Dual Boot Windows 7 And Windows 8 On A Computer

Friends this post intends to describe the procedure of dual booting with Windows 7 and Windows 8 . The information compiled here is simple and correct until date . It must be noted that failure or success of the information entirely depends on how correctly you follow it . This will also save you from facing problems and eventually contacting Microsoft technical support for help .
Since the Windows 8  has arrived in the market , users have been looking for ways to try it out on their existing Windows 7 computer . Since the installation of an operating system  is a thin-skinned part , it should be done in the right manner . Despite following everything right from the beginning , you may stumble upon common Windows 7 problems . Don't worry ! The below mentioned step-by-step guide will help you perform the desired task on your own . This will certainly sideline the need of calling up Microsoft technical help and save you time .
Follow These Instructions :
Download the Microsoft Windows 8 Developer Preview from the official website of Microsoft . When prompted , save the file to a location in the computer where it is conveniently accessible from and then burn it to a DVD or an ISO file . You can also install the Preview using a USB flashdrive . Use the built-in Windows 7 USBDVD Download Tool to do so .
Back up all your data to an external drive and keep it to a safe place . Configure your computer's BIOS to boot from any of the drives viz . DVDCD-ROM or USB . Before you begin , you should know that Win8 would take about 7 .5GB of space for installation . Therefore , you would need about 20GB of free space on your hard disk drive .

It is time to repartition the hard drive in Windows 7 . Click on the Start menu , navigate to Computer , right click on it and click on Manage . Scroll down to click on Disk Management in the Windows Management window . On the right hand side , it will show all the drives currently listed in your computer .

Select the drive that you want to shrink , right click on it and choose Shrink Volume . When a dialog box appears showing the total and available space on the disk , enter the amount that needs to be shrunk . Click on the Shrink button to initiate the shrinking . Wait for the procedure to finish . When completed , right click on the Unallocated space and select New Simple Volume from the menu .

This will open up the New Simple Volume Wizard . Click on the Next button , assign a new letter to the drive from the dropdown menu and again click on Next . Click to select Format this volume , leave the File system option to NTFS and Allocation unit size to Default . Enter a name for recognizing ( like Win8 ) in the Volume Label box and then click on the Next button . Click on the Finish button to begin the formatting procedure . Wait until completed . When finished , you will see your new drive listed in the existing list .

Instead of repartitioning , you can simply make a VHD ( Virtual Hard Drive ) to install Windows 8 therein . Go to the Windows Management window, click on Disk Management , highlight the Action tab and then select Create VHD from the dropdown menu . Press the Browse button and map to a location in Windows directory where you desire to save the newly created VHD . Leave the Dynamically expanding option checked . Assign a name in the File name box and then click on the Save button . Reformat the newly created drive.

Now that you are done repartitioning or creating a VHD as per your choice , it is time to begin with the Win8 installation . Insert your DVD into the drive or plug a USB flashdrive and choose to reboot your computer . When prompted , hit any key on the keyboard to select to boot from a DVDCD or as desired .

When the Install Windows screen appears , select your Language , time & currency format , and Keyboard or input method and hit the Next button . Hit the Install Now button to proceed .

Wait until you see another window with installation options . Click on the Custom ( advanced ) option and it will show you the disk partitioning option . Carefully click on the partition that you created in previous steps ( see above ) and click on Next . This will initialize the installation process . Wait for it to complete . When done , follow the options to customize your Windows . When finished , your computer will reboot several
times ( may by more than once ) and will every time welcome you with Windows 8 Welcome screen . There will also be a graphical bootloader  that will let you select Windows 7 or Windows 8 to boot from .
If you want to keep your previous option of booting from Windows 7 , the click on the option below Change defaults or choose other options on the Choose an Operating System screen . It will take you to the Change options window . Click on Choose the default operating system option and then click on Windows 7 option . You can further customize your features like timer etc . Now that you have both the Windows installed on your computer.