I am currently using a Windows 7 Ultimate Operating System, and ever since Windows 8 was out for a consumer preview, I'm very interested to check it out. What are the risks in installing the Windows 8 Consumer Preview?
Hello Rochelle.
Believe it or not, there is very little risk involved in trying out Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Microsoft has made sure that their potential customers will be able to test drive their latest OS without ruining their current setups.
First of all, you should download the ISO files from Microsoft's download center. While the ISO may be downloaded faster on P2P, downloading it through the official Microsoft servers will ensure that you get the true, unaltered version of the ISO. A quick search for "Windows 8" will lead you to the right Microsoft download page. For maximum compatibility, download the 32-bit version. Also, copy the license key shown on the download page.
You may repartition your hard drive and create a separate partition for it. However, it is risky for your data especially if you are not well-acquainted with partition managers.
 My suggestion is to install it in Virtualbox. Simply create a new virtual machine and choose Windows 7 as the guest operating system.
Hope this helps!
