Windows 8 upgrade (from 7) or clean install?

roadie · 30 Dec 2012 at 11:07

Hey peeps,

I installed Windows 8 on my parents' PC over Christmas and enjoyed using it, so am considering taking advantage of the £25 offer again for my own PC.

I also purchased the 'rents a SSD and did a clean install with the registry fix to save time and effort by mucking about with the old HDD and their XP install.

However, I am currently running Windows 7 64bit. Are there any disadvantages of running the upgrade assistant when coming from 7 over a clean install?

Thanks and happy new year!

reflux · 30 Dec 2012 at 11:14

I did an upgrade from 7 64-bit on two PCs and both run sweet

Took longer than a full install but honestly can't find any problems.

Happy new year!

zakblood · 30 Dec 2012 at 11:32

clean install for me every time, you never know what crap your taking across.

Infidelus · 30 Dec 2012 at 11:41

zakblood said:
clean install for me every time, you never know what crap your taking across.

^This^

I still don't trust the upgrade not to make a hash of it, and I prefer to know there's nothing left behind from a previous install.

Paul11 · 30 Dec 2012 at 11:42

is there a way to get the £25 upgrade and install it as a fresh install ?

atheos · 30 Dec 2012 at 11:48

Paul11 said:
is there a way to get the £25 upgrade and install it as a fresh install ?

When you buy your upgrade, it will download.

It will then ask you if you want to install, burn to DVD or use a USB Stick iirc.

Save your ISO to the location it asks and then burn it.

Do a fresh install and use the key that you were provided with.

Paul11 · 30 Dec 2012 at 11:49

thank you

roadie · 30 Dec 2012 at 13:12

For my parents' PC I created a bootable USB stick using the Windows 8 upgrade tool on my Windows 7 64bit PC. This meant the Windows 8 upgrade was 64bit. I then did a clean install on a new SSD for them. The only issue I ran into is described and solved in the following link:

http://www.helpwithwindows.com/Windows8/How-To-Clean-Install-Windows-8-Upgrade.html

I think I will go with a clean install again on my machine, as there isn't too much stuff on my small Windows & programs drive.

Cheers guys!