Is there a way to install 64 bit windows 8 consumer preview pack in a 32 bit operating system without booting ? If it isn't possible than what should i do ?
Installing 64 bit Windows 8
Hi Anthony! Yes there is a way to do that. You can install you Windows 8 64-bit on VirtualBox. I chose VirtualBox because mainly because it is free. To do this, you need to download the Windows 8 customer preview through the Microsoft Dev Center then save somewhere you can easily locate the file. Then download VirtualBox from Oracle. First thing to do is to run VirtualBox and click new to create a new virtual computer/machine and just name it whatever you want to call it. Next step is to choose your current operating system, so choose Microsoft Windows for the Operating system and the version is the operating system on your computer ( XP / Vista / 7). Click next and allocate RAM for your virtual machine. (You I recommend 2GB since you want to install the 64-bit version). Click next again choose the option to create a new hard disk and select VDI as the image type. You can choose Dynamically allocated if you want to be able to expand your virtual drive or fixed size to put a limit. Allocate around 20GB for the disk size selector then click create. You should now be on the VirtualBox boot screen, now choose your Windows 8 virtual computer and click on settings. Go to the System Tab and under Motherboard choose the Enable IO APIC option. For the processor enable PAE/NX. For the storage tab click IDE controller and click the empty option below it. Look for CD/DVD Drive: IDE Secondary and click the icon beside it. Select the option virtual cd/DVD disk file then look for the Windows 8 file that you downloaded awhile ago. This should let you boot from that image so that you can install it. Click ok, click your virtual machine and click start. Just let it boot, then click next and follow instructions to install it. Hope this answers your question.
Installing 64 bit Windows 8
Yes, it is very possible to install 64-bit Microsoft Windows 8 on 32-bit Microsoft Windows through VirtualBox. VirtualBox is designed to give common virtualization environment for 32-bit systems. That’s why it is possible to run any kinds of operating systems including 64-bit Microsoft Windows. When you use VirtualBox, your 32-bit Microsoft Windows will be the host and the 64-bit Windows 8 will be the guest.
But to be able to do this, you need to enable hardware virtualization on your computer because it is required for operating systems like Windows 8 and higher. Without hardware virtualization, you will not be able to install 64-bit Windows 8 on 32-bit Windows. To enable hardware virtualization on your computer, go to How to Enable Intel VT-x.
To install VirtualBox on your 32-bit Microsoft Windows host OS, go to Download VirtualBox then download and install the latest version. If you get confused which to download, click on the link next to “for Windows hosts”. Installing VirtualBox on your host OS is just like installing any other application. Once installed, you need to have an ISO file of your 64-bit Windows 8.
For the complete guide, head down to How to Install Windows 8 in VirtualBox.
