How to dual boot Windows 8 consumer preview with Windows 7

When it comes to installing Windows 8 Consumer Preview on your PC you have two options:

1) Upgrade your existing version of Windows to Windows 8 Consumer Preview

2) Install Windows 8 Consumer Preview alongside your existing version of Windows

This article will focus on the second option and is written with the assumption that you already have Windows 7 or Vista installed. Our friend John has also created a video detailing the dual boot-

You can also follow the steps written below-

There are 3 stages:

1) Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview

2) Partition Hard Disk

3) Install Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Stage 1 – Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview

You are going to need to download the ISO image file of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

This can be downloaded here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-8/iso

There are two different images, 32 bit and 64 bit. To find out which version you need go to: “Start” -> Right Hand Click “Computer” -> “Properties”

Under the “System type” information you will see either 32 bit or 64 bit.

From the download page you will also need to make a note of the product key (you will need this later).

Stage 2 – Partition Hard Disk

Before proceeding with this stage, it is highly recommended that you backup your data.

You need to open “Create and format hard disk partitions” (search for it in the start menu).

Once opened, you will see your existing hard drive partitions. You will see you have the system reserved partition (this may be hidden) and the main partition where your existing version of Windows is installed. The first part of partitioning your hard drive is to shrink your existing Windows partition. Before you proceed you will need to work out which partition Windows is already installed on. In most cases this will be the drive labelled “C” and it is easy to determine by looking at the size. Right hand click on the partition and click ‘Shrink Volume’. After “querying the shrink space” you can enter the amount of space you wish to shrink. The minimum amount of space Windows 8 Consumer Preview requires is 16GB. I would recommend you use at least 32GB. You will need to enter the value in megabytes so multiple the number of gigabytes by 1024.

Once entered click shrink. This can often take a long while and it is important not to quit the program or shut down your computer during this process. The new unallocated space will be seen when this is completed.

To create the new partition from this unallocated space, right hand click on it and select ‘New Simple Volume’. Click ‘next’ three times. On the format partition screen enter the name of the new volume. (Call it something easy to remember e.g. “Windows 8”). Click next again and then finish.

You can check this has worked by looking for the new drive in “My Computer”.

To install the preview you will need either a DVD or USB Stick capable of holding the image (at least 4GB).

Once the ISO file has downloaded you need to download and install the “Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool” http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool

Once installed open the program and browse to select the downloaded image. Click ‘next’ and then select whether you are using a DVD or USB device. (If you are using a USB device it will be formatted and all existing data on it will be lost.) Next, select the drive and once the image has been copied across you are ready to move onto stage 3.

Stage 3 – Installing Windows 8 Consumer Preview

You need to restart your computer and boot from the DVD or USB stick. The method of doing this varies between computers/manufacturers. If you are not sure how to change the boot priority, look at the options available as soon as the computer starts up. Alternatively visit your manufacturer’s website for instructions. Once the setup has loaded, fill out the first screen with your country and keyboard settings. Click ‘next’ and then ‘Install Now’. On the next screen enter your product key (this was on the download page).

Click ‘next’ and then tick the box to confirm that you have read the terms and conditions. Then click “Custom Install – Advanced” and from the next window select the partition that you made earlier. DOUBLE CHECK YOU HAVE THE CORRECT PARTITION SELECTED. Then click ‘next’. The computer will install Windows 8 Consumer Preview and restart several times (this could take some time). You are then presented with a list of operating systems. Select “Windows 8 Consumer Preview” and proceed through with the first time setup. Enter your user accounts and personalization settings. Once this is complete you have successfully installed the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

Every time you now start your computer you will be given an option to select which operating system you wish to load.

