Install & Run Windows 8 Consumer Preview Inside Windows 7 free

Last week Microsoft has launchedWindows 8 Consumer Previewversion after the first edition which was for Developers only. You can Download Windows 8 Developers Preview from here. Windows 8 is the operating system which fully supports touch screen devices and that’s why its getting popularity and hype. You can download Windows 8 Consumer Preview absolutely free via official Microsoft website.

You than have 2 option either dual boot it with Windows 7 or upgrade your Windows 7 to Windows 8. As this is beta version and it may not be a stable version so you may like to test it within your Windows 7 operating system. So today we look how we can install and run Windows 8 Consumer Preview inside Windows 7 with the help of Virtual Box.

First we need to download and install VirtualBox in order to run windows 8 side by side with Windows 7. VirtualBox is a free software same like Parallel which is used to run Windows on Mac system. please make sure that your computer has enough resources to run two heavy operating systems together and you will at-least need 2 GB of RAM in order to run both smoothly.

Download and Configure VirtualBox.

1. Download Virtualbox from official website and install it on your system with default settings.

2. Run the software and click New button, enter name Windows 8, select amount of RAM and create a fresh 20Gb start-up disk. After that select VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image) option and click continue button.

3. Now select Dynamically Allocated option and Finish the wizard. Now you will see your newly created Virtual Box image in the software. Just Right click on it and select settings.

4. In settings you will see a Storage tab just click on it. Now browse for ISO file of Windows 8 consumer preview you downloaded earlier and select Choose a “Virtual box CD/DVD disk” option as your CD/DVD drive.

Installing Windows 8 Inside Windows 7.

After doing all the above mention steps carefully you should see a Windows 8 installation screen now. Installing process is some what the same as you install it normally.

1. Now first choose language, your currency, keyboard format and click on Install Now button Install.

2. Next screen will demand you a Windows 8 Consumer Preview key which is DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J for all.

3. Don’t choose upgrade option this time as you are installing in Virtual mode. Select Custom Install Windows only and it will take you to the next step.

4. Now it will show up the 20GB hard-disk partition we created earlier, just select it and Next continue button.

Congratulations you have successfully started installing Windows 8 within Windows 7 via VirtualBox. It will take some time so be relaxed and grab a hot cup of tea. After the installation will complete you can enjoy the features of both worlds. Now when ever you have to use Windows 8 just run VirtualBox and from the menu Click on Windows 8 icon or you can create a Shortcut icon so that you can launch it from Desktop too.