installing Windows 8 in a separate and blank physical drive. No partition would be needed then.

4. Download the Windows 8 Developer Preview ISO and burn it into a DVD. If you don’t have a copy of the Windows Developer Preview for Windows 8, you can download the ISO here.

5. After burning the ISO into a DVD, make sure that the DVD installer is inserted in the DVD drive, restart your computer and choose to boot from DVD. Oh, by the way make sure that your DVD drive is the first one to boot and not your hard drive. Otherwise it will bypass the DVD installer.

6. Install the Window 8 just like installing Windows 7. This should be familiar to you. Choose “Install Now” and select “Custom”. Then just select the drive that you allocated for Windows 8.

7. Then proceed by pressing the “Next” button. The installer will do its stuff and your computer should now reboot into Windows 8.

8. After you have successfully installed Windows 8, you will now boot into Windows 8 and you will be ask to choose which operating system would be your default OS.

There you have it. You can now freely choose from Windows 7 or Windows 8 every time your computer boots. For now, just enjoy playing around with Windows 8. Not much to do here since this is not the official release.