Congratulations on completing this tutorial and welcome to the world of Windows 8!

http://twitter.com/OTAROID Otar Bediashvili

does anyone know how to remove Windows 8 consumer preview evaluation copy watermark from windows 8?
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  I don’t think you can.
- Dan Dar3
  
  Try this registry key (PaintDesktopVersion), I believe that’s always been there.http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc782257(v=ws.10).aspx
- Timmymurden757
  
  im sure its impossible sinces its just in the testing and not fully done
- gest
  
  yes wait and then buy it
Test

Thanks for the nice video
TheJoker360

horrible looking OS, 1st MS f###ed up the Xbox 360 dashboard now they f##k up Windows. Next you will need crap like Kinect to browse Windows 8.
- Morby Sterns
  
  Hey Joker360 …..why don’t you shove that iPhone up your ass and get lost.
- http://profile.yahoo.com/M6UTZCH6C5OV7D4WSSBYUEO7UE TheGuyNumber4
  
  Well actually I find it faster, I used the .exe file so I Restored To Factory Defaults, and now I am re-attempting to install this one
  And the part that you think is “F***ed up” is probably the start menu, other than that it’s exactly like Windows 7 but faster
Jehan2256

Can you dual boot Windows 8 with Windows XP?
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  Yes you can. Windows XP doesn’t have a built in
  partition manager so you will need to download one. I would recommend that you
  download the free EaseUS partition manager (home edition). After that follow
  the same steps that I outlined in the video.
  - Jeffkolas24
    
    I want to dual boot xp and 8 beta. I have downloaded the iso onto a flash drive. What can I used instead of the “Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool” since i do not have windows 7?
    - http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
      
      This should work (I haven’t tried it)
      http://www.isotousb.com/
      Make sure you tick the bootable check box.
Zmanbarzell

Thanks for this – great job
Soho

Hi,
Thanks for the explanation….
… BUT, on my ASUS Slate (with a SSD “Hard Disk”) there is not space enough for a new partition dedicated to a new OS….
… so, is it possible to install W8 on an USB HD ? And, if Yes, could you explain how ? because for two days I’m trying but I do not find, around the Web, good answers and explanation to that problem !!!

Thinks again,

Soho
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  You can’t install a Windows operating system to a USB HD. The USB HD would be far to slow. You can only install it on an external hard drive if you use eSATA.
Soho

Hi

It does not work on my ASUS BOX (not Slate) because the file downloaded from Microsoft is “ConsumerPreview-setup.exe” and not an .iso file… so right at the first step “W7 USB-DVD Download tool” ask for an .iso file not an .exe one, and so it does not find the downloaded Consumer Preview from MS….
So ??? What else ???
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  You need to download the ISO files from here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-8/iso
  
  I explain this in the video.
Webster

Hi Ankur, I recently installed windows 8 consumer preview alongside my windows 7 and I’ve had a couple problems since. I had two partitions on my drive prior to the install, my local windows7 c: drive and a d: drive for data. I repartitioned a third partition for windows 8, and at first it would tell me there was not enough room. So then i realized the problem was that the system reserved partition was full so I extended that partition. Now I think there is an issue with both windows 8 and windows 7 using the same sysres partition. I booted into windows 8 no problems and was using it, restarted fine, got the boot manager option screen, chose windows 7. Turns out I had lost all my favourites in windows explorer because Data drive was now a different drive letter because the windows 8 drive had taken the D: drive letter…this was annoying but I can deal with it because I can’t see any way to fix it (I can’t assign new favourites for some reason). The real annoying thing is when I tried to restart to go back to windows 8 it told me BootMGR was missing and i had to run my setup disk to repair my startup. I have since reinstalled w8 and am on w7 now but scared to restart because I’m sure it will happen again. Thoughts?
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  You should never change the size of the system reserved
  partition. Using the setup disk to repair the startup should have fixed the
  problem. I can’t see any reason why you should have a problem when the computer
  restarts. In the worst case scenario just use the setup disk again to repair
  the startup.
  
  You can change the drive letter in ‘Create and format hard
  disk partitions’. (I explain in the video how to open this.) If you then select
  the partition you wish to change the letter and right hand click on it and
  select ‘Change Drive Letter and Paths’.
  
