Win 8 - Keeping Win 7

[rocketboy]

So I want to install Win 8 on a new HD and keep Win 7 on my existing HD.
If I upgrade my Win 7 is it correct to assume that Win 8 will replace it?

I also have some old Vista and XP licenses. Should I just install them fresh and do an immediate upgrade on that to get a Win 8 on a new drive? That would be cheaper than buying a full license.

 

[Mystictrust]

So I want to install Win 8 on a new HD and keep Win 7 on my existing HD.
If I upgrade my Win 7 is it correct to assume that Win 8 will replace it?

Yeah. You don't want to select the "Upgrade" option you want to select the "Custom (advanced)" install option. It'll then ask you what drive/partition you want to install Windows 8 on.

I also have some old Vista and XP licenses. Should I just install them fresh and do an immediate upgrade on that to get a Win 8 on a new drive? That would be cheaper than buying a full license.

I may not be completely clear on what you're asking, but you shouldn't have to install a version of Windows on a new drive just to be able to install the upgrade version on it. I believe it just checks to see if Windows is installed on your computer somewhere. If installing your new drive at the same time as Windows 8, maybe to be sure, access the drive at least once from Windows 7, write a file or two on it (likely not necessary, but it couldn't hurt)

 

[Cornbean7077]

You can upgrade with the Upgrade Advisor, and then either install on a USB drive, which is what I did, or burn to a CD. Then just boot into one of those and it will install. I just bought and installed it on my other partition for Windows 8, my other partition is for Windows 7, and it is working flawlessly. I hope I have helped in any way!!

 

[berty6294]

Not so fast, there is a discounted price that works for upgrade only i thought. They were selling upgrades and full OS. I think if you are using the full OS than just install to a certain partition. If upgrade i think you have to upgrade then if you have win7 recovery dvds you can install that to a certain partition.

I could be wrong about the full and upgrade part, but i believe that is how i heard it

 

[Mystictrust]

Not so fast, there is a discounted price that works for upgrade only i thought. They were selling upgrades and full OS. I think if you are using the full OS than just install to a certain partition. If upgrade i think you have to upgrade then if you have win7 recovery dvds you can install that to a certain partition.

I could be wrong about the full and upgrade part, but i believe that is how i heard it

A long time ago when I ordered Windows 7 through the discount program for students, I was given the Windows 7 upgrade disc. I was running XP at the time, so just installed to a separate partition.

Unless things have changed for this version.

 

[imeobong]

If you wanna use the same computer but different hard drive partitions and two os's, then you need to have a physical cd so that you can install it on a different partition. To make a different partition, just search through bing and you will find plenty of people who are more knowledgeable than me that will walk you through it.

 

[rocketboy]

Interesting

Ok I didn't know that you could burn the Win 8 upgrade to a CD/DVD. That helps.
However, are people saying that the license key for Win 7 isn't deactivated with the upgrade purchase of Win 8? I just assumed that it was one OS or the other. That you essentially traded in your Win 7 license for a Win 8.

Just to be clear I want to purchase the $40 upgrade, but want to do a clean install on my secondary drive so I have Win7 on one HD and Win8 on the other. It sounds like this is possible by choosing a "Burn to disc" option somewhere along the way in the setup wizard.

Thanks.