Fastest way to boot windows 7 from windows 8.1

Discussion in 'Windows 8' started by 1oo1, Nov 9, 2013.

  1. 1oo1

    1oo1 MDL Novice

    Mar 19, 2013
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    #1 1oo1, Nov 9, 2013
    Hi,
    As the title suggests, I have both windows 7 and 8.1 installed on my laptop but do not have an ssd. So switching from 8.1 to 7 is sometimes lengthy.(5mins or so)
    Could anyone tell me what would be the fastest way to boot windows 7 when I am still in windows 8.1?
    I like to be efficient

    This is what I usually do:
    Run msconfig
    change my default os to windows 7 and restart.

    Is there a better way?

    Thanks for reading
     
  2. KNARZ

    KNARZ MDL Addicted

    Oct 9, 2012
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    #2 KNARZ, Nov 9, 2013
    change timeout so that you get ask on every boot or use a Win7 VM
     
  3. eydee

    eydee Guest

    #3 eydee, Nov 9, 2013
    Best way is installing them both while the partition of the other is hidden, then using a custom bootloader to reach either one. Then you can even modify/delete any without affecting the other.
     
  4. FaiKee

    FaiKee Misinformation spreader

    Jul 24, 2009
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    #4 FaiKee, Nov 10, 2013
  5. 1oo1

    1oo1 MDL Novice

    Mar 19, 2013
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    #5 1oo1, Nov 10, 2013 (OP)
    Thanks all of you. I did some searching and managed to find something.
    There's a free software called iReboot by NeoSmart Technologies which does the job really well.
     
  6. BigW

    BigW MDL Member

    Apr 25, 2010
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    #6 BigW, Nov 10, 2013
    From my own experience I only use one OS most of the time. The OS you don't use that often you can virtualize and only access it if you realy need it. In Windows 8.1 you can activate Hyper-V (if the CPU isn't that anciant and you have an decent amount of RAM) with almost all features which many proffessional compagnys rely on with there Server-VMs. Also all the services of Microsoft Azure rely on this Hypervisor. Even almost all Linux-Distros (if they aren't sabotaging Hyper-V forcefully) work on Hyper-V.

    On Windows 7 you have to look at software like VmWare or VirtualBox (there are also others).
     
  7. Windows Fan

    Windows Fan MDL Senior Member

    Mar 6, 2012
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    #7 Windows Fan, Nov 10, 2013
    Fastest way:

    Open Charms bar -> click on settings -> click on power-> hold down SHIFT key and click on restart.

    Now you will get a choice to select other OS to boot.
     
  8. e_sentinel

    e_sentinel MDL Novice

    Mar 3, 2009
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    #8 e_sentinel, Nov 10, 2013
    How about this : Charms bar > Change PC settings > Updates and recovery > Recovery > "Advanced startup" --> Restart now > "Choose another operating system" --> Windows 7.

    It'll boot straight to Windows 7. :)