Windows 8 Replacing Window 7 and 64 Bit Partitioning problem

zabberwan

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I have a system with Windows 7 Pro x64 on it (came with it) with a full Windows 7 Installation DVD. It has a 500 GB drive with an 8 GB RAM. I partitioned it with AOMEI to give me an extra 100 GB primary drive.

On this I wanted to install a Windows 8.1 (x64). But it just wouldn't let me. However, It lets me install a Windows 8.1 (32 Bit) OS. Did I or AOMEI goof up the partitioning process?

I want to eventually remove Windows 7 and merge its space and move all files required folders/files etc. to the new partition. So what happens about the 64 bit constellation?

I know I can always remove Windows 8.1 32Bit as there is nothing else installed as yet and I finally want to have a Windows 8.1 64Bit installation.

How do I go about this business now and when it is done, how to get rid of Windows 7 and merge that partition back to have a single partition?
 
Solution
I think I understand what you are trying to do; and it sounds like you may be confused about what Windows8 does to the hard drive. It's always best to do a reinstall of the newest Windows OS version, and THEN reinstall a 2nd partition space with the older version of Windows; in this case Win7. It's a really bad idea to run both Win7 and Win8 on the same physical hard drive as it then becomes a single point of failure for BOTH OSes!

You may wish to do this as an experiment, but then you mention you want to eventually migrate from Win7 to Win8 anyway-kind of a big waste of time IMO. If you do want to do this experiment, make sure to back up your data, as it's gonna be a high-risk maneuver with low success rates. It's...
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zabberwan said:
On this I wanted to install a Windows 8.1 (x64). But it just wouldn't let me.
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Sounds like this program has issues dealing with multiple partitions and installations.
zabberwan said:
64 bit constellation?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what you're talking about here.

If you have Windows 8.1, why don't you do a clean install from the installation media and erase both partitions? It sounds to me that this program is more trouble than its worth. On the plus side, you will know with almost near certainty that all of your storage space has been properly allocated. The problem with freeing up the space and just having one partition again is that Windows 7 is likely written to the part of the disk which is before your other installation. So you will have Partition 1 (Primary) -> Partition 2 (Secondary).

You would have to move Partition 2, in most cases, sector-by-sector, to the place Partition 1 occupies, at the beginning of the disk. This will not only confuse Windows, but likely the boot loader, as well as the file system. There are some software programs designed to do this, but they are a piece of crap, and by the time you are done, it may not even work. It is a process that takes a long grind just to save, what? Some data you could store in the cloud or on a USB flash drive? If it was absolutely imperative you needed to do this partition game, I would still look at other options if you only want one operating system. Like backing up everything and just doing a clean install.

Best to re-install! But I thought you were never able to install Windows 8? Either way, you should back up your important data and just perform a clean installation of your operating system. Use the advanced option when selecting the disk you want to install to and delete all of the partitions and their associated data/file systems.
 
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Hi Mike,
Many thanks for your response. I may not have explained myself clearly.
When I made a second partition (with Dual Booting in mind) I could not install a 64-Bit Version of Windows 8.1 on the new partition.
A 32-Bit Version yes, but not a 64-Bit Version. Why?
Originally, this was a huge partition which has a 64-Bit Version of Windows 7.
Alternatively, I can of course make a Back-up and then install as you suggest.

Regards
 
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I think I understand what you are trying to do; and it sounds like you may be confused about what Windows8 does to the hard drive. It's always best to do a reinstall of the newest Windows OS version, and THEN reinstall a 2nd partition space with the older version of Windows; in this case Win7. It's a really bad idea to run both Win7 and Win8 on the same physical hard drive as it then becomes a single point of failure for BOTH OSes!

You may wish to do this as an experiment, but then you mention you want to eventually migrate from Win7 to Win8 anyway-kind of a big waste of time IMO. If you do want to do this experiment, make sure to back up your data, as it's gonna be a high-risk maneuver with low success rates. It's much better to attempt this with a 2nd physical hard drive for the 2nd OS for above said reasons.

The answer to your question has to do with 1 of 2 things; and that's usually that whenever Microsoft does an update on their Windows (major version udpate), then spend a great deal of money writing propietary code onto the boot tracks (track 0 and track1) of the hard drive with the newest Windows version. Each time they change Windows they modify the technique to defeat hackers who try to use illegal methods to bypass Windows licensing. Essentially, that's what you are trying to do by installing the new version--Win8--onto the same boot partition as the existing Windows version--Win7. Assuming that you've been able to use your LEGIT Windows8 installation media on another 64-bit machine and successfully clean-install Win8, this is most likely your problem. The program you mention, AOMEI, as Mike says is somewhat sketchy, and I've never had luck with it myself.

Basically, you are doing the dual-boot thing backwards, and as far as Windows is concerned (Win8) you are trying to defeat the M$ licensing protection; so it won't install the correct version. And this is assuming you've actually tested your Win8 64bit disc on a different computer and it works. Does that Microsoft disc state 64bit on the label somewhere?? Are you positive you don't have the Win8 32bit disc? They sometimes are not labeled, and they can both come in the same retail packaging.

Hope that helps.

Best of luck,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>
 
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Solution
You should be able to have 4 primary partition in a physical HDD hence booting up from 4 different OS. I agree with BIGBEARJEDI, you might have a Win 8 32bit OS. You can upgrade from Win 7 to Win 8 without losing any data or programs and if you want both OSs why don't you use a virtual machine?
 
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