Windows – Should I install the Windows 8 Developer Preview on top of Windows 7

windows-8-preview

I've installed the Windows 8 Developer Preview on a separate partition, and it seems fine enough to keep. Now I'm wondering if it's worth installing on top of my original installation.

I really don't want to mess up my original installation, so I have a few questions:

Has anyone already done this?
Is doing so a bad idea?
Is it easy to go back if I don't like it?
Does it expire at any time?

Best Answer

Simple answer... No! You should not install it on top of an older version of Windows.

Has anyone already done this by any chance?
Yes - This guy did and he regretted his actions.

Is doing so a bad idea?
Yes - It isn't even beta yet. Even then it's not a good idea.

Is it easy to go back, if I don't like it?
No - It's not possible.

Get the Windows 8 Developer Preview boot menu back.

Start from the Windows 8 Developer Preview installation medium.
Optionally, choose your keyboard settings.
Hit SHIFT+F10 to enter the command prompt.
Execute bootrec /fixmbr to update the main boot record just to be sure, partitions will remain.
Execute bootrec /fixboot to update the boot sector of the system partition.
Execute bootrec /scanos to add known OSes to the boot configuration data.

Get it to list Windows XP.

Execute bootrec /rebuildbcd, this will rebuild the boot configuration data.
If that doesn't work, reboot and use bcdedit from Windows 8 Developer Preview like this:
```
bcdedit /create {ntldr} /d "Windows XP"

bcdedit /set {ntldr} device partition=X:

bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr

bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} /addlast
```
Please note that you need to right click the Command Prompt tile, then click on advanced in the lower right corner and then click on Run As Administrator. Replace X: by your XP partition.

This is native unlike EasyBCD, so the chance is higher that it would work more properly...

Good luck!

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Windows – How to install Windows 8 Developer Preview on VirtualBox in Ubuntu

Windows – How to get the Windows 8 boot loader back and also list both Windows XP and Windows 7

Get the Windows 8 Developer Preview boot menu back.

Get it to list Windows XP.

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