If you have a spare laptop which you don’t mind formatting, or you have an additional hard drive which you can use you don’t really need to follow our method of dual-booting, however if you’re planning to install the Windows 8 Consumer Preview on a desktop PC / laptop which only has one hard disk drive you’ll want to follow this guide closely.

Prerequisites

Before setting up your dual-boot configuration you need a few things, firstly you need to head over to this page and check to see whether your PC meets the minimum requirements for the version of Windows 8 you want to install (pretty much all Windows Vista and Windows 7 computers should run it just fine). For the 32-bit version you need at least a 1GHz processor, 1GB or RAM and 16GB of free space, whilst the 64-bit version requires at least a 1GHz processor, 2GB of RAM and 20GB of free space. No-matter what version you choose to install you need a GPU which is DirectX 9 compliant or higher.

Once you’re sure that your computer is beefy enough to run Windows 8 you’ll need a second partition to install it on. Most laptops these days come with a single hard disk with two partitions, this second partition is essential for this particular dual-boot configuration. Luckily for me the Toshiba laptop which I’m using has just this, as you can see below there is a ‘C:’ and a ‘D:’, the ‘D’ drive is where I’ll be installing Windows 8, you should be doing the same. If you only have a ‘C’ drive you’ll have to setup a second partition manually, this is easy, but requires a partition tool such as Partition Magic or EASEUS Partition Master 9.1.0 – the latter can be downloaded here, realistically you should make the secondary partition at least 20GB in size, but I would recommend 30GB+.

Now that you are sure you meet the hardware requirements you must download the correct ISO file and burn it to disc. Downloads vary between 2.5GB and 3.3GB depending on the edition you choose, but all editions can be located here. You must also write down the following product key: DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J – I took a photo of this with my smartphone to ensure I didn’t get it wrong. Once your download is complete (it may take some time) you need to burn the file to a blank DVD using a program like ImgBurn. Once complete shutdown your computer ensuring that the newly created disc is in the drive.

Installation

Installation time varies depending on your computer’s hardware, it took me about 25-35 minutes, but allow 1 hour just in case. The first thing you need to do is boot from the DVD (not into your current Windows installation), you may have to configure the BIOS to allow this or press a key such as ‘F8′, ‘F10′ or ‘F12′ to select you boot device – when you’ve done this correctly you should hear your DVD drive spinning rapidly and see text reading something like ‘Press any key to boot from CD or DVD…’, simple press a key on the keyboard and your PC will begin booting from the Windows 8 disc – you should then see a little image showing a fish blowing bubbles.

After some time you will see a screen asking you to choose the correct language, time, currency and keyboard setting – do this and then click next. The next screen allows you to choose from two options, you need to choose ‘Install Now’ – wait a few minutes and then you will have to enter the product key which you jotted down earlier – type this in carefully and click next when done, if it fails it means you’ve made an error. The code is: DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J.

You will then be asked to agree license terms, read these if you want and tick the box and click next to continue. The next step is the most important, you must choose ‘Custom Install’ not ‘Upgrade’ – select this and you will see a list of partitions where Windows 8 can be installed – you want to install it on the secondary partition which we spoke about earlier (D:). Select this partition and click next, the installation process will now begin and you’ll have to wait a while for files to be copied and features to be installed etc.

After some time your computer will restart and Windows 8 will begin, you’ll have to carry out some straight-forward setup and you’ll soon be seeing the beatiful Windows 8 UI – congratulations you’ve successfully dual-booted Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

Summary

From now on when you turn on your computer you’ll see a boot selection screen where you can choose between Windows 8 and the other operating system(s) you have installed (see below), you can also configure more advanced settings if you wish to do so. Hopefully this brief guide helped you successfully, if not please leave your comments below and we’ll do our best to help you.

Are you impressed by the Windows 8 Consumer Preview?

According to a recent article by Pete Haas over at cinemablend.com, the upcoming demo is scheduled to be released to the general public on 23rd August (next week) for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, while PlayStation 3 owners will be able to access it a day later on August 24th. However, there is a couple of ways that gamers can try it out a little earlier.

If you pre-ordered the PC version of the Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine game via Steam, you will be granted exclusive early access to the demo starting from Thursday, August 18th. What’s more is that Steam will be holding a sale on a Warhammer 40k bundle during this coming weekend. You can also gain access to the demo a day earlier by signing up for the Space Marin ‘Honour Guard’ community.

