Installing/ Dual-booting Windows 7 on Windows 8

[EMOKDOOM]

After about 7 years i finally got to upgrade PCs. going from a 1.8GHz Dell XPS with 3gigs of RAM to a sweet looking 2.2GHz VAIO with 16gigs or RAM. Pretty stoked; did a few upgrades, good aesthetics, good features and still shy under a grand.

I looked at a few sources and finally decided to go with the VAIO. However, there's one thing i'm still worried about: Windows 8. First, I've NEVER even touched it. I have heard mixed reviews but personally i hold nothing against it. My worry with 8 though, is that i won't be able to learn how code, use interpreters, download torrents etc etc. Also I'm in a Digital Forensics course and it's still based on XP and Windows 7.

I don't want to fully get rid of 8 but if it does come down to it i will most likely. Is there a way to dual-boot Windows 7 over 8? There's a shit load of guides on how to do it vice versa but none in the way i need it.
Would this even be a good idea? I don't want to fuck up my new PC, I'm broke and I'd kill myself for fucking it up :3

Any input would help. I'd like to keep both for learning purposes.

[proxx]

You could use GRUB, probably the easiest way.
I am not aware of any good windows native bootloaders.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_GRUB
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/reinstall-ubuntu-grub-bootloader-after-windows-wipes-it-out/

[Snayler]

I've been using Windows 8 for the last month, and I would say it is easy to adapt to it. It's also faster with connecting devices (recognizes them faster), boot time is slightly reduced when compared with w7 (~5 seconds in my case, no big deal) and the new interface has some nice features. On the down side, it consumes more RAM and the "start menu" was made with touch enabled devices in mind.

Personally, I still prefer windows 7 and XP. I've installed 8 to get used to the new interface, since I'm probably gonna have to deal with it in the future, but I'm changing back to Windows 7 once I get some free time.

I believe you won't have a problem installing Windows 7 with 8, both will get recognized and you will have the option to select which one to boot.

[fluxdaemon]

I've been using Windows 8 for the last month, and I would say it is easy to adapt to it. It's also faster with connecting devices (recognizes them faster), boot time is slightly reduced when compared with w7 (~5 seconds in my case, no big deal) and the new interface has some nice features. On the down side, it consumes more RAM and the "start menu" was made with touch enabled devices in mind.

I believe you won't have a problem installing Windows 7 with 8, both will get recognized and you will have the option to select which one to boot.

At work I compared 8 and 7 on an old Dell 280 with 1GB of RAM and a single core processor and 8 ran faster, more effecient and booted faster than 7 did
It does take some getting used to but doesn't take that long
And you can always replace the start menu to look more like 7
http://lifehacker.com/5955089/how-to-bring-back-the-start-menu-in-windows-8


The biggest problem right now is drivers
Especially if you're going to be playing games, video drivers aren't quite there yet

[EMOKDOOM]

Eff yeah, thanks for all the info and opinions. all i've been hearing is negative towards 8 but i too would like to keep it since i'll have to deal with it in the future and for the sake of learning how to deal with 8.

My new laptop is running 16 gigs of RAM so i hope it doesn't consume too much.

When i get it i'll use it for a bit and then try to mess with dual booting 7. Yesterday in my "MS OS 7"(I actually forget what it's called, but it's what it sounds like lol) i brought up this issue and the intrustor told me we're actually going to learn how to dual boot 7 so i got pretty excited

Also check out Pokki: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/141702-how-to-bring-the-start-menu-and-button-back-to-windows-8

Thanks

[kenjoe41]

what?!!! 16 GIGS of ram and u worry, unless you do some bit of hash craking but still enough gigs. you won't have a problem with dual booting both. i did it some time back and worked fine for both win 7 & 8. tho fucked put with the partitioning when adding ubuntu 12.10.

[EMOKDOOM]

Got laptop in today. Spent a great amount of the day trying to dual-boot only to find out Sony doesn't support dual booting.

So i just wiped 8 and had to get rid of like 8 partitions too. Installed 7 and now putting in the drivers.
Sonys really weird about how you access the BIOS and boot menus. They have all these extra "Assist" buttons for that. Now i only hope that these buttons still work.

Oh and 8 FUCKING BLOWED!!! I got fucking furious within 15 minutes of using it.

Thanks guys