Install Windows 8 Today
PrintHappy Windows 8 Consumer Preview day! Or, rather, happy day-after-Windows-8…. you get the idea. As an astute Maximum PC reader, you’re no doubt itching to get your hands on a not-quite-final build of Windows 8 to tinker around with.
But here’s the problem: You like using your current operating system. In fact, you probably have a great number of files, applications, and games all intertwined with your current operating system. And the absolute last thing you want to do – aside from learning how to use the Metro UI (we kid, we kid) – is back up everything within your operating system, wipe your drive, and introduce a fresh-faced Windows 8 into your life as your primary OS. Just think of all the application reinstallations you’ll have to go through! (Ninite is your friend, but we digress)
Luckily, you have two awesome options when it comes to testing out Windows 8 without mucking up your primary Windows installation, settings, files, or any of that. You can split your current hard drive storage setup to create an extra, blank partition – Windows 8 goes there. Or, if you just want to monkey around in a self-contained environment within your current operating system, you can install Windows 8 onto a virtual PC.
Which do you pick? It’s entirely up to you. A dedicated installation on a new partition gives Windows 8 the full attention of your system’s mighty resources. The downside? You’ll have to suffer through the boot menu every time you load your PC; You won’t be able to access your true “primary” operating system from Windows 8; Any changes (or issues) you create are permanent, as you don’t really get a chance to “roll back” that which you’ve done.
Virtualization, on the other hand, costs you system resources and overall speed – it can be a real hog – but it allows you to marry Windows 8 to your existing operating system. Transferring files is easy; Jumping between the two operating systems is easier; You can test out apps in Windows 8 and still be able to use them in your existing OS if things go sour; And, most importantly, you can quickly revert back to prior versions of the OS and easily delete your virtual Windows 8 once you’re done toying around.
That’s a super-quick overview of some of the pros and cons of dual-booting versus virtualization. Here’s how you do both:
Dual-Booting
Grab the Windows 8 Consumer Preview setup file and give ‘er a run. While your version of the operating system downloads (32-bit or 64-bit, depending on what the setup program picks for your PC), go check your available hard drive space in Windows explorer. You’ll need to have at least 16 free gigabytes for a 32-bit installation of Windows 8 or 20 free gigabytes for a 64-bit installation.
Once finished, Windows will prompt you to install Windows 8 by giving you three options to pick from: “Install Now,” “Install on another partition,” and “Install later.” Pick option number two (partition), and the subsequent screen will ask you how you want to go about creating the installation media you’ll need to use.
While we always recommend that you let Windows 8 create an installation vehicle out of a USB key when possible (it’s just so speedy), your success in getting this approach to actually install Windows 8 entirely depends on just how well your motherboard supports USB-based installations. In other words, it might not work for you: We’ve previously run into problems when plugging our flash drives into USB 3.0 slots to perform the installation, so avoid that if you find yourself hitting your head against the wall when trying to install Windows 8 using a USB drive.
The Windows Consumer Preview setup program will automatically format your key and slap the necessary files on it. As this process chugs along, fire up your control panel (Windows 7 users) and click on the Administrative Tools icon. From there, double-click on “Computer Management,” and then select the “Disk Management” option on the left-hand sidebar. Roll up your shirtsleeves: It’s time to partition your hard drive.
Everyone’s hard drive setup can vary, so we’ll just walk you through the basics of splitting a single drive partition into two. Right-click on the graphical storage “chunk” that’s home to your primary NTFS volume (C:) and select “Shrink Volume.” Input just how much you want to shave off your primary operating system’s partition – remember, 1,024 megabytes equals one gigabyte -- and hit the “Shrink” button.
What do you get? A new chunk of black, unallocated space to the right of your once-larger primary partition. Right-click on this empty space and select “New Simple Volume.” The prompts are fairly self-explanatory after this point – just make sure to give your new partition a recognizable name and format it as an NTFS partition. Voila. You’re ready to install Windows 8.
