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This tip is about the how to Dual Boot Windows 8 and Windows 7. So read this free guide, How to Dual Boot Windows 8 and Windows 7 step by step. If you have query related to same article you may contact us.

How to Dual Boot Windows 8 and Windows 7 – Guide

You are a little curious about this new Windows 8.1. But you’ve also been a little freaked out at the same time since you learned it was such a big tweak of good old Windows 7. Don’t worry, there’s a way to test the water while still using your tried and true software – per configuration up a dual boot system. If you install Windows 8.1 in this way, you will get a crisp, clean screen at system startup as to which OS version to use.

So how do you do it? It really isn’t much more difficult than a typical Windows installation, with a few preparatory steps before starting the actual setup. Follow the procedure below and you can switch between operating systems as you wish. A preliminary observation, however.

Dual boot Windows 7 with Windows 8 preinstalled

If your computer came preinstalled with Windows 8 and you want to run Windows 7 on the same computer, what can you do? Can you actually dual boot Windows 7 and Windows 8? But how can you boot Windows 7 with Windows 8 preinstalled? The next part will show you the answer.

If your computer is configured with more than one hard drive, we strongly recommend that you install different Windows operating systems on different hard drives as they do not affect each other and can simplify system administration.

Steps to make a partition for Windows 7

To install Windows 7 on the same disk, you must first create a partition for Windows. Therefore, to create a new partition, it may be necessary to shrink it to get the unallocated space and then create a new partition.

To shrink the partition and create a new one, you can use professional partition magic – MiniTool Partition Wizard. It can help you manage your partition and disk without data loss with its powerful features. For example, it allows you to convert MBR to GPT without data loss.

Therefore, to create a new partition, you can download or purchase MiniTool Partition Wizard from the following buttons. And now, let’s show you how to create a new partition for Windows 7 when Windows 8 is preinstalled.

Install the software and launch it to access its main interface. Then choose the partition you want to shrink and choose Move / Resize from the context menu to continue.

In the pop-up, drag the slide to choose the size you want to reduce and click OK to continue.

Then you can see the unallocated space and right-click to choose Create to continue.

Then you can set some partition properties like file system, partition label, drive letter and so on. And click OK to continue.

Finally, you can preview the changes and click Apply to confirm them.

Once you’ve created a partition for Windows 7, it’s time to move on to the next steps.

For successful dual boot of Windows 7 and Windows 8, you need to disable Fast Startup feature of Windows 8.

How to Install Windows 7 on Windows 8

As we know, most computers with Windows 8 preinstalled support UEFI BIOS and Legacy BIOS, but Windows boots via UEFI mode by default. To see if UEFI BIOS is supported or Legacy BIOS is enabled, enter BIOS. The detailed steps are: start the computer and press a key like F2, Esc and Delete before Windows loads. If you don’t know which key to press, try searching how to enter the BIOS plus the BIOS type or the computer’s Internet trademark. I press F2 to enter BIOS setup:

From the boot menu, we can clearly see that my computer is configured with UEFI boot, but Legacy Boot Option ROM is disabled. In this situation, we can only install Windows 7 64-bit on a GPT disk. Why? According to Microsoft, we know that boot from GPT disk must be in UEFI mode, but UEFI firmware does not support 32-bit system. Therefore, 32-bit Windows 7 cannot be installed on a GPT disk. Of course, when the legacy BIOS is supported, 32-bit Windows 7 can be installed on an MBR disk. Some motherboards may support UEFI BIOS and Legacy BIOS:

Disable Optimized OS Defaults if you have such an option. Enabling it will restore all settings to the state in which Windows 8 was installed. In this state, only Windows 8 can be installed.

Disable secure boot. It is a feature specially designed for virus or malware defense. Motherboards configured with secure boot are built with some public keys. Only programs or systems that have been signed by these public keys can be loaded. Most of the time, Windows 7 was not signed. As a result, it cannot be loaded if secure boot is enabled.

If you are going to install Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit) on an MBR disk, please enable the legacy BIOS in boot mode that was introduced.

Set the boot priority order. If you want to install Windows from a CD or DVD, create a CD-ROM as the first boot device. If installing from a USB flash drive, make the removable device the first boot device. On different types of motherboards, we must perform different operations. And you can get specific steps from the Internet. Here, we just create Phoenix SecureCore Tiano, for example: disable secure boot, enable legacy boot option ROM and make CD/DVD drive or removable drive as the first boot device.

Once all changes are made, we can press F10 to save the changes and exit the BIOS. At this point, if the installation disc is connected, Windows 7 will start installing. Otherwise, insert the disc and restart your computer.

Press any key to boot from the installation disc, choose a language and click Next to continue.

Then click Install Now button. Then accept the license terms, select custom install, then choose a partition or drive to install Windows 7.

When the installation process is complete, you can successfully install Windows 7 on Windows 8 that is preinstalled.

However, if you are installing Windows 7 on another hard drive which is the MBR disk, you will receive the following error message.

This is because Windows can only be installed on GPT disk in UEFI mode, but you plan to install Windows 7 on an MBR disk. At this point, the best solution is to convert the destination disk to GPT. So let’s show you how to convert MBR into GPT without data loss. MiniTool Partition Wizard can help you convert MBR to GPT without data loss.

Launch the software to enter its main interface. Select the MBR disk and choose Convert MBR disk to GPT disk to continue.

You can preview the change and click Apply to continue.

After successfully converting MBR disk to GPT disk without data loss, you can continue to install Windows 7 64-bit with Windows 8 preinstalled.

Once the partition that will install Windows 7 is decided, Windows will start to install automatically. It may restart several times, so please wait patiently. However, after installing Windows 7, we may find that genuine Windows 8 cannot boot normally, especially when they are installed on the same hard drive, and the biggest reason could be that Windows 7 startup files overwrite Windows 8.

Windows 8 dual boot with Windows 7 preinstalled

Install Windows 8 and Windows 7 on the same disk

If you want Windows 8 and Windows 7 on the same disk, you need to check the Windows 8 version, partition style (MBR or GPT), and boot mode.

As for dual booting Windows 8 with Windows 7 preinstalled, you need to create a new partition first. So you can refer to the part above to create a new partition. However, there is one thing you need to know. If your Windows 7 computer only uses UEFI mode, you can only install 64-bit Windows.

Install Windows 8 and Windows 7 on different disks

If you want to install Windows 8 on a different hard drive, things are generally easier. However, if you want to install Windows 7 and Windows 8 on different disks, and your computer uses only the legacy BIOS boot mode, and the disk you want to install Windows 8 on is GPT, you will not successfully install the Windows 8 on GPT disk.

So, to solve this situation, you can choose to convert GPT disk to MBR disk without data loss. So you can use the MiniTool Partition Wizard. After converting the GPT disk to MBR disk, you can start installing Windows 8 on the computer with Windows 7 preinstalled. After installing Windows 8, you need to change the BIOS setting if you want to boot your computer from Windows 8.

Final note

I hope you like the guide How to Dual Boot Windows 8 and Windows 7. In case if you have any query regards this article you may ask us. Also, please share your love by sharing this article with your friends.

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