Dual Boot Win8 OEM, Win7 OEM, no one seems to know, What's the procedure?

Discussion in 'Windows 8' started by WeAreNotAlone, Jan 11, 2014.

  1. HALIKUS

    HALIKUS MDL Addicted

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    #21 HALIKUS, Jan 14, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2014
  2. WeAreNotAlone

    WeAreNotAlone MDL Member

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  3. HALIKUS

    HALIKUS MDL Addicted

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    #23 HALIKUS, Jan 15, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2014
    Dism /apply-image /Imagefile:%wim% /index:%Index% /ApplyDir:y:\
    would = in your case something like:
    Dism /apply-image /Imagefile:c:\install.wim /index:4 /ApplyDir:y:\
    (image file is source install.wim, index is the edition, ultimate is index 5 in x86 and index 4 in x64, and apply dir is the destination).

    I'm pretty sure what you described is ok and SHOULD work. I'm 99% sure the worst that can happen is the Win7\Y drive won't be bootable and you will have a useless bcd entry.


    For a primary OS a VHD isn't the best approach, but in this case it may be your only working solution. I usually boot a winpe, create and mount a vhd, apply the wim to it, add a bcd entry much like you would for a winpe, and then carry on as usual. The cool thing about a vhd is it's somewhat portable and can be easily erased, used as a virtual machine, convert to a wim, etc.

    I'm home sick with the flu so i'm not feeling very smart today. You may want a second opinion. If it were my PC, i would reformat so everything is standard. You could alternately back up the Win8 partition and restore it after installing win7.
     
  4. WeAreNotAlone

    WeAreNotAlone MDL Member

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    Little update:

    HP Recovery Manager v 8.0.1.0 (oh no ver 1.0!) would not create recovery media properly.

    Have little faith in whatever "imaging" or file history app that is supposed to make a backup of your system after reading after the Win8 8.1 update, the EFI? partition needs about 50mb or so more than the partition is sized at to complete the imaging process, and the Win8 8.1 update did not take this into consideration.

    Because of that installed "EaseUS Partition Master 9.3.0 and EaseUS Tools Todo Backup Free 6.1. Don't know if those images work, NOR know if those apps provide a USB version so it can be run from a flash drive. One question I wondering about is if their marketing is "free" to create a backup, but it costs to restore.

    Because of the above, for the heck of it I typed "Recovery" in the run box (Using Classic Shell).... In the SYSTEMS section, labeled "Create a Recovery Drive", found a app called "Recovery Drive" Which appears to be from MS? It gave a option to "Create a recovery drive", it saying if your computer came with a recovery partition, you can also copy it to the recovery drive (USB) so you can use it to refresh or reset your PC. After ticking the box to copy the recovery partition it created a recovery USB flash drive 32gb required it said. (Took a about hr+?)

    (*Above app said you could DELETE the recovery partition to gain back disc space, and it appears unlike the HP Recovery Media App you can run it more than once.)

    With that in hand I said what the heck and ran Win7 setup from within the WIN8 OS figuring it would make the necessary adjustments. It appeared to copy files, upon checking the status... The computer was at the Win7 install screen (again) at this point I'm thinking it either aborted the install.... OR it's going to go round and round in a ENDLESS LOOP.. Oh joy...:eek:

    IIRC upon rebooting the machine it displayed the Win7 style boot screen.:yeah:

    Boot screen showing listings:
    Win7 (I think it said something about not being fully setup?)
    Win7 "Roll-Back"
    Win8.1

    Ran thru setup again, it appeared to resume from the point within the Win8 OS when it was extracting files, went into copying files. Think it rebooted once or twice more and lo and behold Win7 and Win8.1 appear on the Win7 style bootloader screen.... and both OS's are "booting". :mauridia:

    Yea, no endless loop, or bootloader /mbr totalled screwed up.

    Guess I need to test to see if F11 (HP Recovery?) still works.

