Rick Broida
Windows 8 is coming.
Although you may not be jumping for joy at this fact, I'll wager
you're at least a little curious. Could the new OS make your computing
life any better? Is the new interface a boon, or more of a boondoggle?
Fortunately, you don't have to sacrifice your current PC to find out -- nor do you have to buy a new one. You can install the Windows 8 Release Preview alongside Windows 7 and take it for a full test-drive. It's simply a matter of setting up a dual-boot configuration.
Before you go one step further, make sure you have a complete backup
of your hard drive, just in case things go wrong. This is a pretty safe
operation, but you never know.
1. Partition
The first step is to create a partition on your hard drive, a chunk
of space that's reserved exclusively for Windows 8. You'll need at least
16GB, or 20GB if you're loading Windows 8 64-bit, but I recommend
giving the OS plenty of breathing room: at least 30-40GB.
PC World has covered this process many times before, so rather than repeat it here, I'll direct you to Patrick Miller's "How (and Why) to Partition Your Hard Drive."
2. Get Windows 8
Next, you'll need to download the Windows 8 Release Preview.
It's available in 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) flavors. Most modern
PCs can run the latter just fine, so that's what I recommend unless your
system is more than 3-4 years old. Whatever its age, be sure to check
Microsoft system's requirements. Likewise, make note of the product
key: TK8TP-9JN6P-7X7WW-RFFTV-B7QPF.
By far the easiest way to install Windows 8 on that new partition is
via a USB flash drive. I described this process last year in "How to Put Windows 8 on a Flash Drive," so those instructions should get you squared away.
3. Install Windows 8
Once you've loaded the Windows 8 ISO on your flash drive drive, boot
to that drive. (If your system bypasses the drive and boots straight
into Windows 7, you may have to do some tinkering in the system BIOS.
Not every PC will boot from a flash drive by default.)
This is the only really critical part of the process. After accepting the installer's software license, be sure to choose Custom, not Upgrade. Next you'll see a list of available partitions; click Drive options (advanced), then select the unallocated space you created earlier.
Now, click New from the drive options icons. By default, it
should display the full amount of the selected partition, in which case
go ahead and click Apply.
Finally, click Next to begin the installation process. This will take
about 20 minutes, after which your system will boot Windows 8 and run
you through the usual initial-setup stuff. (You might have to remove
your flash drive so the installer doesn't try to run again. It did on my
system.)
From now on, when you boot your PC you'll see a start-up menu that
gives you a choice between Windows 7 and Windows 8 -- and it'll proceed
with booting the latter by default. If you want Windows 7 to remain the
go-to operating system, click Change defaults or choose other options while this menu is visible, then click Choose the default operating system. Easy-peasy.
And that's it! Keep in mind that this Release Preview will expire on
January 15, 2013, so you've got exactly three months to poke and prod.
Have fun!
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