Creating Multiboot Windows 8 / 8.1 Without Typing Installation Keys
Dec 8, 2013
I've recently made a Windows 8 and a Windows 8.1 installation disc from the ISO images on MSDN. Each image includes Core/Core VL and Pro/Pro VL, 32 and 64 bit editions of each. I have the installation keys for all of these installations, but I don't want to have to type an installation key every time I go to use this disc. I've tried adding an installation key using WinReducer8 (which I do not recommend), but it only adds one key, which means I cannot choose which edition I want to install.
When I made my AIO Windows 7 ISO, I had no issues, as Windows 7 doesn't force you to add an installation or product key; you select your desired edition and you're good to go. Attached Image 1 shows what I'm referring to.
Now, however, Windows 8 has to choose your edition by the product key you enter (well played, Microsoft), and I want to find a way around this.
Win7 64 Test.pngWin8.png
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Apr 3, 2014
I have (perhaps I should say had) a multi-boot system. Originally I installed my 6 Windows OS's and then installed my two favorite Linux distros. I like the ability to customize the Grub menu which Linux gives me. Unfortunately Grub did not detect all 6 of my Windows installations but one of the boot options it did detect took me back into my original Windows menu which showed all 6 of the Windows systems. So that's the setup which I have been using successfully for the past few months. (One boot menu which boots into another). Today my Windows boot menu has become unusable and probably corrupt.
At first I had the problem that I was only able to boot into Windows 8.1 (no windows menu at all). Then I used EasyBCD which I had inside Windows 8.1 At first EasyBCD indicated an inability to load any boot file at all. Subsequently after rebooting into 8.1 a few times more I tried it again. It then showed a boot menu but with only Windows 8.1 listed. I subsequently was able to use the add operating system function to add all the other Windows systems again. I then clicked save to save the new configuration. Now I do see all six Windows systems at boot but neither of them, even Windows 8.1 will boot. Where I should start to get back into one of these six Windows operating systems so that I can possible use the EasyBCD repair function to access the others. I think I had EasyBCD installed inside each Windows OS At the moment I am dependent on Linux alone for Internet access. I trust this is clear.
As nothing in Linux has changed, I assume I need to fix the problem from the Windows side of things. I do have that one option when I get into that blue Windows 8 style boot menu to "change options" I thought EasyBCD would have restored the Windows 7 style text boot menu but it did not. Other than that I have the various Windows installation disks and a Win7 repair disk as well as various full partition backups on an external hard drive. What do do about a corrupt bcd file without being inside Windows, and I don't know much about EasyBCD. Would a refresh/reset of Win 8.1 from the install disk be a good way to start? I did get the message of "files missing" when I tried to do a system recovery drive while inside Windows 8.1 today, so there are issues with that OS.
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Jan 5, 2013
I have been using Windows 7 Pro (64) for several years, and today installed a newly purchased Windows 8 Pro (64) OS. I looked on-line and found many articles on how to multi-boot back to Windows 7 after installing Windows 8, and believe I have done this correctly (more below), but when booting up I do not ever see a multi-boot menu, my system boots directly into Windows 8.
When installing Win 8, I booted from my CD/DVD drive with the Win 8 OS media in the drive. (I had previously reduced the volume of my Windows 7 drive and created a new partition that I called "Windows8". ). At the appropriate time in the Win 8 install I chose "Custom", then chose the newly created "Windows 8" partition, then proceeded with the Win 8 OS install. As mentioned above, I do not see the multi-boot menu when booting up, however when in Windows 8 I can see the Windows 7 drive in "Computer", so it was not over-written.
Startup Options - Choose a Default OS to Run at Startup in Windows 8
and am wondering if I should try Options 2 through 4 (1 of)? I build my own PCs so know something about PC's, bt not much about booting to an OS.....
Another options might be installing a third party boot manager, which I have not yet done.
my reason for getting back to Win 7 is to be able to use the PC while I learn and setup Win 8 over time. I went into this believing that getting a multi-boot capability would be very easy.
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Jan 6, 2013
I have Windows 8,W7,Wxp working well in multiboot. But i have Windows 8 instaled in C:but it is the 2nd partition.How can i move it to first partition ?W7 and wxp are probably on the 1st D: partition.