Once the Windows Consumer Preview setup program has finished with your USB key, restart your computer. As it reboots, watch your boot sequence for any prompts related to “booting” or “boot order” – in our case, we only have to hit the F12 key to access a “select where you want to boot from” menu. But since your motherboard is surely different, this option might be mapped to another key. Or, worse, you might have to go into your BIOS settings and change the order of how your system boots off of its various devices. Again, this setting is found in different places on different motherboards, so you’re on your own for this small – but critical – step.
Select the correct option – USB HDD, in our case – reboot your computer, and the official Windows 8 installation program should automatically fire up. Click on the “Install Now” button, enter you product key (that you received way back when creating your USB Windows 8 installer), accept Microsoft’s license terms, and select the option for a “Custom” installation. Pick the partition you previously created (hence the importance of giving it a good and noteworthy name), click on “Next,” and go make yourself a pleasant beverage while you wait for the installer to work its magic.
From there, it’s all downhill: Windows 8 will reboot your system a few times before the installation finishes, and it’ll then ask you a series of questions to help you personalize your operating system prior to the first official run – including asking you to log into your official Microsoft account, if you so choose. One last tip, however: When you go to reboot your system to actually load Windows 8 for the first time, take out your USB key during your motherboard’s boot sequence. If not, and if you set your system to always boot off any available USB devices before your hard drive, you’ll find yourself continually looping back to the Windows 8 installation program. That’s just silly.
On the next page: How to virtualize Windows 8!
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GammaWave
April 10, 2012 at 1:21am
How to make windows 8 in 3 easy steps?
Step 1: Remove "Start" Button
Step 2: Slap over the Win 7 desktop "Metrosexual" interface
Step 3: Let you 4 year old to design all iconsDone!
Now.. joke aside. People who claim to love new Metro interface, I have one comment for you: Wait until you have a couple of dozen + application installed on your PC - you will cry yourself to sleep.
My experience? I'm a Windows Power user and I had been one for the past 15 years. I have always built my own rigs from scratch. This year I bought my first Mac. Long story short. I've installed Win 8 under Parallels without a glitch. It works like a charm. Now the shocker.. Win 8 Metro interface was littered for full 3.5 horizontal screens with Metro icons. Why so many? Metro interface had listed all of my Mac apps in there. In Parallels, you can start Mac apps from VM Windows OS, or vice versa.
It was horrible visual experience, because almost all icons are the same.
Other "intuitive" thing about Win8 are "hot" corners. I would love to see my mom to learn how to handle that (or your mom for that matter).
No doubt, Win 8 will have its fan base. For the average user it will be pure nightmare to learn how to use it.
Is Win 8 the best thing Microsoft can create with thousands of programmers in their disposal? I think not.
What I see is that Microsoft is closely following SONY's footprints and "we are to big to fail" philosophy.
whr4usa
March 09, 2012 at 10:59pm
you made an incorrect statement!
"Why are we not using Windows Virtual PC, you Windows 7 users might ask? Simple: It doesn’t support 64-bit installations of operating systems. Virtualbox does, and is every bit as free as Microsoft’s app."
then why not just download the 32-bit beta...I mean Consumer Preview?
the 'real' answer is because none of the hosted/TypeII pseudo-hypervisors older than VMware WorkStation 8, current revision of Oracle VirtualBox, current revision of XenServer with RFX\rD\RDP\HDX modules or Hyper-V 2/2.1/2K8R2SP1 have the necessary graphical capabilities either because they don't emulate any GPU whatsoever and won't allow for Msft's X86Rasterizer fallback or the Gfx hardware they virtualize doesn't meet 8's minimum requirements
VirtualBox allows for DirectX-passthrough which eliminates this problem and even if your GPU is insufficient it directly exposes the complete capabilities of your X86 processor allowing for the Msft Raster Driver fallback
Danielt876
March 09, 2012 at 6:31pm
Running Windows 8 right now, replaced Windows 7 with it on my primary computer. I know its not recommended but I consider myself very experienced with computers and I did the same with the very first leaked version of Windows 7 and NEVER HAD A SINGLE PROBLEM. Looks like its going to be the same way with this. Everything works perfect for me. No sign in problems, Xbox Companion works, all drivers installed themselves etc. It only took me about a hour to figure the metro UI out and personally I love it. Its going to take some getting used to but that's not a problem for me.