    Disk management shows (2) listings for the (OEM) "Recovery Partition"
    One listing it as NTFS, the other blank.

    (In the graphical representation it only shows (1) 28.xx GB partition)


    Next step, the driver and HP specific app hunt lappy needs.


    .
     
  5. WeAreNotAlone

    WeAreNotAlone MDL Member

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    #25 WeAreNotAlone, Jan 16, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2014
    (OP)
    OS DRIVER LETTERS ARE WRONG, .... APPS WON'T INSTALL to "B"


    Win7 OS assigned as drive letter "B"
    Win 8 OS assigned driver letter "C".. while in Win7


    Win7 partition is showing= Boot,Crash Dump, Primary Partition
    Win8 partition is showing= Page File, Primary Partition


    Looks like since WIN7 was installed LAST, it overwrote the bootloader /it's the boot partition so I need to go into WIN8 to move the bootloader over?

    Or maybe from Win7?


    EDIT: While within EASYBCD tried it, error-ed out..




    .
     
  6. WeAreNotAlone

    WeAreNotAlone MDL Member

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    I EASYBCD v2.2 just downloaded a few minutes ago "GPT" /Win8 partitioning scheme AWARE?

    Both Win7 and Win8 partitions are showing as PRIMARY partition type

    EasyBCD 2.2 error message, both in Win7 and Win8...

    BCD Management Options>Change Boot Drive.

    ERROR MESSAGE:

     
  7. WeAreNotAlone

    WeAreNotAlone MDL Member

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    #27 WeAreNotAlone, Jan 16, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2014
    (OP)
    DUAL BOOTING 101, IIRC:
    Typically you want to install the "OLDEST" OS first (Win7), the install the LATEST OS last (Win8) as the last OS installed overwrites the bootloader.



    Win7 isn't booting now after using EasyBCD to change the drive letter of the Win7 OS partition from "B" to "C".



    Win7 partition WAS showing= Boot,Crash Dump, Primary Partition
    Win8 partition WAS showing= Page File, Primary Partition

    Win7 OS partition WAS showing as drive letter "B" - Not thinking I gave the Win7 partition a drive letter in Win8, C was not available so I picked "B"

    In Win7, using EASYBCD v2.2

    Advanced Settings>Select OS. Picked Win7, then in "Change settings" tab changed drive from "B" to "C".


    Win7 was selected as the default OS to boot, but upon reboot Win7 did NOT boot, computer booted directly into Win8


    At least the boot, page file etc are on the same partition now.

    As it is NOW, and WIN7 won't boot:

    Win7 partition IS showing= Primary Partition (no drive letter assigned)
    Win8 partition IS showing= Boot,Crash Dump, Page File, Primary Partition (Drive letter "C")

    Win7 OS partition WAS showing as drive letter "B", but is NOW showing NO drive letter assignment.


    EasyBCD_2.2_Changing drive letter of Win7 from B to C_Win7 No boot, BootsWin8.PNG



    ANYONE?

    .
     
  8. WeAreNotAlone

    WeAreNotAlone MDL Member

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    #28 WeAreNotAlone, Jan 16, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2014
    (OP)
    Using EASYBCD v2.2, Advanced Settings>Select OS. Picked Win7, then in Change settings tab changed drive from "B" to "C". seems to have put the bootloader back on the Win8 partition.

    Rebooting machine results in booting directly into WIN8, not surprising as Win8 has boot files on it.

    Where's the tools for adding Win7 to the mix, booting it off the Win8 bootloader?

    Under:
    Administrative Tools>System Configuration Win7 was showing as being the default OS, changed it to Win8...

    Time to reboot again.




    .
     
  9. WeAreNotAlone

    WeAreNotAlone MDL Member

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    Q: How do you invoke the WIN8 bootloader?

    It's currently a "text" based bootloader (Looks like Win7 bootloader). Does Win8 have a text based bootloader?
     
