Windows 8 who's buying/upgrading

Soldato
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If I download Win 8, will it install straight over Win 7 and allow me to keep everything as it is? Or will it wipe everything, meaning I'll have to back up to another HDD first? I'm a bit of a noob, sorry.

Either choices , guide here,http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/software/operating-systems/windows-8-1093002/review/2


Upgrade from Windows 7 and you can keep programs, Windows settings and files; upgrade from Vista and keep settings and files. Upgrading from Windows XP only gives you your personal files.
 
Associate
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upgrade 8 to 8 Pro for £25 (instead of £40)

I recently bought a windows 8 pc, and wanted windows 8 Pro. So I downloaded the "Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant" http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows/buy (£25), but it told me the pc wasn't compatible. I tried running in compatibility mode (xp sp3), and it worked. It then took me to the product key order page and I bought a 8 Pro upgrade key for £25.

But when I tried to actually install it, it took me to the "add new features" app as I already have Windows 8. With this new key, it would always fail because this key is to upgrade from an older version of windows ONLY. To upgrade 8 to 8 Pro, I needed a "8 Pro Pack", about £40.

So I made a USB windows 8 install stick (using the same installer as above), and ran setup in compatibility mode again (vista). This now started the full setup and I was able to install windows 8 Pro over Windows 8.

Easy way to save £15 and ethics/morals still in tact (why should someone on an older version of windows pay less than me to get 8 Pro??).
 
Associate
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Set up a new laptop for my sister last night with windows 8 and I was pretty impressed, first time in a long while that it actually feels fundamentally different and in a good way. Took a few minutes to get my head round it but then it all started to make sense.

Not sure if the new 'start' is going to be a gimmick or a real alternative to using a traditional desktop. I may have to purchase to find out.
 
Soldato
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Easy way to save £15 and ethics/morals still in tact (why should someone on an older version of windows pay less than me to get 8 Pro??).
because you bought a pc that already came with win8.

also windows 8 to pro will be cheaper than the normal upgrade version after the january 31st.

the offer was just to basiclly to try to get people to upgrade from older versions of windows
 
Soldato
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I've got my cousins dell computer which is running oem vista, if he was to buy windows 8 upgrade, could he just upgrade from vista to win8 ?


Yes however ,


Upgrade from Windows 7 and you can keep programs, Windows settings and files; upgrade from Vista and keep settings and files. Upgrading from Windows XP only gives you your personal files.
 
Associate
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I had about 2hrs to try it on next doors next lap top and I found it a real pain.

I don't know how I managed it but I did get her on the net and get here email working.

It was more by luck than anything.
It just seems you have to do ten things to get to the window you want when it used to take two.
 
Associate
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I had about 2hrs to try it on next doors next lap top and I found it a real pain.

I don't know how I managed it but I did get her on the net and get here email working.

It was more by luck than anything.
It just seems you have to do ten things to get to the window you want when it used to take two.

Stick with it, there is a learning curve with Windows 8. Outlook can take a few weeks to get used to (after using a Hotmail acct). Also opening and managing pictures can be a carry on. Do try and allow a month to familiarise yourself with the OS.
I need to update my parents laptop when I next visit to Win 8
 
Associate
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Actually I couldn't set up outlook, it kept refusing the password.
It also didn't help that I could only use the keypad, she didn't have a mouse and as yet hasn't figures out how the touch screen works.
 
Associate
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Caporegime
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Did a Windows refresh due to the tiles not working and didn't realise it only kept files and not programs. Silly me. Lost all of my games, Photoshop, browser bookmarks, etc. I knew I shouldn't have done this whilst tired. :o
 
Man of Honour
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11 Mar 2004
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Did a Windows refresh due to the tiles not working and didn't realise it only kept files and not programs. Silly me. Lost all of my games, Photoshop, browser bookmarks, etc. I knew I shouldn't have done this whilst tired. :o
You can create an image it refreshes to, so you can keep program's etc at time of image creation
It made an 8gb file for me, but this is well worth doing once you have your computer all set up.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/matt-harrin...-windows-8-refresh-image-with-recimg-exe.aspx
 
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