Let's say your computer comes with Windows 8 (not 8 Pro) preinstalled, using a SLIC and not a product key. Yu decide you hate the OEM crapware and want to do a clean reinstall. Bt you don't have reinstallation media, or the media includes the crapware.
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what is the best way to install a clean version windows 8 pro without losing my files, data and programs. I want to do that because my windows 8 became so slow and takes very long time to respond. whatsoever program or browser I open, takes some time ranging 30 sec to 5 minutes!! This thing never happened before as now I get not responding message on the window of each program...
Is there a way on how to do that?
Until very recently i was running Windows 8 with a 240 GB Sandisk SSD as a primary and a 2 TB Western Digital Green HDD as a storage. I decided to set up a RAID 1 setup so i purchased a second 2 TB HDD and installed it.
My intent was to run windows 8 off the 240 SSD as a primary and have a RAID 1 setup for my 2TB HDDs.
I learnt that my data configuration was set to AHCI. I decided to do a complete clean install and change the sata configuration in BIOS to RAID.
After successfully creating a RAID volume using my 2TB HDDs i proceeded to install Windows off my primary. I am however having difficulties in that it will not allow me to install windows on either drive.
Having previously upgraded to Windows 8 I restored the factory installation of Windows 7 prior to warranty repairs to my PC. Now that the repairs are satisfactorily completed what are my best options in upgrading again? On the one hand I could go ahead with the upgrade now or on the other should I wait until Microsoft have completed development of Windows 8.1?
View 3 Replies View Relatedi have a newish samsung laptop that came preinstalled with windows 8 but i need to format the stock hard drive and i was wondering how i would reinstall full windows 8 without a product key.
View 9 Replies View RelatedI have Windows 8.1 installed and then I installed Windows 7 afterward and now the system is using the Windows 7 bootloader as opposed to the Windows 8.1 bootloader. What I want to do is get set the Windows 8.1 as the default bootloader.
View 4 Replies View Relatedmy laptop came with a pre installed windows 8 having gpt format but i downgraded to windows 7 and reformatted it to ntfs,.. now I want to go back to windows 8 and format the drive to gpt again, but the external hard drive that contains the backup image was corrupted. What should I do?
View 6 Replies View RelatedOEM keys pre-installed in the my laptop as i too want to clean install windows 8.1 also my os was windows 8 Single Language and i have a 8.1 Pro ISO
View 2 Replies View RelatedI tried to install Windows 8 Pro on my Dell PC, but I didnt know the clean install was the best way to go and now my computer will not boot to the OS. It boots then goes black.
View 3 Replies View RelatedI need to install windows 7 32 bit over Windows 8 64 bit but so far I have not been able to format it or wipe over it as most of the programs like hiren's boot disk and kill disk and all the others that I have tried are 32 bit programs and Windows 8 64bit will not even boot off of them.
View 4 Replies View RelatedHow windows 8 works now without the sticker key on new laptops. I've searched all over the internet and all I can find are dumb articles telling users to use the manufacturers recovery image. How to do a CLEAN install of Windows 8.
My new windows 8 has NO sticker key on the bottom so my understanding is that it's stored on the bios? Is this correct? So my question is, is if I get an ISO of windows 8 and install it, will it automatically recognize the key or is the key only set up to be recognized by the PC manufacturers crapware filled image?
ALSO, if thats the case, can I use a 3rd party product to pull my key and then use that with the clean ISO? Lastly, where can I download a clean ISO of windows 8? I know you can download official windows 7 ISO's, but i cannot seem to find an official windows 8 iso. I have no desire to download a torrent or from some shady website, I just want an official ISO.
I got windows 8 online and I went to try and use the re install feature but its prompting me with this "Some files are missing. Your Windows installation or recovery media will provide these files" But since i got it online I don't have the CD but I do have the product key
View 3 Replies View RelatedI want to increase performance on my pc, and i would like to rest to factory settings, I did not create any discs stupidly at the begging
View 7 Replies View RelatedIm reinstalling windows 8 on my just formatted hard drives since I've filled up 1.5 terabyte with shit. (Not porn) and now I can't install it again?
View 9 Replies View RelatedI build my own desktop. I first had Windows Vista on it, which I bought on a DVD. I then skipped Windows 7 completely, but later upgraded to Windows 8 when Microsoft had a promotional period for it early in 2012 when it just came out.
Now I'm replacing the motherboard and also swapping the HDD to SSD, and I'm curious. Can I still install Windows 8 as an upgrade like I did before? And if yes, then how?