  10. WeAreNotAlone

    WeAreNotAlone MDL Member

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    #30 WeAreNotAlone, Jan 16, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2014
    (OP)
    EasyBCD_2.2_Entry4 Win8 on C drive - Winload.efi, Entry 5 Win7 on C drive - Winload.exe -but have not tested yet - EDIT TESTED, WIN7 won't BOOT

    EasyBCD_2.2_Progress_Entry4 Win8, Entry 5 Win7 on C drive-but have not tested yet.PNG


    EDIT, didn't work. Entries appear to be correct but "Winload.exe" doesn't seem to be doing it's job as computer once either OS selection is selected, or it times out defaults to WIN8... and it boots.
     
  11. WeAreNotAlone

    WeAreNotAlone MDL Member

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    #31 WeAreNotAlone, Jan 16, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2014
    (OP)
    Win7 not booting. How do I add Win7 to the Win8 Bootloader?

    RE: EasyBCD_2.2_Progress_Entry4 Win8 on C drive - Winload.efi, Entry 5 Win7 on C drive - Winload.exe

    Win7 not booting. How do I add Win7 to the Win8 Bootloader?

    Upon rebooting, text based boot menu.

    Win8.1 showing as default.

    Upon selecting Win7, screen goes black for a second or two then rolls back over to same screen.


    Earlier on Win7 was assign drive letter "B", upon changing this to "C" Win7 would NOT boot.

    Isn't the bootloader smart enough to "hide" one "C" drive from the other?

    OR is the problem it's using the Win7 text based bootloader?, and it's incompatible with Win8?


    Detailed (Debug Mode):

    EasyBCD_2.2_Entry4 Win8 on C Winload.efi_ Entry 5 Win7 on C Winload.exe - Win7 not booting .PNG
    .
     
  12. HALIKUS

    HALIKUS MDL Addicted

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    #32 HALIKUS, Jan 16, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2014
    The win7 being d:\ instead of c:\ is a side effect that can occur. It has nothing to do with the bcd. The bcd actually sees the drive similar as linux where it uses (hd0,1) and the c:\ part is whats displayed currently in the OS. You shouldn't of messed with the bcd. If its EFI, it uses winload.EFI, not winload.exe. To fix the BCD, boot with the win8 boot.wim and do a startup repair. It should get you the win8 menu back and fix the win7 entry automatically (i think). The win8 and win7 menus are changed with the /standard or /legacy switch. EasyBCD doesn't have this option i believe.

    As for how to change the d:\ to a c:\ in win7, i'm not 100% sure. I have defiantly had this happen to me before through the years, but have no idea what i did about it at the time.
     
  13. redroad

    redroad MDL Guru

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    #34 redroad, Jan 16, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2014
    From elevated CMD, enter Bcdboot x:\Windows where x is the Windows 7 installation drive. Does it boot into W7 this way?

    MS also says

    Q. Can Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008 read, write, and boot from GPT disks?
    A. Yes, all versions can use GPT partitioned disks for data. Booting is only supported for 64-bit editions on UEFI-based systems.
    Q. What can be changed on a partition?
    A. You should not change any partition header entry directly. Do not use disk tools or utilities to make alterations or changes.
     
  14. redroad

    redroad MDL Guru

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  15. Yen

    Yen Admin
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    @WeAreNotAlone :biggrin:
    You should not forget that drive letters are relative to the OS and not absolute the partition itself.
    Partition1 can be C: to windows 7 and partition2 can be D:, BUT when booting w8 from partition2 it an be C: and partition1 is D:!


    If you have 7 on partition1 and 8 on partition2, then you need to fit / CHANGE the drive letters to your needs INSIDE the OS using diskmgmt.msc.
    Do here not fiddle with bcd. Bcd knows partitions, not drive letters.


