Introduction
Want to check out the new Windows 8.1 Preview, and looking for a convenient spot to run it without a commitment? There’s a bunch of ways you can do it, from installing it on a spare PC, to configuring it to run in a dual-boot scenario. (For the latter, see our step-by-step guide, How to Dual-Boot Windows 8 and 7.) But you have another handy option that doesn’t involve using a second computer: Set it up as a virtual machine.
What’s a “virtual machine”? In a nutshell, running Windows 8.1 in a virtual-machine environment simply lets it live in its own dedicated “bubble” within your existing version of Windows. That means you don’t have to scramble for a spare PC on which to install it. It also means you don’t need to exit your current version of Windows just to rev up Windows 8.1, which you’d have to do in a dual-boot situation. (You also won’t need to repartition your hard drive to create a second boot location for the OS.)
A virtual machine provides a safe playground for you to explore and tinker with Windows 8.1, which is essentially a free beta version of the upcoming OS update. Should your Windows 8.1 environment become unstable or get corrupted, you can simply remove it, recreate the virtual machine, and reinstall the operating system.
In virtual-machine parlance, your existing version of Windows is known as the “host,” while the version running in the virtual machine is known as the guest. Using a virtual-machine application, you simply install your guest operating system within the host just as you’d install it anywhere else.
What You’ll Need: System Requirements
Virtual machines do demand a certain amount of disk space and memory to run, which gets borrowed from your existing version of Windows. So, how much of each will you need to run Windows 8.1 in a virtual machine?
Microsoft requires at least 16GB of free hard drive space for the 32-bit version of Windows 8.1 and 20GB for the 64-bit edition. Assuming you opt for the 64-bit version, you should increase that amount to around 30GB, especially if you plan to install apps and add files to your Windows 8.1 virtual machine.
In terms of system memory, Microsoft requires at least 1GB for the 32-bit version of Windows 8.1 and 2GB for the 64-bit version. Again, assuming you’ll run the 64-bit flavor, you’d want to use a PC with 4GB of RAM in total, minimum—2GB for your current version of Windows and 2GB for Windows 8.1. Ideally, though, you’d want at least 8GB of memory, split somewhere between your host and guest. That amount of memory will allow both environments to run at a fast-enough clip.
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