# Dual boot W7 with W8 preinstalled



## Gswiss (Nov 10, 2004)

Since we'll have to wait a year or two before W8 is more or less bug-free, I was wondering if we could install W7 in dual boot mode on a pre-installed W8 machine as we did with XP and pre-installed crappy Vista. Are there any items to watch out for such as the boot record?

EasyBCD does support W8.

I'm aware that you can run W7 in virtual mode under W8, but I don't want to take any chances with W8.


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## LMiller7 (Jun 21, 2010)

Running Windows 7 under a virtual machine is by far the safest. Otherwise you would need to shrink your current Windows 8 partition to leave space for Windows 7. There is always an element of risk in this so you should have a full backup of of your current installation so you could restore it if anything goes wrong. The shrink operation would likely require third party software.


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

Also, you would have to restore the Windows 8 boot loader after Windows 7 is installed (and invariably overwrite the Windows 8 bootloader).

Having a backup is most definitely a good idea, especially since a custom bootloader is how many OEMs create access to the recovery partition...

You could also use a third party bootloader, like GRUB, as well.


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## Gswiss (Nov 10, 2004)

Thank you for your replies, guys.

However I would have liked to get an answer from someone who already experienced this.

I must have installed 20 XP dual boots with Vista pre-installed, without a hitch. No backup, no nothing, Just an excellent step-by-step approach with EasyBCD reinstating the boot record which is automatically clobbered by XP when you install it after Vista or Windows 7.

On top of all the potential bugs on this new Windows 8 (I've never seen a decent bug-free Windows release since Windows 3!! People forgot, amongst the worst, NT4, Me and Vista), what's the use of operating it if you don't have a touchscreen, which is the case of the average user?


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## Junior777 (Jul 25, 2012)

Since you already have done it previously, then I dont quite get the question.

Most users right now have not purchased a Win8 machine and then installed Win7 along side of it. So to get an answer from someone who has already done it is going to be a task in itself. Not many of us have purchased a new machine for Win8, we just bought it and upgraded.

The fact is that yes, EasyBCD does support Windows 8, but it does not support the new UEFI Boot that is preinstalled with new machines. It gives EasyBCD a had time. So you might have an issue if you have UEFI on, which is the default setting, and try to use EasyBCD to manage your boot.

So if you want to do it and not wait, you will have to attempt this yourself first. Most of us are gearing up for XMas and not thinking of purchasing a new machine right now.


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