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Convert your Windows Server 2008 R2 to a

Workstation!
WINDOWS SERVER 2008 R2 TO WORKSTATION MANUAL

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win2008workstation

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Multiboot Installation
Aug

Server 2008 R2 Workstation Dual Boot, installation, Multi Boot, Server 2008, Vista, XP

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Before people switch to a completely new operating system they often want to test it for a few weeks first. This is
possible without losing your current Windows Installation (like Windows XP/ Vista / 7) by creating a multi
boot installation. Using multi boot you can select which Operating System to start after turning on the computer. As an
example we will create a dual boot installation with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 R2. Assumed is that
you already have Vista installed on a partition that uses the full harddisk.

Installation

1. Boot up your Windows Server 2008 R2 dvd. After you see the screen below, choose the approperiate settings and
click Next.

2. We will shrink the partition of the Windows that is already installed first to create some space for the new Windows
Server 2008 R2 installation. To do this click the Repair your computer link.

3. Select the Restore your computer using a system image that you created earlier option and click Next.

4. Windows will warn you that it couldnt find an image backup on your computer. Just click the Cancel button and
after that close the Re-image your computer window.

5. At the System Recovery Options screen click the Command Prompt link to open a command line window.

6. Shrink Vista partition:

a. At the command prompt first enter the diskpart command to start the Disk Management application.
b. Now execute the list volume command to view the available cd- and harddrives.
c. Select the Vista partition by executing the select volume # command where # is the volume id from the first
column.
d. Shrink the selected partition using the shrink desired=# command where # is the amount of space in MBs you
want the volume to shrink. Make sure you shrink the volume at least 14GB (14000) to have enough space to install
Windows Server 2008 R2. You can view the maximum amount you can shrink by executing the shrink
querymax command.
e. After successfully shrinking the Vista partition type exit twice to exit both the Diskpart utility and the Command

Prompt window.

7. Close the System Recovery Options screen to return to the main installation screen.

8. Back at the main installation screen click the Install now button to start the installation wizard of Windows Server
2008 R2.

9. Select the version of Windows Server 2008 R2 that says Full Installation. Dont select one of the Server Core
Installations, because then you wont have a GUI

10. If you agree to the license terms, select I accept the license terms and click Next.

11. Choose the Custom (advanced) option to create a new installation and be able to select the partition you want to
install Windows Server 2008 R2 to.

12. Select the Unallocated Space we just created using the diskpart utility by shrinking the Vista volume and
click Next to start the installation.

13. Now Windows Server 2008 R2 setup will install the selected version to your harddrive.

14. After the installation has finished the computer will restart and a message about changing your password will be
shown. Click OK.

15. You MUST type in a strong password with at least one capital letter and one number, for
example P4ssword (capital P/number four), otherwise you will get an error message saying that you doesnt comply
to the security enforcements of the domain. You can disable this strong password enforcement later. After succesfully
changing the password you will see the message that your password has succesfully been changed. Click OK. Your
desktop will now show up.

16. In the Initial Configuration Tasks window check the Do not show this window at logon to not show the Initial
Configuration Tasks at startup. You can access it later by typing oobe in Start -> Run.

17. In the Server Manager window check the Do not show me this console at logon to not show the Server
Manager at startup. You can access it later via the the Server Managershortcut in your quick launch bar or Start

menu.

Configuring Boot Menu

By default the Windows Server 2008 R2 Setup sets itself to the default startup. (See image) You probably dont want
that while its still your secondary operating system. To change the startup order we will use the commandline
tool bcdedit.
1. To edit the boot menu start the Command Prompt by clicking Run in the Start menu, entering cmd and
clicking OK.
a. After opening the Command Prompt enter the bcdedit command without any parameters to view the boot
configuration. Notice the identifier and description values of the different Windows Boot Loaders.

b. First we are going to configure Windows Vista as our default startup Operating System. To do this enter the
command bcdedit /default {identifier} where {identifier} is the identifier of the Operating System you want to boot by
default.
c. The timeout before automatically booting the default Operating System can be set using the bcdedit /timeout
# where # is the number of seconds to wait before automatically booting the default OS.
d. Optionally you can also change the order in which the Operating Systems are displayed in the boot menu by using
the bcdedit /displayorder {identifier 1} {identifier 2} {identifier N}command where you replace the identifiers by
the ones corresponding with the different Boot Loaders.

2. Restart your system and see the results!

Continue to the installation of the Device Drivers

11 comments so far...

Thankful Said on November 23rd, 2009 at 4:34 am:

Thank you so very much.
I have been trying to dual-boot W7 & Sr2008 for a week. I ran into all kinds of problems. Mainly because I am so
greeeeen at dual booting, W7, Sr2008, yada, yada, yada.
Again, thank you sovery much.