  Hope this helps. Let me know how you get on.
  - Webster
    
    Thanks, yea I normally wouldn’t but I decided to because I couldn’t get it to install otherwise and I wanted to try it lol. I tried changing the drive letter there and it said “the parameter is incorrect”
http://bit.ly/thegadgetreviewers John Richard Lee

I’m assuming it would work on my Dell Studio 1555, right?
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  In the video I installed it on a Dell Inspiron laptop (which
  is very similar). The Dell Studio 1555 meets all the requirements so it should
  work fine.
Love A Singh

Hi,

I already have 3 partitions for my Hard disk titled C:,D:,E: ..my D: and E: drive have 30 GB+ free spaces each….so now should i create another partition from C: ??? or if i install it on D: without formatting, would it erase the existing data on D:?? Please help
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  Installing Windows 8 Consumer Preview will remove your existing data on drive D. It would be best to create another partition from C.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1506536009 Abhishek Singh Thakur

gives error messege in between the installation….”something went wrong”
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  This is a problem that Microsoft will need to deal with. Unfortunately
  they provide very little support as it is a preview.
D. B. Manila

Dual booting on my XP/SP3, A1. Both boot A1. XP is 32 bit. Trying to make Win-8 64 bit. No luck after several tries. Any suggestion ? Thanks..
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  It would be best to install Windows 8 as 32bit. Even if your processor can support 64bit you might not be able to get all the drivers 64bit.
Arizona Willie

I have Windows 7 64 bit on my SSD C drive which is only 120 GB. I have it set to install programs etc. on D drive in order to save space on C.

I created a 500 GB partition on another SATA drive that I use mostly for backups and made it a system partition.

I downloaded and burned the 64 bit .iso file to a DVD.

When I boot from the DVD it goes through the process until it shows me the partitions.
It shows all my partitions on the various disks just fine.
Including the System partition I called Windows 8 and gave the drive letter O.

When I tell it to install on that partition I get an error message that says ” We couldn’t create a new partition or locate an existing one. For more information see the setup log files.

I’ve tried and tried. There is nothing wrong with the partition labeled Windows 8 because Windows 7 can write to it just fine. I made a test.txt file and saved it to that partition to be sure the partition was ok. No problem writing to it so I don’t understand why the Windows 8 setup can’t find it especially when it IS showing it to me in the list of partitions.

What have I done wrong?
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  Do you have an SD card or SDHC inserted in your computer?
  Strange question I know but this often causes this message. If you do, just
  remove it and then try the install again. This is a fairly common problem that
  Microsoft is aware of.
  
  If this doesn’t work, let me know.
  - Arizona Willie
    
    No, no SD plugged in. I do use them but they aren’t plugged in now. I do have an E-SATA array plugged in but I just unplugged it and tried again with the same results. So it wasn’t the E-SATA array. Other than that all I have plugged in is two monitors and a bunch of USB stuff and the modem etc. etc.
    - http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
      
      I think this might help http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-windows_install/windows-setup-we-couldnt-create-a-new-partition-or/9f1ab243-5663-4626-b231-6d20a5572fc2
      - Arizona Willie
        
        No luck. I unplugged all USB except keyboard ( mouse plugs into keyboard ).
        
        Got same error.
        
        Then I noticed that my C drive where Windows 7 resides showed a partition for system information that was 100 MB.
        
        There was only 2 MB unallocated on my target drive so I decided to shink the other partition and create some unallocated space thinking it said it couldn’t create a volume because there wasn’t any free space.
        
        Gave it 60 GB of unallocated space but sadly I get the same error that it can’t create or find a partition.
        
        I’m beginning to wonder if it’s worth the hassle.
        
        Microsoft certainly seems to have screwed up the installation files.
        They work for some people and not for others.
        
        I’m beginning to wonder if it’s the motherboard that it doesn’t like.
        It’s an ASUS P9X79.
        
        Hmmm just a thought … I am running overclocked at approx 4.2 ghz … I wonder if that could be the problem.
        
        I will slow it down and try again … but if that doesn’t work and nobody has any good ideas I’m going to give up until the retail version comes out.
      - Arizona Willie
        
        Nothing worked. Slowed it down to rated speed. No help.
        It’s funny, Microsoft wants people to test it — but there doesn’t seem to be a place to report problems. So what’s the point?
      - Arizona Willie
        
        Finally found the answer. A Microsoft guru told me Windows 8 will not install if you have more than 4 partitions!!!
        
