Win 7 & Win 8 On laptop

Win 7 is the C: bootable now.
i have the install disks for Win 8.1 that came with the laptop.

I have a 60G partition set aside for Win 8.1 and a larger data
partition. Win 7 is on its own partition.

What is the best way to get Win 8.1 on the laptop and preserve Win 7?
i.e. Have the default Win 7 and the alternate Win 8.1?

I have heard that I could do a virtual disk and load Win 8.1 there.
Is that the best way? Where can I find a how-to?
If not, where can I find a how-to for a different or preferred way to
do what i want?

The laptop has a SSD so loading from it is fast.
It has a touch screen so Win 8.1 will not feel lonely.

Now here is the stickler: someplace i read that i have to adjust the
BIOS to get Win 8.1 working and then readjust the BIOS when I switch
back to Win 7. What is that all about?



--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

OldGuy wrote:
Win 7 is the C: bootable now.
i have the install disks for Win 8.1 that came with the laptop.

I have a 60G partition set aside for Win 8.1 and a larger data
partition. Win 7 is on its own partition.

What is the best way to get Win 8.1 on the laptop and preserve Win 7?
i.e. Have the default Win 7 and the alternate Win 8.1?

I have heard that I could do a virtual disk and load Win 8.1 there.
Is that the best way? Where can I find a how-to?
If not, where can I find a how-to for a different or preferred way to do
what i want?

The laptop has a SSD so loading from it is fast.
It has a touch screen so Win 8.1 will not feel lonely.

Now here is the stickler: someplace i read that i have to adjust the
BIOS to get Win 8.1 working and then readjust the BIOS when I switch
back to Win 7. What is that all about?

Doing 8.1 in a VM, wouldn't be that much fun. My experience
is: a swipe cannot be reliably detected on the right edge
of the VM window. Other than that, it might work in VirtualBox.
I think I have a screen shot of that here.

"8 on 8"
http://imageshack.us/a/img543/2181/x64.gif

Stick with a regular install.

*******

First step, is you do a backup, so you're prepared
if the outcome is not what you expected.

On an MBR disk (versus GPT), you have room for
four primary partitions or three primary partitions
and an extended partition. Inside the extended you can have
logical partitions. I expect Win8.1 could run within a
logical partition, because SYSTEM RESERVED contains
the boot files and has the boot flag set on it.

You're installing the newest OS last, which is the
preferred order. The boot menu will be updated
automatically for you, to show two OSes. If the SYSTEM RESERVED
files need to be changed, they'll be changed. So you've got
automation operating in your favor.

Now if later, you start asking silly questions like "can I
now remove Windows 7" or "can I now remove Windows 8",
well the answer is "probably". You should be able to zap
one of the C: drives, without upsetting SYSTEM RESERVED.
So even that, probably won't mess up.

It sounds like you have a good idea how to do it,
create an NTFS partition, empty, as something for the
installer to see.

Now, your other question was about booting. I would hope
that a multi-boot install, would continue to use the
BIOS boot method already evident. If your BIOS is a legacy
BIOS or is a UEFI with legacy boot module, then it's booting
the old way already. If it is UEFI and not set to legacy, and
perhaps you have a TPM, I suppose it could be set up for
trusted boot. But that sounds more like a factory option,
than something mere mortals do in the comfort of their
homes. So whatever boot mode it's in, I'm betting
that's good enough and leave it alone.

In other words, just *do it*, and get back to us
later with the sad stories ("I can't restore from
my backup") :-)

I've messed around with my laptop. But, I did two backups.
One backup, is done with "dd.exe" port, and is a sector
by sector transfer. I have multiple, known working methods
to restore from that. I've done these many times. I'm confident
that one works. Then, for convenience (because it's faster),
I've also done System Image under Windows 7 for that laptop.
I've restored from that one once, after bricking the machine.
(The automated repair tried three times to repair and failed.)
Now, if System Image had not restored, I could go back to my
other backup. But, it would be an older backup, and I'd have
to hang my head in shame :-)

As long as you're confident your backup strategy is working,
I don't see a reason to restrain yourself.

As a doctor would say "it's an excellent candidate for surgery".

Since I believe you're now on the SSD, and no longer using
the original drive, I no longer have to ask questions about
recovery partitions and the like. I'm guessing your SSD
has SYSTEM RESERVED, C:, DATA, and one BLANK. And Windows
8.1 is going into that BLANK. After you're finished, for
extra points, go back into Disk Management, and set
the label on each OS drive, to things like "Win7" and "Win81".
That's to make it easier later.

Have fun,
Paul

On 02/07/2014 11:27 AM, Paul wrote:
OldGuy wrote:
Win 7 is the C: bootable now.
i have the install disks for Win 8.1 that came with the laptop.

I have a 60G partition set aside for Win 8.1 and a larger data
partition. Win 7 is on its own partition.

What is the best way to get Win 8.1 on the laptop and preserve Win 7?
i.e. Have the default Win 7 and the alternate Win 8.1?
X


snip


Win7 and Win8 are very close to being the identical operating system
with the exception of course that Win8 can make use of the touch screen.


