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Dual Boot Windows 8, 7
Purchased 3 Inspiron 15's from Dell, came with a version of windows 8 that I can't add to a domain. The organisation does not want to purchase an additional OS, so I have to find a way to make it work. We have windows 7 licences. I am trying to make them dual boot. Here's what I have done so far.
1. Created a partition where i want to install win 7
2. Disabled UEFI
3. Rebooted with win 7 disk, started the installation process got stuck at selecting partition to install OS. Error message: windows cannot be installed to this disk the selected disk is of the gpt partition style.
Please help, cause i'm stuck.
Thanks
DELL-Amogh G
1.5K Posts
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July 9th, 2013 14:00
Hi cambernard,
Operating system cannot be installed on GPT partition when UEFI mode is disabled. You may choose the option of UEFI mode enabled and secure boot disabled. You should be able to install Windows 7 on the new partition with these settings.
Hope this helps. Please feel free to reply for any further assistance.
kirkd
5.2K Posts
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July 9th, 2013 19:00
You can not easily do a dual boot using Win 7 after Win 8 is installed. Win 7 does not recognize win 8. You need to repartition the drive, install Win 7 first, them Win 8. I had seen years ago a procedure for doing XP or Vista after Win 7, but don't have the link. You could search the web for some help here.
I don't believe Amogh is correct. Usually UEFI needs to be disabled to install optional operating systems.
theflash1932
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July 9th, 2013 21:00
I think what Amogh was saying is that if the disk is GPT, it can only boot in UEFI mode. Turning UEFI off will cause the GPT disk to be unusable by any OS (as a BOOT disk). So, you will need to turn UEFI off, then convert the disk to MBR, then install 7, then 8.
kirkd
5.2K Posts
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July 10th, 2013 00:00
No, a GPT drive WILL boot if UEFI is disabled. What I'm not sure of is if the OS need to be installed with UEFI disabled. I had an OS problem and needed to disable UEFI before a Win 8 OS disk would boot in order to re-install Win 8 on a 2TB GPT drive. The UEFI was NOT re-enabled but no problem with booting to Win 8.
theflash1932
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July 10th, 2013 09:00
Q. Can Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008 read, write, and boot from GPT disks? (Windows 8 and Servers 2008R2 and 2012 can be added to this list.)
A. Yes, all versions can use GPT partitioned disks for data. Booting is only supported for 64-bit editions on UEFI-based systems.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/gg463525.aspx