Members of the ‘Honour Guard’ community will also receive access to exclusive preview material such as developer blogs, concept art and behind-the-scenes video footage. The Warhammer 40k: Space Marine demo is in fact split into two separate parts. The first section sees the player having to fight off an Ork horde outside of a munitions factory.

Gamers will get the opportunity to test out six different ranged and melee weapons, including the chainsword and the bolter. Meanwhile, the second section of the demo enables players to use their Space Marine Jump Packs, where they will take to the skies and unleash hell on their enemies from above. The game itself will launch on September 6th in North America and September 9th in Europe.

Are you looking forward to trying out the Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine demo?

Now we’ve just discovered that the Bastion game is coming to the PC and judging by a recent article by Greg over on the supergiantgames.com website, you won’t have to wait very long for it to arrive as it’s coming to Steam on Tuesday, August 16th. The PC version of the Bastion game – which costs $14.99 in North America – is available to pre-order from the Steam website.

So what exactly is different about the PC version of the Bastion game I hear you ask? Not only does it come with a 1080p resolution (which will show off the game’s amazing artwork), it also features customizable controls and gamepad support. The PC version is also DRM-free and Steamworks-enabled, which includes cloud saves, Steam achievements and leaderboards.

Besides being known for its solid, action-RPG gameplay and its vibrant, hand-painted environments, the Bastion game is also known for its unique reactive narrator, who according to Dwayne Holder over at gamerant.com narrates your every move. If you like game music, then you might be pleased to know that the Bastion soundtrack is also available to download for $10.

As noted over on the steampowered.com website, the system requirements for the Bastion game include a 1.7 GHz dual-core (or better) processor, Windows 7, XP or Vista, 1.6GB of free hard disk space, 2GB of memory, DirectX 9.0c compatibility and a 512MB DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card.

There’s unfortunately been no word on a PlayStation Network release for the Bastion game as of yet. However, bearing in mind how quick the developer is being to bring the game to the PC, they might be quick to port it to the PS3 as well. Would you like to see the Bastion game released on the PlayStation 3 soon?

According to Pete Davison over at gamepro.com, players that do well in PvP (player vs. player) matches will be rewarded with PvP Points. These points can then be used to buy special weapons and items to use within the game’s campaign mode. Just like in other games, Deathmatch is a team-based mode that pits 2 opposing forces against each other.

The team with the most kills at the end of the game (when the time runs out) is then declared the winner. Tag Team is also a team-based mode, but one with a slight difference. In this mode, members from each team confront each other one at a time. The first team that gets annihilated by its opponents is unfortunately declared the loser.

Meanwhile, Leader mode has one player from each team declared as a VIP. The team that is the first to kill the opposing team’s VIP is of course the winner. Players should note that both support and healing roles are particularly important in the Leader mode. As we previously mentioned, Survivor can be played in either solo mode or team-based mode.

Solo mode is a free-for-all battle that pits you against up to 7 other players, with the last man (or woman of course) standing being declared the winner. In the Team-based mode, one team wins but only when all of the members of the opposing team have been killed. You can view the latest Rusty Hearts developer diary over on the gamepro.com website.

Those of you that don’t really know what the Rusty Hearts game is all about might want to check out a recent article by Jason Van Horn over at mpgod.com. Jason got a chance to interview Mark Hill – Game Producer for Rusty Hearts – recently, and asked him a number of questions about the upcoming game. This of course gives us a little more insight as to what it’s all about.

As far as the story and the setting of the Rusty Hearts game is concerned: it is set in a Gothic-inspired town, and revolves around a group of mercenaries. When the mercenaries are caught up in a battle between humans, vampires and other deadly creatures, they are forced to choose a path between good and evil. Each character has their own back story, set of skills etc.

You can read more of the interview over at mpgod.com. Will you be giving the Rusty Hearts game a try?

Up until recently there had been no official confirmation as to whether the Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge game – known as All Blacks Rugby Challenge in New Zealand and Wallabies Rugby Challenge in Australia – would be launched in South Africa. However, that’s all changed now, as the South African release has officially been confirmed.

The Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge game comes with a number of different modes including a Single Match Mode, a multi-year Career Mode and a Competition Mode. It also includes a Tutorial Mode and help options for those of you that are new to the sport. Thanks to extensive customization tools, gamers will be able to create and customize players, teams and even competitions.

Playing a sports-themed game is always better when played with friends or other people, and the Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge game gives gamers a couple of ways to do this. Not only have they got the option of playing it with friends locally, they also have the choice of competing in online multiplayer with support up to 4v4 via Steam, Xbox Live or PlayStation Network.

