Windows 8 on top of Windows 7

Question

I had read that if I install Windows 8 Preview on top of Windows 7 that I will either have to do a clean install or have the restore media.  I have windows 7 but not all the the media on the laptop.

Any suggestions?

LadyDee123

 

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Darlene Murphy

Answer 1

I had read that if I install Windows 8 Preview on top of Windows 7 that I will either have to do a clean install or have the restore media. I have windows 7 but not all the the media on the laptop.
 
Any suggestions?

Multi-boot or virtual machine.
 

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David Wilkinson | Visual C++ MVP

Answer 2

Search the Windows 8 forums for VirtualBox, VMware, dual-boot and booting from VHD. There are several topics and step by step guides already there.

Answer 3

On Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:06:59 +0000, ladydee123 wrote:

I had read that if I install Windows 8 Preview on top of Windows 7 that I will either have to do a clean install or have the restore media.? I have windows 7 but not all the the media on the laptop.

Any suggestions?

First and foremost, if, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the lowest value
and 10 being the highest value, you wouldn't rate your computer technical
ability as at least a 7, I'd stop right now and wait for a public beta of
Windows 8 to be released.

My second suggestion would be to use something like VirtualBox, or the
current version of VMware workstation, and run Windows 8 in a virtual
machine.

Third suggestion would be to make sure that you've got an empty partition
on which you can install Windows 8 on, boot from the DVD and choose Custom
when prompted, then select the empty partition to install on.

Whichever way you decide to go, if you choose to try the DP, first make a
complete System Image backup of your Windows 7 install, so that if things
don't work out, you can recover.

I'd also strongly suggest that you take some time to read through this
forum prior to taking the plunger.

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Paul Adare
MVP - Identity Lifecycle Manager
http://www.identit.ca
Character density:  The number of very weird people in the office.

Answer 4

I'd also strongly suggest that you take some time to read through this
forum prior to taking the plunger.

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Paul, not to make light of your advice, but thank you for the absolutely spectacular laugh you just gave me!

-Noel

Answer 5

Thank you, since I am on a laptop and both of my partitions are being used and I am a web developer, I will not put it on my laptop.  I will see if I can use a partition on my desktop.

 

Thank you so much

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Darlene Murphy

Answer 6

On Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:54:47 +0000, Noel Carboni wrote:

Paul, not to make light of your advice, but thank you for the absolutely spectacular laugh you just gave me!

No worries, I saw that after I'd posted and couldn't be bothered correcting
the typo.

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Paul Adare
MVP - Identity Lifecycle Manager
http://www.identit.ca
The value of a program is proportional to the weight of its output.

Answer 7

If you have enough free space you might shrink an existing partition and than create a new one from that freed space. Consult the Disk Management page in the Computer Management MMC.

Answer 8

Thanks will do, my laptop is 64bit and my desktop 32bit until I can upgrade it.

LadyDee123

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Darlene Murphy