Setup dual boot on Surface Pro 3?

[OhPinchy]

I have just gotten a Surface Pro 3 i5 256GB SSD 8GB RAM model. I would like to create a new partition to keep the Win 8 partition to 80GB and then use the remaining space for a second OS installation - I plan to put my workplace enterprise installation on it. That way, I can use the enterprise OS for work, and then use the consumer installation for personal stuff.

Other option would be to put a second, personal profile on a single OS installation, though I'll be having kids playing games on it etc. so preference would be to completely separate work and personal accounts.

I've gone into Disk Management via Control Panel and I see 4 partitions: 360MB Recovery partition; 200MB EFI partition; 5.08GB recovery partition; 232GB primary partition.

Clicking on the C: primary partition, I go to Shrink Volume and would normally expect to be able to specify size, but only have the option to shrink 583MB. It includes a note "You cannot shrink a volume beyond the point where any unmovable files are located". I have defragged the harddrive (or rather whatever Optimise does in the Disk Clean-Up tool).

Is there any way to get this setup working? And what would the consensus be - smart move to dual boot like this or no?

 

[ScottyS]

To shrink the volume of C: you'd have to disable hibernate and get rid of the "unmovable" files (hiberfil.sys, pagefile.sys and I suppose swapfile.sys). Or you can use an app like EaseUS Partition Master which has a free version that'll do what you want without all that hassle.

I can't advise re: putting your workplace enterprise installation on it. I repartitioned to make room for Win10.

 

[OhPinchy]

Thanks for your tips ScottyS, they helped get the partitions setup like I wanted and I have now installed Windows 8.1 Enterprise onto the second partition. Windows 8.1 Pro is still on the first partition, but it now always boots straight into Windows 8.1 Enterprise. There is no screen to allow selection of the OS during bootup like there used to be in a BIOS setup. Is there a way to force UEFI to offer OS selection during bootup? If so, I'll be setup just the way I was hoping.

 

[dleuen]

Not an answer to your question but have you thought about running your enterprise version of Windows in a VM instead of native install? That's probably how I would solve that particular problem. You'll loose Connected Standby with Hyper-V but you could install Virtualbox or VMware Workstation.

 

[razy60]

Thanks for your tips ScottyS, they helped get the partitions setup like I wanted and I have now installed Windows 8.1 Enterprise onto the second partition. Windows 8.1 Pro is still on the first partition, but it now always boots straight into Windows 8.1 Enterprise. There is no screen to allow selection of the OS during bootup like there used to be in a BIOS setup. Is there a way to force UEFI to offer OS selection during bootup? If so, I'll be setup just the way I was hoping.

what options do you get if you, go to charms bar - Change PC settings - update and recovery-recovery - Advanced start up- restart now. Do you get a dual boot option or not if not it suggests that your MBR might be corrupt.

 

[OhPinchy]

Hi, when I do the Advanced Start-up, I get a Choose an Option screen with Continue, Use a device, Troubleshoot, and Turn off your PC options. So looks like something should be there to allow me dual boot?

 

[OhPinchy]

dleuen, I'm not familiar with virtualization but would be very keen to learn if it may give me what I need. So I would use Windows 8.1 Pro as the primary OS and then within Windows Pro I would create a virtualized instance of Windows 8.1 Enterprise? Would that give a full or diluted Windows Enterprise experience, i.e. when I'm using Enterprise would it be just like I had booted directly into an ordinary Enterprise installation?

Are there any good guides on setting that up you'd recommend? For Enterprise, we can either install while on the corporate network or use a bootable USB key, would that be the way to install the Enterprise OS in this scenario?

 

[dleuen]

dleuen, I'm not familiar with virtualization but would be very keen to learn if it may give me what I need. So I would use Windows 8.1 Pro as the primary OS and then within Windows Pro I would create a virtualized instance of Windows 8.1 Enterprise? Would that give a full or diluted Windows Enterprise experience, i.e. when I'm using Enterprise would it be just like I had booted directly into an ordinary Enterprise installation?

Are there any good guides on setting that up you'd recommend? For Enterprise, we can either install while on the corporate network or use a bootable USB key, would that be the way to install the Enterprise OS in this scenario?

Yes, you basically have the idea. You could use your bootable USB key to install the enterprise OS into its own virtual machine. So that OS thinks it has its own disk and everything. One of the nice things about that is you can do what VMware calls "thin provision" on the disk where you can tell it that it has 80GB but if you only have 10GB of files in that OS it will only take up 10GB of your SSD. I think for business use you would need to pay for Virtualbox which is free for personal use.

 

[Haldi]

crap..... i'm stuck!

i used Aus Logic Disk Defrag and clicked "Defrag and Optimize" and now i can't Shrink my C: partition
i deactivated virtual memory and hibernation to get rid of pagefile.sys and hiberfile.sys that increase my space (in windows partition manager) from 11gb to 24gb which could be freed, then i pressed optimize and defrag and now i'm on 16gb which can be freed.
Other programms like Easeus Partition Master can't even shrink volume C:\
BitLocker is disabled! or at least i think so. under system settings when i click bitlocker i have to enter a key and activate it.

Anyone has an idea what i'm doing wrong?

 

[New2ToMe]

People, try and learn what you are dealing with here. Do some research and I'll try and get you started.

Do not defrag an SSD - actually Windows will know it's an SSD and only play at defrag,
That's why @Haldi is now having an issue as he used a non-smart defrag tool.

Next, you CANNOT just install a dual boot system on a UEFI BIOS device

As suggested use a Virtual Machine. RESEARCH, RESEARCH., RESEARCH.. The Pro-versions of windows come with Hyper-V. if that is too clunky then use VMWare Player or VirtualBox, all have or are free versions.
Personally I use the VMPlayer.

 

[New2ToMe]

crap..... i'm stuck!

Anyone has an idea what i'm doing wrong?

You have made a mess and you are treading a dangerous path. If you have important stuff on the device, make sure you sign in with them msoft account. Make sure you also save your BitLocker key ONLINE with your msoft account. Make sure toi sync everything you can to your OneDrive account.

Then use the msoft media installation tool (research) and start again with a clean install. During that process delete ALL partitions and let the new media install create the ones it needs.

Once it is all running again, go to the msoft Onedrive account and sync it all back.

You may be better off just to live with what you have. The media installation tool is a total wipe and reinstall of the system. Quite a daunting thing. Tread VERY carefully, or not at all.

 

[Haldi]

According to this guy it is possible to get Dual Boot running!
http://blogs.technet.com/b/jonjor/archive/2014/10/16/dual-boot-surface-3-with-windows-10.aspx

I am fully aware that defrag on a SSD is basically a stupid idea. But i'm stuck with my C:\ Partition not shrinking any more...

So what other ways than defrag can be done here? Deactivating pagefile.sys and hiberfile.sys did not really increase it by much.
There were other Windows files stuck which blocked shrinking even when 91gb are free


There are no important files on this computer, except a few documents which are backuped in the cloud. Wouldn't try this otherwise^^

i Still think bitlocker is deactivated.... might be wrong here as it says "only used drivespace is encrypted"

i'll think about the msoft media installation tool when i've accepted that all is lost and i have to reinstall windows.


i don't really like VM's... i tought about dualboot so i could try windows 10 and switch back to windows 8.1 whenever i wanted. Yes.. VM would be optimal for this... but what about the battery drain with a VM? isn't that increased? And connected standby does work?

Btw, does Hyper-V on win8.1 now support Sound and USB?