Danno25002
March 07, 2012 at 4:57am
Okay, so how are you supposed to download/install the proper drivers when (Gigabyte in my case) does not have drivers for Win8?
whr4usa
March 16, 2012 at 9:04pm
any drivers from Vista 64-bit or higher will work fine in 64-bit Win8 and any from Windows 7 will work fine on the 32-bit side ... also the number of types of devices with Msft 'class' drivers is greatly increased and Windows Update (assuming you allow for optional updates and driver installations) has a healthy quantity of beta drivers direct from various vendors, trust WHQL
Carlidan
March 07, 2012 at 4:24pm
most drivers from win7 should work for win8. And it's beta, your shit out of luck unless your mobo manufacture has them.
cer789
March 05, 2012 at 8:50pm
my roomate's aunt makes $83/hr on the laptop. She has been without work for 8 months but last month her pay was $8682 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Read more on this site...Nuttyrich . com
Ledoubleu
March 05, 2012 at 10:20am
I am in agreement with some of what has been said about the UI, but my experience with Win8 on my spare 7 year old XP machine is pretty much positive. There's kinks to work out for sure but in comparison to a 12 year old heavily patched OS I now have a screaming machine (and impressively so). If part Of MS strategy is to provide an OS replacement for owners of older (perfectly fine otherwise) pc's I think they've hit on something there.
serper
March 05, 2012 at 9:21am
I'm fan of the command-line, and start button is essential to my solitude. This major jump to "tiles" and apps is nothing short of a bomb. Windows 8 is going to fail. I already hear around from users, that they'll stick with Windows 7.
I have Windows 8 installed in a VM, and I can not say I'm enjoying it. It lacks in a lot of ways, the intuitive nature of the operating system.
What happened with the Protogon file system? Please tell me how this OS can run threads better than Windows 7, please? Why would I want to do this, if I do not have a touch-screen or plan on ever using one in the near future.
I'm a gamer and see no reason to go forward with Windows 8. It's still DX 11. It's still NTFS. It's still Windows 7 with an annoying tile app screen.
Not impressed.
-serper
whr4usa
March 16, 2012 at 9:00pm
if DirectX11 (it's actually v11.1 in 8) and NTFS (which is v5.x now, with much improved utilities and shell integration) are all that you care about, then Vista SP2 is what you should be runnning!
...and Protogon AKA WinFS was NEVER a future feture of any future Windows, just a Msft Research project, all of the developements from which are being found in SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL CE 4, NTFS 4.x+, ReFS, .NET 4.x, *.VHDX format and related improvements and many other places across the Windows ecosystem. what's from with taking a modular, evolutionary approach..? isn't your whole issue with 8 related to the 'sudden' change in the GUI..?
DSS
March 05, 2012 at 4:35am
I tried Windows 8 Consumer Preview over the weekend and I must say that Windows 8 has taken a hugh step backwards because of the lack of the Start Menu and a out of the box - hit the ground running OS with a productive desktop.
It was also obvious that Microsoft did not even want you to add a reg hack to put it back.
I could understand the tile technology for a tablet and also a phone, but a desktop is really ridiculas.
Let's face it, if the tile system for the phone was so great, then why is it that the Windows Phone is not the number one selling phone of all times.
I guess that this drama that was played out with XP's end of life will now be what Windows 7 will become.
sladeofdark
March 04, 2012 at 8:01am
i love it for tablets..but it is annoying for a non-touchscreen kiosk style desktop.
kombatkarl
March 03, 2012 at 6:21pm
I'm not seeing how the dual-boot works. I installed Win 8 to a different partition, but when my computer boots it just goes straight into Win 7. I haven't done dual-boot on Win 7 before. I remember with XP you got a boot menu. Am I missing something here?
John A
March 03, 2012 at 9:53am
After 3 hours of trying to load on virtual box I succeeded now I am not sure it was worth the hassle.
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szore
March 03, 2012 at 9:46am
I get error: "FATAL: Could not read from the boot medium! System halted." OK fixed it, CD/DVD file type wasnt checked.
OK, vm is in and it works great, as fast as i need it to.
dedgar
March 02, 2012 at 11:18pm
Tells me it can't load because I don't have a 64 bit processor. Last I looked the 2600K was 64 bit.
