Windows 8 clean install or upgrade

[Salamander]

While I typically would do a clean install rather than an upgrade, my current desktop is a new build - and will be about a month old at the time I install Windows 8. Would it still be better to do a clean install?

 

[corkyg]

I have never done a clean install under such circumstances. That would cost me at least three added days of work.

 

[cmaMath13]

If you don't mind the trouble, then I would definitely clean install. That being said, my upgrade went smoothly. I did have to re-install Left-4-Dead 2. But other than that, it was fine.

 

[Whisper2]

Initially, I upgraded from Win 7 to avoid re-downloading a couple of large games. The upgrade went well and everything appeared to work. I soon noticed that my audio control panel was missing, so I tried to uninstall the sound card driver shown in "Programs & Features" and install one I downloaded from ASUS. Nothing happened when I tried to uninstall -no error message nor any reaction from the system at all. I tried to update the video drivers and received the same response - none whatsoever. Programs, other than drivers, would uninstall the way they are supposed to.

Although most Win 7 drivers work with Win 8, most of my hardware vendors offer different drivers for Win 8 - printer, scanner, network adapter, graphics, & sound card etc.

I then decided to wipe the disk and do a clean install. Now everything works as it should (including uninstalling drivers) and I have not experienced any problems at all.

 

[Mem]

Initially, I upgraded from Win 7 to avoid re-downloading a couple of large games. The upgrade went well and everything appeared to work. I soon noticed that my audio control panel was missing, so I tried to uninstall the sound card driver shown in "Programs & Features" and install one I downloaded from ASUS. Nothing happened when I tried to uninstall -no error message nor any reaction from the system at all. I tried to update the video drivers and received the same response - none whatsoever. Programs, other than drivers, would uninstall the way they are supposed to.

Although most Win 7 drivers work with Win 8, most of my hardware vendors offer different drivers for Win 8 - printer, scanner, network adapter, graphics, & sound card etc.

I then decided to wipe the disk and do a clean install. Now everything works as it should (including uninstalling drivers) and I have not experienced any problems at all.

I upgraded three Win7 PCs to 8 ,no issues with drivers or software,in general most users get no issues however clean install can be beneficial if you have the time to reinstall all your software.

Personally I only ever do a clean install if I get a new HD.

 

[zerocool84]

Always clean install of new OS. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Kerry56]

I had a few problems with the upgrade. Drivers not working properly for one of the SATA controllers on my board was the worst part. I started over and did a clean install and haven't had issues since.

 

[Salamander]

I'll go with a clean install.

 

[dagamer34]

Clean install, create a system image, and never have to install again unless you change hardware.

 

[Blueychan]

Always clean install for me.

 

[ViRGE]

Clean installing is definitely cleaner, but frankly I've found upgrade installs to be just fine on Win6.x. It's not like the old days where you were jumping to significantly different OSes and things often broke in the process. I already have one system that did 7->8 via an upgrade install, and it's working just fine.

 

[jhansman]

I also always do a clean install of a new OS. Upgrades often leave too much crud behind. Of course, all my user data is intact on another drive, along with a "restore" folder that holds copies of the applications, utilities, and any updates they require that are part of my system. Takes me about 3 hrs. to be back up to speed.

 

[Salamander]

It looks like the only way to use the Windows 7 type of backup and restore (as in creating a system image) is to go the upgrade route rather than the clean install route. Alternatively using Acronis, Norton, or some other software. Suggestions?