Wow. What a nice birthdayand Christmas present for me.

Shane Jonet Said on January 4th, 2010 at 12:29 am:

A command prompt window can be opened simply be pushing Shift+F10 at the setup welcome screen no need to
open the System Imaging utility, et cetera.

Arris: Didnt know that one! Thanks for your comment!

I will update the manual when I have some

time.

Almost There Said on February 21st, 2010 at 1:18 am:

I followed these instructions for W7 & 2008R2 and set bcdedit /default {identifier} to boot to W7 only problem is I
didnt do the optional step of listing 2008R2 as a secondary identifier for bcdedit /displayorder now my workstation
just boots into W7 without displaying the Windows Boot Manager options.
Under W7, Disk Manager tells me the 2008R2 drive (D:) is a primary partition but doesnt show that it is bootable and
when I go go Startup and Recovery > Default operating system, Win2003 isnt listed to boot into W7 is the only OS
on the pull down menu.
Also, when I run bcdedit without parameters under W7, it doesnt show identifiers like it did when I ran it under
2008R2. How do I access Win2008R2? Help!

SMK Said on September 14th, 2010 at 2:26 pm:

Hi,
very much thanks for this GREAT manual. I cant figure out if I would manage to convert my 2008R2 to Workstation
without having this
Greetz,
SMK

Arris: Good to hear that! Thanks for your comment!

George Said on October 9th, 2010 at 10:15 am:

Guys, Good Article.
Only Problem is , its not working for windows 7, can u help out please that what additional measures to take up for
windows 7 / server 2008 r2 dual boot.
Please ammend this article if possible for windows 7 + server 2008 r2 dual boot
shall be grateful.
George
Arris: This article is fully in line with your question; even when having Windows Server 2008 R2 installed first and
then want to install Windows 7, it will work fine.

Karl Said on October 15th, 2010 at 6:30 am:

Worked great for me in Windows 7.
Thank you very, very much!!!
-Karl

Richard Said on October 28th, 2010 at 12:17 pm:

My Sever 2008 R2 is used as a fast PC so this article is great! Many programs will say that I need a different version
to run on the server OS. After this conversion will software see this as a workstation or PC?
thanks,
Richard
Arris: It will still be seen as a Server, however there are several tricks to let unruly application-installers think it is
running on a workstation

erik Said on February 7th, 2011 at 4:21 pm:

I have a computer with XP but added a new HD and installed Server 08. How do you set up the dual boot???

Arris: See if you can reconfigure your bootloader by running the bootrec tool from Windows Server 2008 or the
Windows Server 2008 installation DVD. More info about the tool here.

happydish Said on February 25th, 2011 at 9:49 pm:

I have server 2008 installed as primary os (thanks to your old guide). And im trying to install r2 on a 2nd drive. I can
boot from the cd and install up untill it gets to copying windows files (0%). Installation just hangs at 0%. I tried
formating and deleting the drive but no luck, same problem, as well as formating from 2008.
Specs790xt-g45 motherboard
Amd phenom II x6 1055t
750gb samsung hdd- main os server 2k8
1tb seagate (2ndary, data drive)
60gb ocz vertex 2-(trying to install r2 on it)
8gb ddr2 ram (memtest good)
2x nvidea gtx260 sli (on a pointless whim, took one out and tried again, same problem)
I cant install from within windows because primary os is 86x. Tried formating ssd in windows and running chkdsk, no
problems. My only thought is that the r2 installation has problems with ssd/ssd drivers or a hardware problem. Any
help would be apreciated.
S.M.A.R.T. Says healthy, chkdsk returns no errors. Drive seems healthy in normal use, just has problems with 2k8r2
installation. Also tried a fresh dl and burn, same issue. I would try swaping the drive into another computer and trying
install, but im not sure if they can run 64x.
Thanks, Eric
Arris: Maybe you can find something in the various Setup logs, as described here. Also, does switching the hard disk
mode in the BIOS from AHCI to IDE mode or vice versa does have any effect? Cant think of any other things you can

try, so if you cant figure it out, post this question at the forum to have more experts look at it.

Happydish Said on February 26th, 2011 at 10:33 pm:

@arris, thanks for the quick reply, booted up the computer this morning and ssd is gone from my computer/device
manager, Restarted and now i have the drive, but cant format it or even update the ocz firmware, Guess it was a bad
drive after all, need to see if I can RMA it, had it for less then a month and barely used it, oh well.

Thanks anyway
-eric

kris Said on February 13th, 2013 at 7:47 am:

I want to get serv08convert12.zip can you mail me those files.

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