As Geoffrey Tim over at lazygamer.net recently noted, Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge features 93 teams and 31 stadia including official competition and team licenses for the Qantas Wallabies, the All Blacks, Tri Nations, the USA Eagles, TOP 14 Orange, Bledisloe Cup, Super Rugby teams, Aviva Premiership Rugby, Ranfurly Shield, ITM Cup and RaboDirect PRO12.

It also comes with lifelike cut-scenes, rich sound, enhanced replay angles and real-time commentary from seasoned rugby commentators Justin Marshall and Grant Nisbett. We’ve embedded the trailer below this post so you can see what the game is like for yourself. The game is due to be launched for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation Vita.

You can view the official box art over on the lazygamer.net website. Will you be buying both of the upcoming rugby games or just one of them?

As Tom Senior over on the pcgamer.com website recently noted, the latest patch – which will be the biggest Terraria update yet – not only promises to fix several bugs in the game, it will also increase the difficulty. For example, bosses such as The Eater of Worlds will be even more dangerous than before, and health potions will be less effective.

The game’s developer Blue said on the Terraria forums that when the 1.06 patch does arrive, most boss battles will be almost impossible to beat without fully gearing yourself up and planning the battle out beforehand. Blue also noted that things such as the game’s magic system and healing system have received almost complete overhauls.

Once the 1.06 patch has been downloaded, players should find that NPCs will no longer ‘flip out’ when they are far from home, dungeons won’t spawn in the ocean any more, and rejuvenation potions will now work with the Quick Mana and Quick Heal functions. They will also notice that Night Owl Potion will now gain its intended purpose.

Meanwhile, the new additions and changes to the Terraria game include a trashcan that enables players to retrieve the last item they’ve thrown away, four new inventory slots for ammo, a grapple hotkey and new sounds on events and enemies that are currently quiet. Players will also notice that picked up items will be placed in the bottom right hand corner of the inventory first.

All mana items will now be blue instead of purple, and the health gain text will be green. The update has also made it so that the 7 most recently connected servers will now show up in the multiplayer menu. Life will now regenerate automatically. The longer it has been since a player has been hit, the faster the life will regenerate.

New hairstyles and new dungeon content will also be added to the game with the latest patch. Other changes that players will notice include the fact that thorny bushes will now be destroyed after touching them, lava slimes won’t burst into a pool of lave when killed any more and cacti will no longer cause knock-back. You can read more about the changes via pcgamer.com.

Are you a fan of the Terraria game?

Now we have even more good news for those of you that want to know more about the game, as Codemasters has just revealed the very first details for Bodycount’s multiplayer modes. According to a recent article by David Scammell over at gamerzines.com, the game will include a two-player wave-based co-op mode and 12-player deathmatch modes.

Competitive multiplayer will provide players with the option for both deathmatch and team deathmatch games, and will enable players to tear up the environment as either Network Operatives or Target Troopers. The maps will uniquely change during the course of a game, as players begin tearing up the environments in order to get to their enemies.

Not only will players have the ability to shred cover spots so they can eliminate their opponents, they will also be able to create lines of sight or peek holes and even blast through escape routes. Bodycount’s co-op mode on the other hand sounds similar to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s upcoming Spec Ops Survival mode, with players being challenged to survive waves of incoming enemies.

In order to stay alive, players will have to collect Intel, and rack up creative kills and combat chains. Intel can be used to either unlock abilities and upgrade, or be left as bait to draw out enemies. When talking about the game’s multiplayer, game director Andy Wilson said that it is like being in a building made up of shreddable interior walls.

Andy explained that even over the course of a 10-minute deathmatch, the combat range could change entirely as the environment begins to degrade and lines of sight start opening up across multiple rooms. Andy also noted that the developer has deliberately steered clear of persistent perks in the upcoming Bodycount game as well.

The reason for this is because they want people to be able to pick the Bodycount game up and play it online at any point, without having to worry about finding loads of elites ruling the servers. Are you looking forward to the Bodycount game?

As John Papadopoulos from dsogaming.com reports, the latest update not only fixes a large number of issues, it also adds support for the new Ulthwe DLC. One such issue that has now been corrected is the exploit that enabled players to cast smite multiple times. The update has also fixed the problem that allowed Lord General to cast med kits numerous times.

Another issue that has been resolved with the latest update is the one that allowed units to take damage while under the effects of ‘Angels of Death.’ The update has also improved squad plans of units with missiles, reduced the chances of Abilities misfire for most of the abilities and improved the squad plans for units with flamers.

