Since the Windows 8 beta 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 (even of the beta version)
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.
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 USB\DVD 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. DVD\CD-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 (more is better) 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 (see above for the procedure), 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 (like VHD for Win8) in the
File name box and then click on the
Save button. Reformat the newly created drive (see above).
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 DVD\CD or as desired.
When the Install Windows screen appears, select your Language, time & currency format (like English (United States), and Keyboard or input method (like US) 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 (like
Choose an Operating System) 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, enjoy access
to both the worlds.
Additional Tips:
A USB thumbdrive can also be used in place of a DVD.
A GB contains 1024MBs. Therefore, 20GB would contain 20480MBs. This
means that you will have to free up 20480MBs by shrinking drives.