How to dual-boot Windows 8 and Windows 7

We will assume that you’ve already installed Windows 7(XP or Vista).  But if you have Windows 8 installed and also want to install Windows 7, this tutorial may also work for you.

Before you start installing, you should take a back up of all your important documents as it might come handy, in case you mess up while installing. 

Let’s begin, Press Windows key + R or go to Run dialog box from start button. Type diskmgmt.msc, hit Enter. This will open the Disk Management window; in the bottom half panel you will notice the list of current drives currently active in your system.

Look for the drive where your Windows 7 is installed. It will be listed as boot or system, right select the particular drive and right click on it. Select shrink from the right click menu, it will start querying your drive for free space.

 Windows 8 will require minimum 20GB space to install. But ensure you have 30-50GB available space so you can always install other needed software. The size that you should select between 30,000-50,000MB where 50,000MB (50GB).

In case you Disk Manager don’t allow you to shrink, try using tools like Paragon’s Hard Disk Manager.

After the volume has been shrunk, a new “Unallocated” black space will be available in the Disk Manager in the end of the drive. Select the Unallocated space and right click on it and select New Simple Volume. Give the new volume a unique name such as Windows 8 and allow formatting of the new disk. Choose a name like Windows 8 as it is easy to remember.

Installing Windows 8

Now we will install the Windows 8 and for that you may opt between 90-day evaluation copy or a full version of Windows 8. Insert DVD or USB whichever is the medium of your Windows 8 installation. Reboot your system and start your installation. (Change your boot priority to DVD or USB from BIOS settings)

When you will receive message for custom install or upgrade, choose custom install.  In the next step you will be presented with volumes/partitions. Select Windows 8 partition (which we have created earlier with the name Windows 8) and click Next and leave rest to the Windows 8 installer. System will be rebooted once or twice, but after the finish of the setup you will be greeted with a multi-boot screen to select between two operating system you have installed. By default Windows 8 will be loaded if not selected any option. But you can always change your preference.