Carlidan
March 04, 2012 at 3:24am
Did u make sure virutlaization was enable on BIOS. Think I had that same error when I was installing ubuntu on a VM machine.
siramic
March 15, 2012 at 5:59am
Thanks Carlidan, I was having the same problem as dedgar, and even in trying to get it to run properly with the 32-bit version, your advice solved this issue for both of us, thanks again. :-)
ashinms
March 02, 2012 at 7:23pm
Windows 8 is gonna be great. It's not a phone OS, and it will not handicap your system. Metro is mouse optimized. That's right assholes, it scrolls! That shit is genius! Who would have thought a modern OS would support a mouse with a scroll wheel! But in all seriousness, you don't have to emulate hand gestures with your mouse. I honestly think it works better than oldschool start menus, and it's not hard to learn at all. Too many people just looking to join a bandwagon because they have no identity, when they don't know shit about a product.
whr4usa
March 16, 2012 at 8:30pm
+1 indeed
thank you ashinms both for your objective candor and welcomed sarcasm! (:
eday_2010
March 02, 2012 at 5:24pm
Does anyone know what the maximum amount of RAM the consumer preview can see? I know Windows 7 Home Premium is limited to 16 gigs. I may forego buying 7 if I like 8 enough when I build my new system (which will be before 8 is released), and use the Consumer Preview until then. I plan on filling it with 64 gigs of RAM, so I want to know if it will see it all.
warptek2010
March 03, 2012 at 12:13am
Just curious... but what in the world do you need all that ram for?
eday_2010
March 03, 2012 at 7:18am
Video editing in Adobe Premiere. 1080p60 video to be exact. Adding two hours worth of clips in Premiere to make a Blu-ray can bog things down :)
whr4usa
March 16, 2012 at 8:35pm
any sort of content creation or virtualization or emulation or hosting can consume large amounts of memory quickly!
...and to answer your question there is no limit on memory can can be addressed by the Windows 8 betas as they're based on the DataCenter (Server) and Ultimate\Enterprise clt. editions which do not possess any subfeatureset or artificial resource limitations
Msft's official # for Windows 7 Professional\Ultimate\Enterprise was 192GB but all that means is they can theoretically refuse tech. support if you run with more virtual memory than that in your system as it has not been officially tested across all scenarios ...the "support figure" for Win 8 is 256GB
whathuhitwasntme
March 02, 2012 at 4:26pm
maybe for my tablet later
not for my desktop
I like win 7 ultimate 64 bit
it runs steady and no issues with my software
besides, wasnt this a smart phone/tablet os anyway?
why would I want to handicap several thousand dollars worth of
computing hardware with a program made to run on a disposable platform?
just doesnt equate if you understand my logic.
win 7 > win 8
win 8 < win 7
I cant make it do the equal sign with a line thru it to say
does not equal like in algebra but again, you get the drift
wolfing
March 02, 2012 at 6:32am
I'm totally meh about this new OS. Looks like Windows 7 will be the new Windows XP, to be in all my computers for the next 7 years. Maybe Windows 9 will be as awesome as XP and 7 were when they were introduced.
eday_2010
March 02, 2012 at 6:12am
Well, I can't try this out going the virtualization route. My Pentium 4 seems to be too old to support what VirtualBox needs to run Windows 8. VMWare Player won't install at all because my Pentium 4 doesn't support the virtualization it uses (same with VirtualBox). I might try to to a dualBoot installation, but I had no luck with that when I tried it with the Dev Preview. So I doubt I will be able to install this version. Heck, I can't install Windows 7 on my machine. The installation kept hanging. I am sure there is some hardware issue somewhere, but this computer is close to being replaced, so it's not worth troubleshooting.
I was looking forward to trying Windows 8. Looks like I will have to wait a while before I do.
whr4usa
March 16, 2012 at 8:53pm
I'm impressed to know that any Pentium 4's are still running as hot, slow and fritzy they were!!
turbo012
March 02, 2012 at 3:14am
For some reason, there was no option for "install on another option" for me.
Just Install now and Install Later.