I have never dabbled in the installation or reinstallation of Windows 8 so far, but I am looking for information on how to re-install windows 8 onto a desktop computer that does not come with restore discs.
Now is it true that the CD-Key is stored on the BIOS? Or was that just a rumor that was floating around, I have never had true clarification on that.
If the answer is no, where would I find the CD-Key at that point?
Basically it is for a desktop computer that is no longer functioning and there were no restore discs created during original operation of the computer.
I accidentally reinstalled Windows 8.1 on a MBR partitioning style. I'm debating whether to start over and make sure I do it properly as GPT. I haven't installed any programs yet...is it worth it? (my MB is recent, supports UEFI, and im installing to an SSD).
View 3 Replies View RelatedI tried to reinstall windows 8.1 and it deleted my files I used it as a back up drive on my windows 7 pc I had 2 drives one with 7 the other 8 it ran fine when i set it up and used it a few times but the last time i was trying to boot it. It crashed so I tried to reinstall windows files but when it booted back up my files was not there i did not format to HD just reinstall windows i have the windows old files but my files are not in them i can run recovery software and see my files but before i do any thing that i can not undo I want to know is there a way to get my files back i have used recovery software in the past and only got back a few files so I am trying bypass that if I can.
View 1 Replies View RelatedI partitioned my hard disk into a 150GB (C) and 500GB (D) and upgraded from Win7 to Windows 8 (and subsequently Windows 8.1 after the recent updates). The OS is installed onto the C Drive.
Performed a Clean Installation of Windows 8 on my C Drive. Under the Choose What To Keep Option, I selected Nothing.
Technically speaking my C Drive would have been wiped clean but after the Windows 8 installation, my C Drive only has 5GB of space left (145GB is being used). The Windows 8 OS is not detecting any of the old programs in my C Drive and the automated Disk Clean up feature only offers removal of temporary internet files. Which brings me to one possible assumption...
The Clean Installation Failed. Windows 8 simply installed itself again on my C Drive and the remaining disk space (containing my previous Windows 8.1 OS and programs) is locked down somewhere. I suspect this had something to do with changing my HD format 3 years ago when I wiped clean my pre-loaded ASUS laptop Win7 and partitioned it to install my Windows 8.
How to remove my previous OS?
I tried to run "Reset and reinstall windows" when I found out that "keep nothing" is not a clean install.
However, the reinstallation part (Windows setup, with the serial number part) starts over and over again.
I want to know if it's possible to create a clean install DVD.
with pre-installed Windows 8without product key (when I buyed the notebook Windows 8 was already installed - the personal product key is "inside" the notebook).
By the way, can I include the Windows Updates in the install DVD somehow - (and programs which should be pre-installed)?
I have made a clean install of Windows 8 using USB and UEFI. Somehow it seems the instalaltion is not quit right of what I have read... Have attached picture of the Diskmanagement (OS is Norwegian by the way).
Compared to this thread: UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 8 with for me something is missing/wrong.
I have a laptop with one SSD and two internal disks. Both internal disk were removed before the installation, and connected and formatted after finished the installation.
It can me mentioned that I downloaded the OS, saved it as .iso file, then copied onto the USB disk. Then connected into the laptop and booted from USB/UEFI.
I did not follow these steps: UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows
I bought an acer 756-2808 netbook last year with windows 7 from Amazon. This netbook came with a "upgrade to Windows 8. SoI did the upgrade when it was released.
Sadly, I probably only used netbook for a month or two because the LED screen cracked. They are pretty fragile.
Then, I upgraded to 8GB ram. This thing flies!
I downloaded 'produkey' from nirisoft.net, because I can't find the product key anywhere for the life of me.
So, now I have the product key for the current windows 8 installed. Will this upgrade product key work for a clean install? Moving on, I ordered a Samsung 840 Pro 128 GB which should be arriving in a few days.
Finally, I want to do a clean install of Windows 8.1 using a Windows 8 Product key. Is this possible? The original HDD on this netbook has nothing on it, so I don't really have to back anything up either (like I said I barely used it for two months before the screen cracked!)
I did some searches and found this link: [URL] .....
So if the above step is correct.
Do I:
1.) Get the ISO on the USB following the steps mentioned in the link above.
2.) Take out old HDD and install new SSD
3.) Reboot computer with USB
4.) ?
5.) ?
6.) ?
etc.
Are these steps incorrect?
I recently did a clean reinstall of windows because I was having random BSOD/freeze issues. Everything has been fine for the last two weeks or so but I just got another BSOD playing League, and then about half an hour later I had a spike of CPU usage that froze my comp for about 30 seconds.
