I have a Windows 8 desktop and I want to install Windows 7 inside of it. How
do I do that?
In this excerpt from
Answercast #86, I look at Virtual Machine technology and how it allows you
to run multiple operating systems on one computer.
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Install Windows 7 within Windows 8
That’s exactly what a virtual machine is designed to do.
If you take a look at my article, “Virtual machines: what are they?” it will tell you what virtual machines are at a conceptual level. But, very simply, they are an entire machine within a window on your desktop.
So, what you would do is you would get virtual machine technology. I happen to use Parallels Desktop, but there are definitely others including VMware and a couple of others.
They will then allow you to create a “Virtual Machine” which would then start as if you were setting up a new PC from scratch — in a window.
So what that means is you would need your Windows 7 installation media and you would run Windows 7 set up in that virtual machine. After you’re done, on your Windows 8 machine, you would have a virtual machine running, in a window, that’s running Windows 7.
Or the other way around…
In my case, I happen to run Windows 7 on my machine. I have virtual machines that run: Windows 8, another copy of Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP and even Ubuntu – usually for researching various questions.
So it’s a wonderful technology. I encourage you to research it and look into it but it sounds like it solves exactly the problem that you’re asking about.
(Transcript lightly edited for readability.)
Next from Answercast 86- How do I get rid of Google Redirect/YellowMoxie?
Have you had a chance to research Windows 8 Hyper-V? It sounds a lot like what you’re describing for a virtual machine. Here’s a link to a PCworld Article http://lm.pcworld.com/t/3681761/56749078/353297/0/
I downloaded windows 8, $39.95, and I’m sorry that I did! I don’t know if I am too old or they are making 8 more complicated? I currently nd have an Apple 4S I-phone and a Samsung 7″ Android tab. Knowing them did not help me in trying to work in this new ??????, this is not an upgrade, it is a totally different type of system!
How does activation work when you are setting up a virtual machine? If you are using the OS from a different computer in your virtual machine, won’t that look like a completely different computer? Will it activate? Will it cause troubles down the line for your other computer whose OS you used?