Since I got the setup files downloaded already is there a way to make a boot or iso image with this?
whr4usa
March 16, 2012 at 8:52pm
did you accidentally download the ~3MB websetup utility instead of the ~4GB *.iso file..?
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/iso?ocid=W_OFF_W8P_TechCenter_ISO_EN-US
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh670538.aspx
warptek2010
March 02, 2012 at 12:30am
I haven't installed it and am only reading the comments about W8 and I probably am in the negative camp. I LOVE my Win 7 64 the way it is and the way I have set it up and am loathe to switch to something new and radical. The only reason I believe that MS went this route is Apple.
They want some of that 'hipster metrosexual' market share. The MS store only proves it. It's sad, but they were once a company that PC enthusiasts (nerds)like most of us here could look up to and trust somewhat knowingly that they understood us. But, with their new course that began with the XBox and now this Metro crap, they are beginning to turn their backs on our demographic. I can only suspect that the lack of Bill Gates in a full time role with the company is to blame. This Balmer character strikes me as someone with something loose in the attic.
fung0
March 05, 2012 at 10:43pm
+10
Evolution is great. Slapping all your biggest fans in the face is not so good.
If Ballmer wants to emulate Apple, he should try noticing that today's MacOS has a user interface that's essentially identical to that of the original Thin Mac. With plenty of enhancements, naturally. But totally familiar. Apple asks its fans to buy new hardware pretty regularly, but it never makes them feel betrayed. Even iOS has that same essential look-and-feel: icons, dock, bar at the top...
By comparison, Win8 is a huge and needless step sideways. Metro. Ribbons. A bunch of crap nobody asked for, that asks people with decades of experience on Windows to re-learn all their reflexes, for zero benefit. Meanwhile, simple stuff like multi-monitor support STILL isn't done right.
Microsoft has clearly forgotten who its users are. Pretty soon, we'll start forgetting who THEY are.
richeemxx
March 01, 2012 at 11:23pm
No matter how hard I tried I could not get W8 to work right with VirtualBox. It could be a hardware issue, or something but it was not going to work.
I'll also second that you need to watch how you dual boot. The W8 files are going to overwrite your existing bootloader, and will most likely move them off their current partition making it a PITA to remove W8.
The first time I setup the dual boot it never showed Windows 7. I had to do a startup repair just to get it to show. When I deiced to remove Windows 8 it totally killed my Windows 7 install because the boot manager was moved. Running bootrec or bcdedit didn't work either.
whr4usa
March 16, 2012 at 8:49pm
the Windows 8 installer doesn't do anything to your existing files unless you install on the same partition as your current load and the first-stage bootloader aka boot manager is completely compatible . . . "Startup Repair" essentially automates the steps outlined in this article for configuring multiboot.
Opm
March 01, 2012 at 9:05pm
Why cant they support a 'Live CD' format like almost every popular linux distro?
turbo012
March 02, 2012 at 3:15am
I was thinking of the same thing.
But I get the feeling that there are too many requisites for Windows and it's so bulky.
whr4usa
March 16, 2012 at 8:41pm
the minimalist Microsoft boot disc that has existed since before Server 2003 R2 is called WinPE AKA MinWin which IS the Windows kernel and "core services"
the new feature in Windows 8 is called WindowsToGo which only required an 8GB flashdrive officially with 16GB recommended but you can make it fit on a 4GB if you know exactly what you're doing and remove what you don't need via PowerShell 3 DISM Cmdlets, since this will be the first version of Windows to officially support completely removing unused components with supported, official tools publicly documented and already included (:
SenTora
March 01, 2012 at 8:47pm
Think of it this way: Every Even Number OS that Microsoft has had in the past (WinME, WinVista) has been the sucky one.
Penterax
March 10, 2012 at 5:10pm
Vista wasn't "sucky", it worked great. It did have a couple of issues at release, but most of the problems were actually caused by software engineers not doing their job - in other words, bad drivers.
The other part is, manufacturers slapped together systems that barely worked (and often not reliably) under Win XP, much less Vista (which didn't require a huge amount of extra resource, but did require that the hardware be compatible with it). They didn't do any actual engineering or testing. This is pretty common in the "cheap computer" part of the industry (something Apple avoids by forcing everyone to buy their hardware with their OS.)
;)
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