Since Win8 can be toggled between "Modern" and "Classic"
I don't see the point of even having Win7 on the machine.


I'd just wipe the drive from the context of the Win8 installer and go
with Win8 only.

On Fri, 07 Feb 2014 11:41:46 -0600, philo* wrote:


Win7 and Win8 are very close to being the identical operating system
with the exception of course that Win8 can make use of the touch screen.


And the missing Start Orb and Start Menu on Windows 8.


Since Win8 can be toggled between "Modern" and "Classic"
I don't see the point of even having Win7 on the machine.



A strong ditto!

On 2/7/2014 11:41 AM, philo wrote:
On 02/07/2014 11:27 AM, Paul wrote:
OldGuy wrote:
Win 7 is the C: bootable now.
i have the install disks for Win 8.1 that came with the laptop.

I have a 60G partition set aside for Win 8.1 and a larger data
partition. Win 7 is on its own partition.

What is the best way to get Win 8.1 on the laptop and preserve Win 7?
i.e. Have the default Win 7 and the alternate Win 8.1?
X

snip

Win7 and Win8 are very close to being the identical operating system
with the exception of course that Win8 can make use of the touch screen.

Since Win8 can be toggled between "Modern" and "Classic"
I don't see the point of even having Win7 on the machine.

I'd just wipe the drive from the context of the Win8 installer and go
with Win8 only.

Actually touch screen support is found in the following:

Windows XP Tablet Edition
Vista Business
Windows 7 (all editions)
Windows 8 (all editions)

Also that is a good point, Windows 8.1 has everything that Windows 7
does plus more. The only exception is Windows 7 has the Media Center and
Windows 8.1 it is available for $9.95 extra.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v24.3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo T7400 2.16 GHz - 4GB - Windows 7 Home SP1

On 02/07/2014 12:09 PM, BillW50 wrote:


snip

Also that is a good point, Windows 8.1 has everything that Windows 7
does plus more. The only exception is Windows 7 has the Media Center and
Windows 8.1 it is available for $9.95 extra.



Does Win8 Pro have Media Center?


(Not an issue with me as I would not need it)

On 2/7/2014 12:26 PM, philo wrote:
On 02/07/2014 12:09 PM, BillW50 wrote:


snip

Also that is a good point, Windows 8.1 has everything that Windows 7
does plus more. The only exception is Windows 7 has the Media Center and
Windows 8.1 it is available for $9.95 extra.

Does Win8 Pro have Media Center?

(Not an issue with me as I would not need it)

No, it cost extra. I don't use the Media Center very much. It is fun to
play with a TV tuner though. But I generally use the AVerMedia software
instead most of the time.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v24.3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo T7400 2.16 GHz - 4GB - Windows 7 Home SP1

A lot to take in.

Right now I have on SSD
C: primary Win 7
D: DVD
E: primary - for Win 8.1
F: primary Data
hidden: Recovery (logical if I remember correctly)

MBR since I am limited to four primary.

So I need to delete E: so I have unallocated space?

I was unable to create a Repair CD.
I am relying on
EaseUS Backup of System Image
to F: folder
Macrium Reflect Free (MRF) System Image
to F: folder
I also have a very fast USB Pen that I can put a system image on.

EaseUS seems not to have a bootable recovery disk. At least I cannot
find it. I purchases the full version of EaseUS Partition and Backup.
Partition does have a bootable disk for working partitions.

MRF does and I have a Win PE bootable recovery disk made.

Since no Win repair disk or install disks, then Win System backup is of
little value ???



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On 2/7/2014 11:41 AM, philo wrote:

Actually touch screen support is found in the following:

Windows XP Tablet Edition
Vista Business
Windows 7 (all editions)
Windows 8 (all editions)

Also that is a good point, Windows 8.1 has everything that Windows 7 does
plus more. The only exception is Windows 7 has the Media Center and Windows
8.1 it is available for $9.95 extra.

Two reasons for both:
1) Media Center. when i go out of town i like to bring a movie along.
2) I like to write little programs and want to see if both run ok on
Win 7 and Win 8.1
3) i like the challenge to keep busy.
OK, so three reasons.



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On 02/07/2014 12:39 PM, OldGuy wrote:

Two reasons for both:
1) Media Center. when i go out of town i like to bring a movie along.
2) I like to write little programs and want to see if both run ok on Win
7 and Win 8.1
3) i like the challenge to keep busy.
OK, so three reasons.




There are plenty of ways to watch a movie without Media Center...such as
the free application, VLC


However if you want both...just boot with your Win8 DVD and install Win8
utilizing the 60 gig partition you have set aside.



This is an old article but should give you the idea:
http://lifehacker.com/5840387/how-to...8-side-by-side

OldGuy wrote:
A lot to take in.

Right now I have on SSD
C: primary Win 7
D: DVD
E: primary - for Win 8.1
F: primary Data
hidden: Recovery (logical if I remember correctly)

MBR since I am limited to four primary.

So I need to delete E: so I have unallocated space?

I was unable to create a Repair CD.
I am relying on
EaseUS Backup of System Image
to F: folder
Macrium Reflect Free (MRF) System Image
to F: folder
I also have a very fast USB Pen that I can put a system image on.