        How stupid is that?
        
        Anyway, I disconnected a couple of drives and it installed just fine.
        
        Once installed you can hook up as many drives as you want with no problem.
        
        Someone at Microsoft should be fired for that stupid restriction.
        
        And Microsofts Windows 8 download page doesn’t say a thing about it.
        
        There should be a huge warning in big red print.
http://www.facebook.com/Smarty2895 Devansh Bansal

“THE PARTITION CONTAINS DYNAMIC VOLUMES THAT ARE NOT SUPPORTED FOR INSTALLATIONS” I am fed with this error pleaseeee give a solution to this problem !!!!!!!!!!! …This Error Occurs Right When I am choosing the Partition created by me to install Windows 8…..
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  You will need to download and install the free EaseUS partition manager. From here:
  http://download.cnet.com/EaseUS-Partition-Master-Home-Edition/3000-2248_4-10863346.html
  
  Then read this article to change the partition from dynamic to basic.
  http://www.partition-tool.com/easeus-partition-manager/convert-dynamic-disk-to-basic-disk.htm
  
  I hope this information helps.
  - http://www.facebook.com/Smarty2895 Devansh Bansal
    
    Thanks John That Really Worked !!!!!!!!!!! :)
Nabil

I want to install consumer preview but before I do, I wanted to know if i will be needing any activation or will it be activated directly after installation. Thanks in advance
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  It gets activated automatically.
Creativesolutions367

As I already install window 8, but not showing window 7 in booting time..but in hard disk all the datas are there
Sarith Ranawaka

PROBLEM!! When I try to create Simple Volume from the Unallocated space. After pressing finish I get an error message saying, operation you selected will convert the basic disk to a dynamic disk, you will not be able to start installed operating systems from any volume of disk(except current boot volume. What should I do?
Thanks
- Sarith Ranawaka
  
  Somebody please help me out. I’m dying to run Win 8.
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  You will need to download and install the free EaseUS partition manager. From here:
  http://download.cnet.com/EaseUS-Partition-Master-Home-Edition/3000-2248_4-10863346.html
  
  Then read this article to change the partition from dynamic to basic.
  http://www.partition-tool.com/easeus-partition-manager/convert-dynamic-disk-to-basic-disk.htm
  
  I hope this information helps.
  - Sarith Ranawaka
    
    I’m sorry but it is already a basic partition. In disk management, under Type all my partitions are listed as basic. Still when i try to create a simple volume I get the error message saying that the
    operation you selected will convert the basic disk to a dynamic disk.
    - Sarith Ranawaka
      
      Found out the solution. I posted on Microsoft Answers and it turns out that I cannot create more than 4 basic partitions. I already have 4 basic partitions. Thanks a lot for your help, highly appreciate it.
vijendra ahirwal

i have very low disc space in C: drive so can i create a partition in other drive
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  Yes, as long as it is an internal hard drive.
  - vijendra ahirwal
    
    THanx a lot , JOHN WHEAL
John217

In Stage 3 of the notes, 2nd paragraph…. After checking Terms and Conditions, I do not See Custom Install -Advanced to order select the proper partition. Was the selection of partition made early or does it appear during the next step ?
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  I think watching the video will help.
vijendra ahirwal

the ISO file is showing invalid by
“Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool” please help me
Dan

Will I need to boot from the USB from now on?
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  No
vijendra ahirwal

INvalid ISO file
Please Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
- http://www.johnwheal.co.uk/ John Wheal
  
  You could try downloading the file again. The original
  might be corrupt.
vijendra ahirwal

someone please help me
vijendra ahirwal

There is a black screen and an error code when i have selected to boot from USB
Donnie_40

when I downloaded windows8 consumer preview it erased my snapshots and restore points
vijendra ahirwal

When i start to install it after loading files it got a Black Screen and the key board is also not responding