How should I double boot Win 8.1 & Win 10 when it comes out?

Hi!

I have a laptop with Windows 8.1 and I'm very happy w/ Win 8.1 but will like to install Win 10 final version when it comes out June 29th or LATER. I'm not comfortable doing an upgrade on Win 8.1 since this is my only computer and I have quite alot of data and programs. I will backup my data and programs installed and maybe do an image.

My idea is to partition my only drive on the laptop and install Win 10 on the second partition then hopefully doubleboot Win 8.1 and Win 10.

I will like to create a LOCAL USER Account (which I saw in one of the tutorials you posted with Win 10 preview which is very helpful.

My laptop has Win 8.1 as OEM and I have gotten the MS WindowsOS code from the BIOS, would I be able to do a clean install of Win 10 on the second partition?

Is there any recommended free programs that I can use to partition the drive and have no problem installing Win 10?
If after 6mo-1yr I feel comfortable with Win 10 then I will probably boot into Win 10 then erase the Win 8.1 partition and merge the partitions ending only with Win 10.

What happens with the recovery partition that is already installed from the manufacturer to restore Win 8.1? If I run into trouble booting Win 10 will that trigger the recovery partition of Win 8.1 to erase Win 10 and re-install Win 8.1?

Is it possible to have 2 recovery partitions one for Win 8.1 and one for Win 10 and each OS will know what to repair?

I like to hear from people that have experience with dual booting WinOS since I'm a neewbie

Toshiba laptop
i7 core , 2.4GHz
64bit OS
8Gb of RAM
HDD 750Gb

Thanks!

You should be able to Dual Boot with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, but, you should check if your PC have Secure Boot enabled. In case it does, you may need to disable it. Windows 8.1 can bypass it, but I wouldn't take the risk.

Important note: You can't use the upgrade promotion to dual boot your PC. The free upgrade will replace your Windows 8.1. In other words, if you want want to dual boot Windows 8.1 and 10, you will need a license for Windows 10. Though, if you install Windows 10 Insider Preview (by joining the Windows Insider Program), you can install Windows 10 without a license and Dual Boot until the release. Within the release, you may be asked to enter a license.

Update: Just found this perfect tutorial for you: Windows 10 - Dual Boot with Windows 7 or Windows 8 - Windows 10 Forums

You said:
"f your PC have Secure Boot enabled. In case it does, you may need to disable it. Windows 8.1 can bypass it, but I wouldn't take the risk."

Why not? If enabling Secure boot is done through the BIOS/UEFI, the worst thing that can happen is the laptop won't boot . In that case I should be able to again re activate Secure Boot in the same way that I disabled it, and I should be good to go in booting Win 8.1 unless something more gets screwed-up that I don't know about. right ????

1) What if I partition my single hdd drive then
2) make an image of my Win 8.1 OS from the first partition to an external HDD drive
3) Do an upgrade of Win 8.1-->Win 10 then
4) instal unto the second partition Win 8.1 from the image present on my external drive
5) re-activate Secure Boot ???

Would the BIOS or whatever low level code check for a conflict in the Win 8.1 and Win 10 having the same serial number license?
Would the computer recognize this as a double boot operating system? Would the bootloader have difficulties?

Thanks

PS thanks for the link to the tutorial

(O.O That's a lot of questions)

I never tried (or though) about duplicating a partition with a Windows installation. Interesting idea. Though, Windows in one of the partition may not be able to activate, because the license is already activated on the other partition.

It may not Dual Boot automatically, but you should be able to add the second partition to the Boot order, but that would be a bit complicated.

About the Secure Boot, as I understood from the tutorial, you need to disable it only for the installation process, and once you're done, you can re-enable it. As I understood from a news post, Windows 8.1 can bypass Secure Boot and allow you to create Dual Boot without disabling the Secure Boot while Windows 10 won't be able. Since you're installing Windows 10 as the second OS, Windows 8.1 might bypass the Secure Boot even if you won't disable it. Either way, I never tried to install a secondary OS - when the primary OS is Windows 8.1 - without disabling the Secure Boot, which is why I said that I wouldn't take the risk.

I wonder if using a different bootloader like Chameleon and multibeast would allow both OSes to boot even if they have the same license similar to what tthey use to boot Linux or even MacOS on a hackintosh pc at tonymac site .

The issue about the license isn't about booting, it's about the fact that one of the Windows won't activate, and you will be asked to activate, or enter a new license. 3rd party bootloaders won't help.

windows 10 will require an prior version of windows 7 or windows 8 /8.1..

First off - create a factory recovery drive - either via OEM tool or control panel > recovery > create a recovery drive
those tools create the recovery media - once created to USB you can save all those files to a folder.. This will allow you to recover your PC back to the factory windows...

Windows 10 upgrade will knock out your factory recovery - so will repartitioning your HDD
But as long as the partitions stay intact - it is possible to repair the factory recovery option..

there is a way to upgrade via a dual boot - you will need to use Aomei partition assistant > http://www.aomeisoftware.com/downloa...Assist_Std.exe

and use it to shrink your C drive by 75-150GB and then move your recovery image partition 6-20GB partition toward the C partition.
Leaving the 75-150GB free space at the end of the drive and then create the final partition at the end of the drive ( as the last partition) this should keep the factory recovery intact as the factory partitions are still in the same order.. you just moved them, but kept the same layout..

Now download and create windows 8.1 media > http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...-refresh-media
Install windows 8.1 on the last partition, the one you just created 75-150GB

Now you have a dual boot windows 8.1 PC - then you can upgrade one of the windows 8.1 versions to windows 10, get the new activation of windows 10 which will be tied to and for your PC

Which can then be used to clean install windows 10 - if you ever wanted..

Note: it has been stated by MS that once the upgrade has been activated - clean installs will be allowed..

Thanks Kyhi for the information!

I'll start getting things prepare for the double boot, but I guess we will all have to wait because yesterday I saw in the web an article that states that M$ will institute a new way to verify the upgrade not using the the license key. I don't know exactly what this means and probably nobody knows either unless you are an insider at M$. We will have to wait and see if M$ throws more tools or barriers into the verification of the upgrade process. It may be significant or not.

If anybody wants to comment on double booting please do so. I thank you very much for the info.

As far as we currently understand, you will *have* to upgrade an activated, genuine install of Windows 7 or 8.x at least one time. After that, you can clean install Windows 10.

One option would be to back everything up, do the upgrade, then wipe and restore the backup, then install Windows 10 on whatever partition you want.

Microsoft will have some way of knowing that a copy of Windows 10 you are activating has already been activated on the same computer. As far as we know, they will have no technology to detect if you are also running a the original copy. However, this is not legal to do, whether or not you can technically do it.

I think it will get you in big,big,BIG trouble.Maybe you can't do it. As Microsoft can detect if 1 liscence is running on more than one pc. I suggest that you shouldn't do that. Just the insider progra...wait, Windows 10 is the last version of Windows.. :/
But, I think I have come to a conclusion, if you're not sure, don't make a desicion. Take advice from a proper expert, or microsoft (in this ase)