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Installing win 8 upgrade, is it a new install?

A

Ashenor

Golden Member
I am assuming that it is a new install and format?

Long story short i reinstalled win 7 a few months back, i did not have my recover disk, so i used a install i "found", thinking i could just add my win 7 key to it and unlock it. It did not work, so i have been using said version for about 3 months and been having problems.

I am going to buy the retail disk version of win 8 from Microcenter for 39 on friday. Will i have any issues upgrading? I have a valid key i just was not using it last reinstall since i did not have a valid install disk.
 
We have no idea since no one has a copy of the upgrade version yet. You'll have to wait until Friday to find out.
 
I'm installing it now, it gave me three options--keep everything, just personal files, and keep nothing (format). Then it warned me what might be screwy if I kept it
 
Farang said:
I'm installing it now, it gave me three options--keep everything, just personal files, and keep nothing (format). Then it warned me what might be screwy if I kept it
Click to expand...

What might be screwy? If you kept everything or personal files?
 
dlock13 said:
What might be screwy? If you kept everything or personal files?
Click to expand...

It goes through various apps etc. It actually told me DVDs might not play without an additional app, I just didn't believe it and went ahead with the install. Other things say I might have to re-install.

Basically a warning instead of being surprised after you've installed that some driver doesn't work
 
Farang said:
It goes through various apps etc. It actually told me DVDs might not play without an additional app, I just didn't believe it and went ahead with the install. Other things say I might have to re-install.

Basically a warning instead of being surprised after you've installed that some driver doesn't work
Click to expand...

So you did an in-place upgrade and not a fresh install? I'm definitely interested to see what happens if you chose a clean/new/format install with the upgrade disc. Given that they are no longer offering a full-install retail disc and just offering a system-builder/OEM license, I'm hoping that means they are going to be very lax on doing a fresh install with an upgrade disc.

If it is easy to do a fresh install with an upgrade disc by using my W7 upgrade or Vista upgrade licenses, I'll have a copy purchased by the weekend.
 
blurredvision said:
So you did an in-place upgrade and not a fresh install? I'm definitely interested to see what happens if you chose a clean/new/format install with the upgrade disc. Given that they are no longer offering a full-install retail disc and just offering a system-builder/OEM license, I'm hoping that means they are going to be very lax on doing a fresh install with an upgrade disc.

If it is easy to do a fresh install with an upgrade disc by using my W7 upgrade or Vista upgrade licenses, I'll have a copy purchased by the weekend.
Click to expand...

I did an in-place upgrade, using the $14.99 discount (I bought this PC in July). It took about an hour. I don't imagine a new install would have been painful, I just didn't want to deal with the hassle of changing settings and backing up files etc.

Like it so far, the start menu hate is definitely overstated.
 
abaez said:
I asked this before but - if I have a technet win7 install will win8 see that as an upgrade?
Click to expand...

Your technet win7 install is a full copy. It is only your use that is limited not the software. In other words, win8 will treat it as a full retail version.
 
weovpac said:
This might help to answer some questions[0].

[0] http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/upgrade-to-windows-8
Click to expand...

That's a good link, thank you. Some items copy-pasted from there that address some of the questions in this thread:

"Or if you prefer (and if it is available in your region), you can buy the upgrade as a DVD from a participating retail store. Note that if you're upgrading from a DVD, you must have Windows running on your PC when you begin the upgrade. If you'd like to reformat your hard drive, you can do so as long as you start your PC from media and then format your hard drive from within the setup experience for installing Windows, and not prior to it."

"If you're running a version of Windows that doesn't allow you to keep your files when you upgrade, or if you choose the option to "keep nothing" when you upgrade, your files won't automatically move with you to Windows 8. However, you can still restore files after you upgrade.

If you don't reformat your hard drive during installation, your files are saved to the Windows.old folder, where you can retrieve them after the upgrade. For more info, see How to retrieve files from the Windows.old folder."

"If you choose not to keep your files when you upgrade to Windows 8, your files will be temporarily saved to the windows.old folder (unless you formatted your hard drive before installing). If you decide you want some or all of these files back, you can still retrieve them."
 
Farang said:
I did an in-place upgrade, using the $14.99 discount (I bought this PC in July). It took about an hour. I don't imagine a new install would have been painful, I just didn't want to deal with the hassle of changing settings and backing up files etc.

Like it so far, the start menu hate is definitely overstated.
Click to expand...

Is that available already? I haven't gotten anything other than a registration code yet.
 
From what I'm seeing, it seems as if when you use the W8 upgrade assistant (found here), that is the check to make sure you're running a licensed version of Windows. Then you can create a bootable full-install version and do a fresh install at any time.

I'm unable to confirm this 100%, but I think this is how it is working. It seems as if Microsoft is being very, very accommodating and isn't making it difficult on anybody to upgrade. Hell, I believe you can even use the free W8 preview versions as your "upgrade from" OS.

Edit: Well, as soon as I post that, I find this:

http://www.reddit.com/r/windows8/comments/124992/can_activate_windows_8/

Looks like this might just be an error on Microsoft's part for this particular case but the fact that the activation error specifically states that is cause for concern on how future clean installs with the upgrade might be.
 
Last edited:
I want to jump on the Amazon deal ($39 after $30 Amazon credit) but will wait until the clean install via upgrade version is confirmed.
 
Farang said:
I'm installing it now, it gave me three options--keep everything, just personal files, and keep nothing (format). Then it warned me what might be screwy if I kept it
Click to expand...

When I did the upgrade lastnight had those options but went with keep everything(fresh Win7 install from lastweek on my new HD) it checked and said to remove MSE so I did ,after reboot installation went fine so was a very smooth upgrade,everything I've tried that I had in Win7 previously has worked so far,happy Steam and Origin games are working fine in 8 as a gamer 🙂 .
 
So, in my case i have a legit windows key on the side of my tower, but i am not using it due to last reformat installing the wrong version for my key of wins 7. So i am not using a licesened copy right now, can i goto Microcenter do a fresh install, and enter my key on the side of my tower, or is it going to assume i don't have key or allow me to enter it?
 
Ashenor said:
So, in my case i have a legit windows key on the side of my tower, but i am not using it due to last reformat installing the wrong version for my key of wins 7. So i am not using a licesened copy right now, can i goto Microcenter do a fresh install, and enter my key on the side of my tower, or is it going to assume i don't have key or allow me to enter it?
Click to expand...
So far it looks like they're only checking whether Windows is activated if you're doing an in-place upgrade using the assistant. If you burn it to a disc and then boot off of that to upgrade, it falls back to just checking whether Windows is even installed. I haven't seen anyone report that they get to enter their old Windows key as proof of previous ownership; MS has always resisted that for some reason.
 
JackMDS said:
here is the answer.

http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/clean-install-windows-8-upgrade-media-144648


😎
Click to expand...

The article states choosing keep Nothing is a clean install. This is NOT a clean install. What happens is that files in Program Files, Program Files (x86) and Users get trashed. Your old version of windows gets backed up to Windows.old. If you want a clean install, meaning you want to start completely fresh, you have to restart your computer and boot from the DVD / USB drive.
 
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