Install Windows 8 on another drive rather than the default C: drive

[messi-m]

I have downloaded the Windows 8 consumer preview to install it in my computer. The basic setup that I have on my hard disk is of four drives. The C drive has Windows 7 installed in it. The D drive and the E drive have all the other data in my computer. I have F drive which I don’t use much and I would like to have Windows 8 in that drive. I wanted to know if it is possible to have Windows 8 and Windows 7 in separate drives. If yes, how do I do it? Also if I install some application from Windows 7, then will it also be available in Windows 8 for use? Can someone help me with my doubts?

[Tech^Geek]

You can have two different operating system in two different drives of your hard disk. I have tried it with Windows 8 itself. During installation of Windows 8 on your system, you will be provided with options to upgrade the existing system or to choose the Custom way to install the operating system. In the Custom installation system, you will be given option to choose the desired drive in which you want to install Windows 8. If you have two operating systems in your computer, you will be given options to choose one of the two operating systems during the startup. Thus, you will have multi-boot environment in your computer. To get the applications and the programs that you have installed in Windows 7 in Windows 8, you will need to create the backup of the drive in which Windows 7 has been installed. Once you get the backup of the first drive, copy it in the second drive. This will ensure the same applications’ presence in second operating system. But it might happen that first drive to which your operating system was related, in your case, Windows 7, might get redirected to the second drive too. You will have to set the startup drive for the operating system then. Another problem is that any software in the backup of first drive that might be incompatible with the second operating system, then it will not work.

[Elias Blackman]

It is good that you are installing the Windows 8 consumer preview in a separate drive. This operating system is provided to people just for trial use and it will expire at a time that is set. I don’t think that it is preferable to copy all the data form Windows 7 to Windows 8 due to this reason. If you want to test some specific application, than you can just install that individually. Also Windows 8 consumer preview is an incomplete version of the original operating system so maybe it might not be compatible with every application and software you put in it. Chances of Windows 8 crashing frequently are more, so if you have installed it in the separate or spare drive, it won’t affect other operating system in any way. It will be much better to use Windows 8 consumer preview in the virtual OS machines like VMWare for now.