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Dec 18, 2013
I had a working multiboot setup on my Acer Aspire One ZG5, running win xp, 7, 8.1, linux. I decided to add an extra partition, and in doing the resizing lost my Grub boot loader so can no longer boot into linux, but that's not important atm. I have also messed up my windows boot loader and at the moment I can only boot into win 8.1.
Win 8.1, 7 and legacy OS (xp) show in the boot menu but when I choose to boot into either xp or 7, I am presented with the message
windows failed to start
file: /ntldr
status 0xc0000225
Previously I had the message filesystem unknown , missing NTLDR, but I ran the recovery console and that message no longer appears.
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Apr 15, 2014
I want to try creating a Windows 8 installation USB on my computer and using it to try booting up and repairing my friend's computer which is stuck in recovery mode.
If I put the installation files onto my own personal flash drive and create an installation USB out of it, would I later be able to delete the files off it and continue using it as a regular flash drive?
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Dec 21, 2012
Recently did a clean install of windows 8 on my Asus K53SV and the function keys work fine except for the brightness keys.Actually, at first i loaded the windows 7 atk package and the brightness keys worked but the volume ones didn't then i got the latest atk package and now the brightness ones don't work (the lower brightness one just dims my monitor a bit and the increase brightness just makes it brighter a bit but doesn't change the brightness value) and the volume ones do.
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Sep 2, 2013
Does the retail channel keys of Windows work on Windows 8.1 RTM clean installation?
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Mar 1, 2013
I want to know if it's possible to create a clean install DVD.
with pre-installed Windows 8without product key (when I buyed the notebook Windows 8 was already installed - the personal product key is "inside" the notebook).
By the way, can I include the Windows Updates in the install DVD somehow - (and programs which should be pre-installed)?
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Aug 15, 2013
So I'm creating a Windows 8 image with custom software installed, but now i'm stuck on the next steps, I've captured the image but the below link send me in a bit of confusion on the next steps! With win 7 in the past I used to be able to just capture the image and replace the original boot.wim file. Windows 8 doesn't seem to want to let me me do that. it will boot to install but a licence key field appears and doesn't like any licence I use (VLK by the way) What steps should I try and follow next?
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Dec 8, 2013
I have a Toshiba Laptop System Model: Satellite L875D-S7332 Part Number: PSKFQU-008003 Pre Installed with Windows 8 x64. I want to create a Windows 8 x64 Install Disk.
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Aug 27, 2014
I have been doing so research lately into system imaging and deploying said image across multiple devices.
I want to image Surface Pro 3s (about 40 of them) with several dozen apps from the app store. My understanding is that if I want to use an image across multiple devices I have to use sysprep to generalize the image. The problem is any app off the app store is account specific and cannot be generalize. If you try to sysprep with apps installed you will get a Fetal Error, and you cant install apps from the store while in audit mode either.
Are there any options available to me, or will this have to be done manually?
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Nov 15, 2012
I'd like to disable the Fn keys on my new HP latop. Or, better said, I'd like to have F1-F12 functionality normally, and when I press Fn, the Active Key Mode (screen brightness, audio, etc) is used. This was super simple in a BIOS environment and damn near impossible in a UEFI environment.
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Sep 13, 2013
At the beginning, when I have started to setup windows 8 ,everything goes okay until the product key, I get an error message saying 'We couldn't verify the product key. Check the installation media'
And I had tried to install windows 8 on another PC with having same product key then I have noticed the product key has worked on that Pc! and not working on my PC.
So I have tried several times to enter lots of keys. why my PC is not verify any product keys?
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Jun 29, 2014
I just bought a Laptop with Windows 8.1 it does not come with an install disk and the supplier flat-out refused to provide one, pointing me to the recovery partition saying that was all I needed.
The recovery program just reinstalls, losing data and does not have Windows trouble shooting options as found on the Windows 8 install disk. How do I create a Windows 8.1 install disk.
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Mar 16, 2012
Since a few days, I owned a new WeTab to play around with different tablet operating systems.
I'd like to install Windows 8, Android and Ubuntu in parallel and use the new GUI bootloader from Win8 to choose what to boot.
I started with installing Win8 and installed EasyBCD to modify the bootloader. A little test configuration shows the correct function of it.
When I start to intstall Android the fist time, everything was fine, but after installing ubunto the Windows 8 Bootloader turnd from GUI to text mode.
also
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
common Win8DVD repairoptions
can switch back to GUI mode
is there a trick to get the GUI back, because without Keyboard on the tablet it's quite hard to select an option :)
Ad. Info:
WeTab with 80GB SSD, 2GB RAM
Partition:
sda1 ntfs 350MB Windows Bootloader
sda2 ntfs 20GB Windows Partition
sda3 ext2 200MB /boot for Ubuntu
sda4 extended partition
sda5 swap 4GB /swap for Ubuntu
sda6 ext4 20GB / for Ubuntu
sda7 ext3 4GB / for Android
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May 14, 2014
xboot free application does not make windows 2000 work with this method. Magic ISO Maker v5.5 I do not understand well. Any way to create this, probably manually?
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Apr 2, 2014
I have (perhaps I should say had) a multi-boot system. Originally I installed my 6 Windows OS's and then installed my two favorite Linux distros. I like the ability to customize the Grub menu which Linux gives me. Unfortunately Grub did not detect all 6 of my Windows installations but one of the boot options it did detect took me back into my original Windows menu which showed all 6 of the Windows systems. So that's the setup which I have been using successfully for the past few months. (One boot menu which boots into another). Today my Windows boot menu has become unusable and probably corrupt. At first I had the problem that I was only able to boot into Windows 8.1 (no windows menu at all). Then I used EasyBCD which I had inside Windows 8.1 At first EasyBCD indicated an inability to load any boot file at all. Subsequently after rebooting into 8.1 a few times more I tried it again. It then showed a boot menu but with only Windows 8.1 listed. I subsequently was able to use the add operating system function to add all the other Windows systems again. I then clicked save to save the new configuration.
Now I do see all six Windows systems at boot but neither of them, even Windows 8.1 will boot. Where I should start to get back into one of these six Windows operating systems so that I can possible use the EasyBCD repair function to access the others. I think I had EasyBCD installed inside each Windows OS At the moment I am dependent on Linux alone for Internet access. I trust this is clear. As nothing in Linux has changed, I assume I need to fix the problem from the Windows side of things. I do have that one option when I get into that blue Windows 8 style boot menu to "change options" I thought EasyBCD would have restored the Windows 7 style text boot menu but it did not. Other than that I have the various Windows installation disks and a Win7 repair disk as well as various full partition backups on an external hard drive. What do do about a corrupt bcd file without being inside Windows, and I don't know much about EasyBCD. Would a refresh/reset of Win 8.1 from the install disk be a good way to start? I did get the message of "files missing" when I tried to do a system recovery drive while inside Windows 8.1 today, so there are issues with that OS.
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Oct 28, 2012
I changed my new HP laptop to windows 8 yesterday. love the OS except when i try to type. the cursor moves all over the place, stalls and sometimes even disappear. this didnt happen with windows 7 at all. i know there is a touchpad issue. i have disabled the touchpad (i use a wireless use) and it came back on. i then removed the driver for the touchpad and it still works. i have resorted to downloading a program that "locks" the touchpad when the keyboard is used and none of these have worked. four times while writing this i have had keyboard issues.
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Feb 4, 2013
I have Win 7 Ultimate ISO 32 bit without ei.cfg file,so basically it is Win 7 AIO ISO without Enterprise edition.Also have Win 8 AIO ISO 32 bit containing Core,Pro,Pro with WMC and Enterprise created manually using the thread here in MDL.How to create a Multiboot USB containing both Win 7 and Win 8 AIO ISO's 32 bit only?
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Jan 5, 2014
Ok I have a Alienware M17XR2 laptop. I just installed windows 8.1 from a formatted start. Got most of the drivers functioning. I have an unknown device which I will address in another thread. Anyway my keyboard lags sometimes while I am typing fast. Never did that on my Windows 7. I'm running 64 bit as well.
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Mar 21, 2014
I am using windows 8 and when i am typing in a doc or browser or where ever a window keeps popping up asking me to add an email accounts. How do I stop this from happening?
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Sep 21, 2013
My login service is locked up, keeping me from getting into either of my profiles, and I'm in the process of using User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded. - Windows 7
But, because Windows 8 must have a safe mode set up, I have to do other things first. Now that I've got to using the command prompt to add the safe mode, the P key is constantly being pressed, making it nearly impossible to type anything accurately. It would take countless hours to type things right or cause more problems if I go on with it.
I cannot log into any accounts.
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Mar 19, 2014
I am having trouble with moving my cursor. When ever I hold down any key, I cannot move my cursor around on the desktop, but I can move it if I hold down the CTRL key. I have a Synaptics PS/2 Port Touchpad and a Standard PS/2 Keyboard, & I have a Windows 8.1 HP Laptop. I also had a similar problem like this before, but instead of not being able to move my cursor, I was unable to click. However, I am able to click while typing, but cannot move the cursor. I am not sure when the problem occurred or how it happened.
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Jun 2, 2014
I find when I press the Windows key, or open the Start Screen and start typing, nothing happens. Usually the sidebar opens with search results, but recently it has stopped working completely. Also, the search charm on the sidebar, and the search button on the Windows 8.1 (update) Start Screen do not work either--when I press them, nothing happens.
At first I thought it was a Windows Search service that had stopped working, so I restarted them, but the problem persisted.
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Aug 13, 2013
I want to remove dell touchpad permanently from my inspiron 17r 5721 OS: windows8
The darn thing jumps all over while typing and it has made me not even want to use my computer it is so obnoxious. It deletes my typed info and opens windows ...
I tried to remove and uninstall but it just keeps putting it back on and refuses to stay closed. I have tried to reduce sensitivity and do everything recommended to resolve this by adjusting through the driver / device manager/ etc.... right now I have it fully uninstalled and it is still running! what the heck can i do?
NOTHING WORKS!!!
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Jun 12, 2014
For long time now I have been using the below program for my web designing and it has worked perfectly up to and including Windows 7. I just got a Windows 8 laptop and now the program crashes or hangs whenever I start to type I get maybe 1 or 2 characters out and then it hangs.
I saw a similar post in the Win 7 forum but there was no final answer or solution and it was posted quite some time ago. The only response to the user was to check the Event Viewer. So I tried that and the below is what I got back but unsure what to do with this info.
I am using a now no longer supported version of this program I even tried mailing them and they refuse to do any sort of update. So the software people won't do anything to try and resolve this issue so that is why I am hoping I can fix the issue. And the newer version stinks so refuse to use the newer version.
This is the program
[URL]
the info I got back from Event Viewer stated
System - Provider [ Name] Application Hang - EventID 1002 [ Qualifiers] 0 Level 2 Task 101 Keywords 0x80000000000000 - TimeCreated [ SystemTime] 2014-06-10T16:30:45.000000000Z EventRecordID 15593 Channel Application Computer Computer's name Security
- EventData arach.exe 4.0.0.5310 3408 01cf84c900ffb201 3 C:Program Files (x86)Arachnophiliaarach.exe 84909a69-f0bc-11e3-826f-c4346b014585 55006E006B006E006F0077006E0000000000
[code]....
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Jun 25, 2013
Whenever there is a text box a black bar appears and I can only remove it by pressing Del or Ins. remove it.
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Mar 31, 2013
Today, my windows 8 desktop acted up for no reason. When I tried to install a program/software, it prompted for an Admin. Password. However, in the dialog box, there was no text box for typing in the Administrator password and OK button was grey out.
Tried to open an elevated command prompt box using "Run as administrator", no luck. Selection was grey out too. I could not enable hidden administrator account via "net user administrator /active:yes" from elevator command prompt. I also could not install any software because the Administrator password dialog box contains no text box to enter Admin password and OK button grey out. I could only clicked the Cancel button.
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Mar 15, 2014
I am being driven mad by the clicking sound every time I do a keystroke on my wireless keyboard, how do I turn it off? Have disabled windows sounds so none play. I have gone into typing in PC settings and the turn sounds off is not there.
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Sep 12, 2013
Can I somehow copy the hidden activation files from Windows 8.0 Pro WMC to a Windows 8.1 Pro WMC installation and get it activated?! I have legit keys for Pro 8.0 with WMC but I would like to make a fresh install on a different system but with 8.1... any workarounds or do I just have to wait for windows update to get 8.1 and then copy the activation files... ?
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