Dual Boot

[Pezzy]

Hi all.

I just installed the Windows 8 beta preview. I installed it on a separate hard drive. I have another hard drive in my system case that is my primary drive/ system; I have Windows 7 Ultimate on it.

What I'd like to do is set up a dual boot with these two hard drives: You know, so when I do a cold boot, I get something on-screen which offers me which system I'd like to boot into: Win 7 or Win 8.

I did this in the past when Win 7 was offered as a beta preview......but I can't remember how I did it at the time But I do remember that when I booted my system up, there was that screen offering me the choice of two systems (at the time I had Win XP and the Win 7 beta preview), and that if I didn't make a choice within a certain amount of time by using the UP/ DOWN arrow keys, that a default choice would be made for me (which I had the default set up to be Win XP since Win 7 was beta at that time).

Anyone have any suggestions on how to set up a dual boot? A piece of software you'd recommend? Dang if I can remember what I used some years ago........

Thanks for any help,
Pez

 

[KSoD]

EasyBCD. Just need to install each OS on their own partition.

 

[Pezzy]

Hey guys; thanks for all the replies!

"EasyBCD": THAT'S the piece of software I used years ago for a dual boot with Win XP & Win 7; I just couldn't remember the name!

I went and downloaded the latest version: 2.1.2

And just to be clear: I have two separate hard drives: one has Win 7 on it, the other separate hard drive I installed Win 8 beta.

I installed EasyBCD on the Win 7 drive. I "added" a new entry (Win 8) in EasyBCD, and then re-booted and got that "selection screen". I used my directional UP & DOWN arrows to select Win 8, but......some kind of an error message shows up.

I did a little searching on the 'Net, and I see I'm not the only one getting it.....but I didn't come across any clear fix to it.

Over on NeoSmart forums (they're the ones that make EasyBCD, correct?), I came across a post that experienced the exact same thing that I did:

"I have two entries. One for Windows 7 and one for Windows 8.

Windows 7 works fine

Windows 8 gives me the error message about possibly damaged files and wants me to put the installation disk in and also says something about not recognizing the file signature and it shows the winlogon.exe file."

But, like I say, I didn't see anything that described a clear remedy.

Say, KSoD: Didn't you used to be known as "Mak213"? There's someone posting over there as "Mak 2.0". Is that you?

Anyway....anyone know of any fix to this? Will Win 8 beta work with EasyBCD?

Just to let you know, I have Win 7 set up as the default OS.

Thanks for any help,
Pez

 

[KSoD]

Yes Windows 8 will work with EasyBCD. I have personally used it. Yes you are also correct. I was Mak213 and I am Mak 2.0 over on NeoSmart.

Remove the Entry and try to recreate it. The Beta can be fickle at times.

 

[Joe C]

I have experienced that a dual boot for both os's with one boot loader can be troublesome if you run into problems with an os or a hard drive. My preferred dual boot is to have an os on each drive with it's own boot loader ( install windows 7 on one drive and windows 8 on the second drive separately) and make the drive selection during post. Usually you can use an F key (F9, F10, or F11...ect.) That way if something goes south on one drive you won't have to contend with re-doing that boot loader

I have heard of peeps having major issues after dual booting with windows 8 and not being able to go back to windows 7 boot loader after they decide they do not want windows 8

 

[KSoD]

Yes you can use F12 to select each drive and/or OS. The simplicity with EasyBCD is that if you use anything from Vista on Windows wise, it works with it. So all you have to do is delete the entry and create a new one. Bam dual boot set back up with a single option to select either OS.

For those people having issues getting back to Win7, all they have to do is either get a Recovery Disk or use the Windows install media and Repair the boot loader.

 

[luke127]

That's the thing. I've never really used beta versions of things because they cause so many issues. They are an easy fix but it is just annoying. I'll wait till the product comes out and try it then. Over here Dick Smith has a deal going. Buy a new laptop with win7 and get an offer on windows 8 for $15:00 that's a 200 hundred dollar OS for 15 bucks. But of course the laptop is going to cost more than 200 bucks.

 

[jayson]

Just wondering if Virtual machine is an option to your requirement? guess if you're just testing, virtual is the way to go. This will surely not mess up your boot setting.

 

[Pezzy]

Hi; back again.

KSoD: I tried deleting the Win 8 beta entry from EasyBCD like you suggested, and then recreating it, but, Win 8 beta must be REALLY fickle because I'm still getting that same error message I described above.

Let me mention this in case it makes any difference:

My Gigabyte motherboard (and I'm sure many motherboards are like this) has many SATA connector inputs. I usually just use two of them: one for my HDD, and the other for my Blu-ray drive.

And also (and probably like many other motherboards), the SATA input connectors on the motherboard are "numbered", and I use the first one for my HDD, and the second one for my Blu-ray drive.

After I installed Win 8 beta onto a separate hard drive, here's what i did:

I left my original hard drive with Win 7 on it plugged into the first SATA input connector, unplugged the Blu-ray drive from the second connector and instead plugged the other hard drive with Win 8 beta into it. I then plugged my Blu-ray drive into SATA input connector number three.

To sum up:

Win 7: SATA connector 1
Win 8 beta: SATA connector 2
Blu-ray drive: SATA connector 3

Do you think any of this makes any difference?

Since Win 7 is my primary operating system, I have that on my first SATA connector, and, in EasyBCD, I have it as the default, so, during boot-up, if I don't actually select it, it will get chosen anyway by default within like 30 seconds.

Do you think switching the physical connections of the two hard drives in the SATA 1 & 2 connectors on my motherboard would make any difference?

And oh, just-in-case: What was that you mentioned above about using the F12 key? Is this something I can use in conjunction with EasyBCD? Or is this something separate from it?

Thanks for any more help.
Pez

 

[KSoD]

The SATA Connectors make no difference. I have all of mine as hard drives with my SSD being the very first connection. Ubuntu sees the SSD as such, but the Windows 8 installer saw the SSD as the last drive. So it makes no difference in that aspect.

EasyBCD 2.2 Beta Builds

Get the latest Beta Build. I know it sounds odd, but just try it.