EaseUS seems not to have a bootable recovery disk. At least I cannot
find it. I purchases the full version of EaseUS Partition and Backup.
Partition does have a bootable disk for working partitions.

MRF does and I have a Win PE bootable recovery disk made.

Since no Win repair disk or install disks, then Win System backup is of
little value ???


This picture shows "Create a System Repair Disc".

http://www.sevenforums.com/attachmen...ckup-step1.jpg

( http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...ge-backup.html )

And that's for booting the computer, when the hard drive
is dead, and you're restoring from an external data drive.

On OEM computers, sometimes that control panel is damaged by
the installation of a provided third party backup program.
That's what happened on my Acer laptop. Since doing a clean
install from a regular DVD, it's all back to normal now.

*******

The Easeus page here, shows WinPE boot disc for the pay versions.
I guess the idea is, to leave you high and dry, the day your
hard drive dies, and you made the backup with the free version.

http://www.easeus.com/backup-software/

Paul

On 2/7/2014 12:39 PM, OldGuy wrote:
On 2/7/2014 11:41 AM, philo wrote:

Actually touch screen support is found in the following:

Windows XP Tablet Edition
Vista Business
Windows 7 (all editions)
Windows 8 (all editions)

Also that is a good point, Windows 8.1 has everything that Windows 7
does plus more. The only exception is Windows 7 has the Media Center
and Windows 8.1 it is available for $9.95 extra.

Two reasons for both:
1) Media Center. when i go out of town i like to bring a movie along.
2) I like to write little programs and want to see if both run ok on Win
7 and Win 8.1
3) i like the challenge to keep busy.
OK, so three reasons.

I have both Windows 7 and Windows 8 on this laptop. But I used a totally
different method. One drive has Windows 7 and another drive has Windows
8. It takes about 2 seconds to swap the drives. I purchased extra drive
carriers so swapping drives is really easy and fast.

Some have reported that Windows 8 likes to mess around with the Windows
7 partition. I forget the details, but Paul knows more about this than I
do. But I seem to recall when you boot up Windows 7, the dirty flag is
set and runs chkdsk before Windows can boot up. The way that I do it,
this isn't a problem.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v24.3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo T7400 2.16 GHz - 4GB - Windows 7 Home SP1

OldGuy said on 2/7/2014 1:36 PM:
A lot to take in.

Right now I have on SSD
C: primary Win 7
D: DVD
E: primary - for Win 8.1
F: primary Data
hidden: Recovery (logical if I remember correctly)

MBR since I am limited to four primary.

So I need to delete E: so I have unallocated space?

I was unable to create a Repair CD.
I am relying on
EaseUS Backup of System Image
to F: folder
Macrium Reflect Free (MRF) System Image
to F: folder
I also have a very fast USB Pen that I can put a system image on.

EaseUS seems not to have a bootable recovery disk. At least I cannot
find it. I purchases the full version of EaseUS Partition and Backup.
Partition does have a bootable disk for working partitions.

MRF does and I have a Win PE bootable recovery disk made.

Since no Win repair disk or install disks, then Win System backup is of
little value ???



--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

Well, you bought EaseUS, but the one I had came with it and had an
option to make a boot recovery cd.

Acronis True Image 2014 also is 15 day free trial and unless you spend
that much time, you can use it to make a full HD backup of everything
(it will be a bit large) and then if ANYTHING goes wrong set it back to
square one.

I also favor the blow away the disk and win7 and reload.

But if you want to play, I found this tool
http://www.partitionwizard.com/
works great to move partitions around on the disk. You can resize or
move. I prefer to use the shrink function of the OS however. Anytime
I can use native tools seems more appropriate.

I have 7 partitions on my C: laptop and I hopped one over another and it
did it. Just note its not a 10 second job, if you move a partition it
has to make it then copy all the data to the new spot. And I wouldn't
try to make it too complicated. Take it in steps. Just FYI.

On 2/07/2014, philo* posted:
On 02/07/2014 12:09 PM, BillW50 wrote:


snip

Also that is a good point, Windows 8.1 has everything that Windows
7
does plus more. The only exception is Windows 7 has the Media
Center and
Windows 8.1 it is available for $9.95 extra.



Does Win8 Pro have Media Center?


(Not an issue with me as I would not need it)

As BillW50 says, it's an extra cost option, but IIRC, it is only
available for W8 Pro, not the other editions.

Yes, Wikipedia agrees with me:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_8_editions

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On Fri, 07 Feb 2014 10:36:11 -0800, OldGuy wrote:

EaseUS seems not to have a bootable recovery disk. At least I cannot
find it. I purchases the full version of EaseUS Partition and Backup.
Partition does have a bootable disk for working partitions.

I have two EaseUS products installed and each has an option to create
a bootable recovery disk.

EaseUS Partition Master Pro Edition - Click the "Tool" menu and select
"Create bootable disk"

EaseUS ToDo Backup Workstation - Click the "Tools" menu and select
"Create emergency disk".

I would expect something similar in the package that you bought.