Players will also find that all Chaos worship modifiers are now exclusive, Ravener Alpha will no longer fire while making tunnels, the Ork Burna Melee cooldown has now changed from 1 to 0, the Plague Marine death explosion will no longer give a damage modifier and the Ork Stromboyz and Force Commander’s Powersword will now show correct weapon decorator.

The new update has made a number of changes to the races – Orks, Chaos, Tyranids, Imperial Guard, Eldar and Space Marines – in the Dawn of War II: Retribution game. For example, the Orks’ Bommaboyz will no longer cause knockback on retreat, the Mek Boy HP is now 600 instead of 540 and the Tankbusters HP has been increased from 800 to 850.

Meanwhile, the Space Marines’ Predator HP has been increased and is now 700 instead of 600 and the Librarian ‘Smite’ damage has been reduced from 25 to 20. On the Imperial Guard side, the Creeping Barrage Red Cost is now 200 instead of 175 and the Sentinels Stun effect has been reduced from 7 seconds to 5 seconds.

Other changes include an increase in the Chaos Predator HP (now 770 instead of 660), a reduction in the Touch of Nurgle damage from 75 to 37.5 and an increase in the Ravener Hero Tunnel building time from 6 seconds to 10 seconds. You can view what other changes have been made via the dsogaming.com website. Do you play the Dawn of War II: Retribution game?

According to a recent article by CM Boots-Faubert over on the gamingupdate.com website, the publisher 2K Games has recently announced that The Darkness II game – which is a sequel to 2007’s The Darkness – is now scheduled to be released on February 7th, 2012 in North America and a few days later on February 10th, 2012 for everyone else.

The Darkness II game, which is based on the supernatural comic books created by Top Cow Productions, puts players back in the shoes of protagonist Jackie Estacado. Although The Darkness II has much of the same gameplay as the original, it does come with an interesting new tactic called ‘quad-wielding,’ which enables Jackie to use his darkness powers and firearms at the same time.

Besides announcing the new release dates for The Darkness II, 2K Games also announced that they would be making an appearance at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con International. The publisher is holding a special panel for the game to celebrate the 15th anniversary of The Darkness, which is entitled ‘Spreading The Darkness: From Comic Book to Video Games and Entertainment.’

The Darkness II discussion will feature top talent from Top Cow Productions, including co-creator of The Darkness and CEO Marc Silvestri and COO and President of Top Cow Productions Matt Hawkins. The panel will also feature developers from Digital Extremes, and the in-game voice (and musician) of The Darkness, Mike Patton.

The Darkness II panel will be taking place on Thursday, July 21st from 12:00pm until 1:00pm in Room 9 of the San Diego Convention Center. The publisher will also have 8 playable demo kiosks at the event, so fans can go and check out the game – which will be available for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and the Nintendo Wii U – for themselves.

We’ve also embedded the E3 2011 gameplay trailer below this post, just in case you haven’t seen it yet. Will you be picking up The Darkness II game?

According to a recent article by Don Oliveira over at psu.com, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 5th Anniversary Edition not only comes with a copy of the game and a special Collector’s Steelbook, it also provides players with the ‘Making of Oblivion,’ an Oblivion game map and the two previously released downloadable content packs.

This includes the ‘Knights of the Nine’ (first released back in November 2006) and ‘Shivering Isles’ (launched in March 2007) DLC packs. The ‘Knights of the Nine’ DLC tasks players with defeating the sorcerer-king Umaril, while the ‘Shivering Isles’ DLC pack tasks players with saving Sheogorath’s realm from an approaching cataclysm.

The ‘Shivering Isles’ expansion provided gamers with over 30 hours of new adventuring, as well as new quests, monsters, spells, armor and voice acting. The 5th Anniversary Edition – which is available at North American retailers now for $29.99 – also provides gamers with a $10 mail-in rebate offer for the purchase of the upcoming The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim game.

As the article notes, there is no trophy support in the 5th Anniversary Edition of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. While many of you have probably been playing the game since it first launched back in 2006, there may be others that never really purchased the game. If you are one of the few (or many maybe) that fall in the latter category, then this might be the ideal time.

Development for the Oblivion game first began back in 2002, directly after the release of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind title. Oblivion was well received by critics, and even went on to win several awards. In fact, the game was even nominated for five BAFTAs. By April 10th, 2006, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion had already shipped 1.7 million copies.

Will you be buying the 5th Anniversary Edition of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion?