How to boot to Windows 7 from Windows 8 boot menu without a restart?

Question

I have a dual-boot system with Windows 7 and Windows 8. When I start the machine it takes me to the new Windows 8 boot menu with the blue background. Basically it looks like this:

If I select Windows 7 from that menu, the system will restart (the Acer logo is displayed again), and only then will it continue to boot to Windows 7.

I find this rather annoying (and time consuming too). Is there a way to boot to Windows 7 directly from the boot menu without restarting the computer?

Solution 1

I ran into this a while ago. Basically, the Windows 8 boot loader chains the Windows 7 boot loader after you select it. But because of how Windows 8 handles booting (by loading the OS before showing the menu), it means the computer has to reboot.

The solution is basically to have the Windows 7 bootloader chain to the Windows 8 boot loader, so it only loads it after selecting Windows 8.

Go into Windows 7 and use bcdedit.exe to change your boot loader settings. Or, if you prefer, use a GUI control panel like EasyBCD (my preferred method). This is how I did it.

In here, you can select your default entries and configure your boot loader. Since it's been several months since I've done this, I can't remember the specific steps. However, if you know how to dual-boot, I'm presuming you can figure it out. :) If someone else knows the steps off-hand, or if you figure it out, please edit the steps in here.

There's no need to install any Linux distributions or any other third-party bootloader.

Solution 2

There are two simple solutions for this issue:

1) Open the Run prompt and enter msconfig, to launch the System Configuration Dialog. In the Boot tab, choose your default OS.

2) In the boot menu, Click on Change defaults or choose other options -> Click on Choose a default operating system and click on Windows 7.

Comments

[Moab]

You think that is time consuming try booting into Safe mode for W8.

[Chin]

I see. So windows 8 loads the OS before showing the menu. That's why it takes so much time to get to the boot menu. Once in the boot menu, if I choose to boot 8 it immediately display the login screen. I used to think that it was weird, but it makes sense now.

[user3359503]

@Chin Yup. I presume they did this so that they could get the fancier graphics and mouse support (and presumably, touch support) in the bootloader itself. I figure they decided since tablets use SSDs, which boot very quickly, the tradeoff in performance would be negligible.

[Chin]

But then, will EasyBCD keep the fancy boot screen above (since I kind of like it :) )? If not, is there a way to reverse the process, i.e make the fancy boot screen display first before anything else, and only when I choose win 8 will it start to load win 8?

[user3359503]

@Chin You won't see it until after you select Windows 8 in the old text-based Windows 7 bootloader. I don't believe there's a way you can get the fancy bootloader to show without booting into the OS first. From what I can tell, the way it traps input and draws the screen depend on OS components.

[Chin]

So is this the process after I do the EasyBCD? (please corrrect me if I'm wrong) 1. Machine boot up. 2. Win 7 bootloader appears instantly, option to choose Win 7 or 8. 2.1 If choose win 7 => boot directly to win 7. 2.2 If choose win 8 => wait a bit for win 8 to load, then the fancy bootloader of win 8 appear, with the usual behavior (choice to choose 7 or 8 again, if 7 restart..., if 8 instantly shows the login screen)

[user3359503]

@Chin Yes, that's more or less the way it should work. Though personally, at that point, I'd remove Windows 7 from the Win8 bootloader menu. :)

[Indrek]

How exactly does this solve the OP's problem? Installing a Linux distro and switching a GRUB (or some other similar bootloader) will accomplish nothing the OP can't already do by simply switching to the Windows 7 bootloader.

[Indrek]

@Chin I believe if you choose Windows 8 from the Windows 7 boot menu, it'll boot to Windows 8 directly, rather than display its boot menu as well. At least that's how it worked to me with the Release Preview. Haven't used the release version, though.

[user3359503]

@Indrek That may be the case. I haven't done this since the Developer Preview, myself. :)

[Joel Coehoorn]

@Indrek yes, but the Windows 7 bootloader sucks.

[user3359503]

@Chin I realized just now that you need 2000 rep to edit answers. I can edit it in if you'd like, just let me know what you did.

[Chin]

and what will be the result of your solution? Can you elaborate?

[agirish]

If you choose Windows 7 in either of the ways, Windows will boot Windows 7 directly. It will list both the OSs in Windows 7 Boot Screen. Basically you will not see the Windows 8 Boot Screen.

[agirish]

Its a much simpler solution and involves no 3rd party apps.

[Indrek]

You're certainly free to feel that way, but that doesn't make your answer any less of a cumbersome workaround to what can much more easily be accomplished with no third-party software and no additional operating systems (as evidenced by the other answers).

[Tibi]

I think there is an option in the Windows 8 bootmenu to set the default bootloader to Windows 7, no need to use BCD or any other similar tool.