View 1 Replies View RelatedMy laptop is still running Vista, so when I upgrade to Windows 8, I'll have to do a clean install.
I don't mind having to re-install all my programs, but I need to be certain I'll be able to re-install Office 2007, since there's no way I'm going to buy it twice for a single computer.
I've read that Office can indeed be re-installed after the upgrade, but I haven't found any information on exactly how to do this. Any step-by-step guide on re-installing Office, including a list of all the information/codes I'll need to get hold of (for example, will I need to find my product key?) for the process?
I purchased a Lenovo laptop with Windows 8 Pro preinstalled. It came with 500 GB HDD. I changed the DVD Rom with SSD/HDD tray to use for additional drive. I put an SSD in there and installed Windows 8 on it using a USB Recovery Drive, which I don't have anymore. So my current setup looks like this:
After upgrading to Windows 8.1, the license of some software I'm using got messed up and I couldn't manage fixing it, so the only option I've got left is to reinstall/reset Windows. But since the Recovery partition is on another drive, when I go about creating a Recovery Drive, the option "Copy the recovery partition from the PC to the recovery drive" is greyed out. I've got stuff on my HDD, which I can't currently backup so I don't wan't to format that drive. I'm perfectly fine with formatting the SSD, that's what I want.
How can I reinstall/reset my Windows? The only option I see is to install Windows on the Hard Drive (by doing a backup and formatting it first), and then create a usb recovery drive and reinstall again on the SSD, but that's a lot of hassle and I'd need to find an external hard drive for the backup.
I intentionally left the Hard Drive in the original bay (as Disk 0) because of the better protection against falling compared to the added bay in place of the DVD drive.
I will need to do a complete system recovery. My computer originally came with windows 7 and then downloaded and installed windows 8. I have my product key. When I downloaded windows 8 it gave me the option of burning a copy of windows 8 to a dvd, however I did not do that. Whenever I do a system recovery will I be able to get windows 8 back without having to pay for another download?
View 6 Replies View RelatedI did a factory reset on my windows 8, and it messed up, not completing. so it is now stuck on a cycle of 'preparing automatic repair' and 'diagnosing your pc'.
And I today recieved the windows 8 cd to reinstall the os.
But after I've chosen language, I get error message saying I'm missing 1 of the media drivers.
Computer: alienware m14x r2 laptop
I do this day in and day out with Volume Licensing but never with OEM installs...
A user that works at our company brought their personal laptop in, the hard drive failed hard drive tests so we have put one of our spare hard drives in and now we need to re-install Windows 8 x64.
Where do i get the installation media from if the users doesn't have a disc? Is it possible or do we need to order a disc?
My Boot loader on my Desktop crashed so i formatted the drive as it was my only option. I'm attempting to reinstall windows...
-so i downloaded windows from: Upgrade Windows with only a product key as i was instructed to by the 1800 Microsoft support staff.
-made a usb installation media and used my Original Product Key. i did this on my laptop. and then once the installation media was finished i plugged it in to my desktop. it didn't work it said the product key was invalid and to please try again.
-so i called them back and the ended up giving me a new product key. i tried that with them still on the line and it didn't work their suggestion was to recreate the installation media.
- i did that this morning because i was irritated enough for one night. any way it didn't work, i noticed one thing. at the end of the creation of the installation media it keeps giving me my old product key to use.
Just to be clear because I tend to ramble a lot. this old product key is the one that i got from Microsoft when i purchased windows 8 pro. i purchased it online at microsoft.com when windows 8 first came out. i have no original installation disk because i originally downloaded some software from their site.
I dont want to buy a new copy of windows because in my opinion i shouldn't have to. What i would like to figure out is how do i create instalation media with the new product key that they gave me? every time i reinstall the install windows 8 file from Microsoft.com it for some strange reason keeps giving me my old product key and i cant seem to be able to change that.
I built up a new PC featuring a brand new SSD (i.e fully unallocated). Then, I made a clean install of Windows 8.1 pro (64bits) using an ISO DVD. Using Windows disk management tool after the install, I can see that only two partitions have been created: one System partition in NTFS (350MB) and the remaining of the SSD is the C: partition while I was expecting a third one : a recovery partition. Of course, I do not remember a prompt during the install to ask whether I want a recovery parttion or not.
Is it normal ? Is a recovery partition useful knowing I have the install DVD ? If the recovery partition has some advantages, is there a way to create it after the install is completed ?