    I have not read all your posts please forgive me if my reply is a bit out of context....but it sounds reasonable to set it up in a clean way...that means to delete all the partitions. Then decide if you want to have a MBR or a GPT boot. Then install 7 before 8, if you have decided to go for GPT then you need dispart to apply (windows PE boot or something) since w7 default is MBR installation.
     
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  16. WeAreNotAlone

    WeAreNotAlone MDL Member

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    #37 WeAreNotAlone, Jan 16, 2014
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2014
    (OP)
    Win7 and Win8 booting, C assigned to OS's while up!

    RE: elevated CMD, enter Bcdboot x:\Windows
    If the Win7 partition has a drive letter assigned to it= YES.

    As it was originally installed and I think the cause of the Win7 partiton being assigned "B" as the OS letter instead of "C" I initiated the Win7 setup from within the Win8 OS.

    A hr or so ran Win7 setup for EFI bootable media, selected the Win7 OS partition and just now the Win7 OS is back up.
    (Actually I am in process of installing the video /gpu driver package)

    It just rebooted, Win7 style text based bootloader showing Win7 as the default OS, with Windows 8.1 listed as the second option.

    In Win7 Disk Management:
    Win_7_x64 OS is showing as "C" while the Win7 OS is "up".
    Win_7_x64 OS showing Boot, Page, Crash Dump, Primary Partition
    It is showing Win_8_x64 OS as "D". "Primary partition"

    Data partition is "E"
    OEM Recovery partition listed as "F" (Don't know if F11 will invoke access yet)


    REBOOTED,

    In Win7 text based bootmanager screen selected Win8.1 to boot.... and it booted! (SUCCESS!... Win7 and Win8 are booting and each OS assigns "C" to the OS partition.) :hug2:

    In Win8 Disk Management it's showing:

    WIN_8_X64 OS = As "C", and WIN_7_X64 OS as ""Primary Partition", NO drive letter assigned so I can live with that.
    WIN_8_x64 OS = Boot, Page, Crash Dump, Primary Partition


    If the above holds... Should be good to go :D
     
  17. Yen

    Yen Admin
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    Can't you just assign D: to it using Win8 Disk Management :confused:...right click on the partition (volume)? It is shown here as data volume right?

    Anyway great progress so far....:)
     
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  18. WeAreNotAlone

    WeAreNotAlone MDL Member

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    Understand. Drive letters are assigned by OS.

    diskmgmt.msc would not reassign drive letter for Win7 OS.... reason it seems the install Win7 install was run from within the Win8 OS. Just now ran Win7 setup again from EFI bootable media and Win7 and Win8 are both booting, and each OS assigns "C" to whatever OS partition that is active (OS UP).


    Lots of stuff to read thru I know, sorry about that. On doing it the "Clean" way I was hoping to persevere the OEM pre-installed WIN8 OS install in a activated state. Plus even if that was not a "issue" you should be able "add" Win7 to a already existing Win8 install.

    The fact it's a OEM install and officially there's no install media from the OEM is another reason for wanting to "add" Win7 after the fact.
    (Could be wrong about that.)

    Currently it is still showing as activated after changing the OS sku to Win7. (Q: Wonder how long that will last?) Next step is to set if slic table has a entry for Win7.

    Ran Win7 setup off on media in which I used Rufus to add/toggle on EFI boot-ability (Cold boot), Selected in the Bios EFI "" Usb drive" and ran setup, during the setup thru the EFI enable media setup allowed install to complete - So I assume EFi is "enabled"?

    (First time I ran Win7 install media got a error /warning message when selecting partition to install to saying system has GPT partitioning scheme...and would not proceed.
    Upon using EFI aware install media setup allowed me to select partition created by Win8 (It would not allow me to create a partition IIRC, only to select a already created one. The only error message was one warning the partitions aren't in the recommended order.)
    View attachment 26479
     
  19. leebo_28

    leebo_28 MDL Senior Member

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    Glad you got it worked out!:yeah: