At work i have Windows 8 Pro installed from an MSDN ISO, having been waiting for the 8.1 update today i have now just seen a quote on Microsoft's site saying "If you installed Windows 8 using an MSDN ISO, you might be able to install Windows 8.1 using a similar ISO from MSDN"
Is there an easy upgrade option for this type of Windows 8 install? Preferably, without losing any data.
I was upgrading to Win 8.1 pro with WMC, but when the download was just 5% completed, the net got disconnected due to power cut. When I restarted the system and Click on the Upgrade Tile in the Store, it goes to Download Page. And when I click on the Download button, it says Application is installed. I can't find it in My apps either so that I can click on uninstall and do a fresh upgrade. The download was only 5% completed. Now I am unable to upgrade.
PS: I googled somewhere and found that I had to empty the SoftwareDistribution folder is to be emptied. After doing that, now when I try to upgrade I get "Your Windows 8.1 installation could not be completed, something went wrong and the windows installation could not complete".
I have an image of Windows 8.1 on a laptop I am testing with and would like to install/upgrade to 8.1 pro to test our product when running on a domain (thus the need for pro). How do I do this upgrade using the MSDN bits available? I would really prefer to not to a clean install if I can avoid it because the bump to 8.1 pro has to be minimal from an upgrade point of view.
View 3 Replies View RelatedYesterday, I clean-installed Windows 8 Pro x86 on an old Dell Vostro 1400 laptop which had been running Windows 7 Ultimate, and it activated and ran fine, without even a single exclamation point in Device Manager. I applied the update necessary to make the Store offer 8.1 and proceeded to install it as I've done on a couple other machines. After downloading the thing, it errored out with:
Couldn't install Windows 8.1
Contact your PC manufacturer to see if you can upgrade the System BIOS
When I clicked the OK button, it then gave me the informative and grammar-challenged error box:
Something happened and the Windows 8.1 couldn't be installed. Please try again. Error code: 0xc1900104
Try again Cancel
Ever the optimist, I clicked Try again, and of course, it proceeded to download all over again from scratch, only to error out in the same way. I then downloaded all the Windows 8 updates, although just the one had been necessary on my other machines that successfully upgraded to 8.1, and tried again, only to get the same result.
Today, I've discovered the Windows 8.1 Compatibility Assistant, which avoids the lengthy download of the upgrade every time (Microsoft, maybe you should run it implicitly before downloading 3 GB of transient data), and it tells me:
This PC doesn't meet system requirements
Contact your PC manufacturer to see if you can upgrade the System BIOS
Obviously, no BIOS updates are available, and what exactly is the problem here with my BIOS. The obvious googling turned up nothing except some people with Sony Vaios that had the same problem, which was corrected with a BIOS update, and of course, there is no information on what their BIOS update does to make the 8.1 upgrade possible.
My friend's sister installed Windows 8 twice, and it installed successfully both times. When I start the Netbook it gives me an option to choose between one of the two installs. I'd like to delete one of the installations but I'm not sure how to do so.
View 4 Replies View RelatedI was trying to install windows 8.1 on my new SSD for my laptop. However during the installation process, I accidentally unplugged the USB drive that had the Windows 8.1 install on it and the process was interrupted.
Now whenever I plug in that SSD into my laptop it gets stuck in this "boot loop" kind of deal where I hear it start up and turn off all in a matter of 10 seconds or so and all I get is a black screen.
Without the second hard drive my laptop runs almost flawlessly. Only issue is upon booting up it asks which operating system to use and gives me two options: Boot from Windows 8.1 or Boot from Windows 8.1 volume 4.
Earlier today, I decided to do a fresh install from my retail CD of Windows 8. Windows 8 was my existing OS. (I just wanted to start fresh). For some reason, it did not create the usual two additional small partitions (system reserved and one called recovery). Everything seemed to work alright, but was wondering why this happened (only the C: partition was created).
View 2 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 RelatedI am gonna buy a laptop that comes with windows 8. I want to replace that HDD with an SSD . So how do I go about this.
View 9 Replies View RelatedWindows 7 was having feature in which if we want to install any software it can be installed as older version modes XP,2000 etc.). Is there something similar in 8.1?
View 5 Replies View RelatedI bought a Razer Blade 14" laptop last week and it comes pre-installed with windows 8.1 core
Im looking for a way to download the windows 8.1 core x64 iso so that i can format the laptop and reset the partitions of the ssd (14GB is allocated to the system restore)
after much googling i saw that people have been getting an iso through using their windows 8 key, but mine is straight up 8.1 so after trying the method it did not work.
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)?
My roommate did a thorough wipe of his c drive, then installed 7 then 8.1.1. for some reason he cannot boot in to the win 7 partition. after building up and getting 8.1.1 setup just the way he wants it he doesn't care about the 7 partition any more. i know i can go in delete the 7 partition, stretch 8.1.1 to fill the entire drive, but what i'm not sure of is if the boot info is on 7 or 8.1.1. i do know that once 8.1.1 is the only os i can go into msconfig and delete the win 7 entry. note since both partitions were created using partition wizard there is not 100mb reserved partition, so the boot information is either on 7 or 8.1.1. i also have a copy of Acronis True Image 2014 Premium.
View 4 Replies View RelatedAnd if so, will it perform slower? Or only boot time will be affected? Any other disadvantage of doing so?
View 9 Replies View RelatedSetting up a dual boot with Win 7x64 on a 120GB SSD. The partition for Win 8 has 48 GB, but the install is failing: "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks." The first time I tried with the partition formatted, the second with it unallocated, both getting the same result. What am I missing?
View 9 Replies View RelatedBought new pc with windows 8.0 installed. Can't download windows 8.1 from store
View 6 Replies View RelatedI am trying to do a clean install of windows 8 on my laptop (Elitebook 8770W) from a USB stick with original MS Windows OEM iso. Once I boot from usb stick, at the setup screen I enter the product key and then choose advanced to do a clean install. I then choose my hard disk partition to install windows but I get stuck here with this error:
"Windows cannot be installed to disk 0 partition 1"
I deleted the partition and choose to install on the unallocated space (150GIG) But still get the same error and when I click on the error this is what I get:
"Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's Bios"
In bios I have my disk set as Raid and I also have a m-sata Flash cache. If I change raid to AHCI I will be able then to install windows. But if I turn it back to raid after install I will no longer be able to boot I have to be in raid mode to use my m-sat as cache drive.
So here I am stuck not being able to install windows I even downloaded latest intel rapid storage technology drivers and put them on the usb stick with windows setup files. When i got the error I choose to load driver. But even after that I was getting same error and windows would not install on my HDD.
What's the right way to install in this condition (raid)?
I have an old desktop running windows 7 (spec below). I had a 60GB partition and figured I'd install 8.1. I downloaded 8.1, proceeded to the install and everything went fine.
Upon reboot the desktop loaded to the windows 8 icon and immediately rebooted itself, and then launched into windows 8 automatic repair (without showing OS choice beforehand).
The pc has been stuck in this loop and I cant get out of it. I've attempted to reinstall a few times but it's the same story. I ran a disk check but no problems were found.
Windows 7 runs fine and has done for years, just a little sluggish as it needs some cleaning.
Spec:
Mobo: nForce M-a
CPU: Athlon X2 3800+
GPU: GeForce 8500 GT
2GB ram
I installed Windows 8 with UEFI on a GPT SSD like the tutorial on this very forum states, but I ran into an issue when I plugged in my secondary HDD (1tb MBR?). It won't boot even if I make sure Windows Boot Manager is the primary boot option. What can I do about this?
If I unplug the drive, it boots fine. If I plug it back in, it stops and Windows tries to repair itself.
Apparently if you're using Win 8 with UEFI, you can't have a 2nd drive that uses extended or logical partition. Since I had Ubuntu on the 2nd drive (logical) it wouldn't boot. I haven't done it yet, but If I delete the partition it should work just fine. I created a bootable usb with Gparted and will fix it later.
I am trying to set up my windows 7 laptop so that it duel boots between 7 and 8 which sounds great. My existing W7 partition has been shrunk and a new partition has been created ready for the install however when trying to install using the disk, I keep being told that windows cant be installed onto the partition due to the disk being a MBR format (think that what the three letters are) .
Is there a way round this without having to remove the current install and remove all of my content.
The os that i have in my laptop is windows 8. Any time I put on the computer a message pop up that new update of 8.1 is available. Really I want to update to 8.1 but i don't want to loss my files and other programs installed. will it be possible to update it without losing my all ready installed programs?
View 1 Replies View RelatedI am using Windows 8.1. I have an Acer Aspire V5-571P computer with Windows 8.1 pre-installed. I want to install my licensed copy of Windows 7 Professional on it as a dual boot to dual boot Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. I have seen that it can be done, but I cannot figure out how to correctly do it. I have already had to re-install Windows 8.1 once from a USB Recovery drive which was not fun. So how to do it and get it done. I love windows 7 Pro but I can't figure out how to do it.
I have already turned off secure boot in bios. However, UEFI mode is still active vs legacy bios which is the other mode I have.
How to hid all the partitions in the factory installed HDD for Lenovo Y580.
This is the scenario.
Firstly, i successfully migrated all of the following partitions:
OEM/Hidden partition,
C partition: boot drive/ program files and data drive &
D partition: containing drivers
from my Lenovo factory installed HDD to the SSD and to use the SSD as the primary boot drive . Now, i plan to use the factory installed HDD as my data drive. (I am using a caddy tray for this whereby i plan to swap out the optical drive and pluck in the Lenovo factory installed HDD). However, for "safety reasons" i do not plan to re-format the entire factory installed HDD but rather to keep those partitions just in case if my SSD fails.
Hence, how do i turn all the three partitions above (in the Lenovo factory installed HDD) to become dormant? I want the computer to boot up from the existing SSD but then to treat the factory installed HDD as the data drive and not to read from any of the three partitions in the factory installed HDD.
I am planning to use EASUS as my disk partition freeware.
I want to upgrade windows 7 Pro system to windows 8.1 pro without loosing data or installed software settings.
is there a easy/legal way to this???
A while back I purchased a computer that had Windows 8, I then upgraded it to 8.1 when the update came out.
Through work I have been given permission to us one of the MAK keys we have for 8.1 Pro/Enterprise, and trying to use "Windows Anytime Update" says I cannot upgrade using the key. I don't want to install over everything or upgrade using the install CD as it usually messes things up... Is tehre an easy way to upgrade from a OEM base version to a MAK Pro/Enterprise edition?
Is it allowed to upgrade to Win 8 pro 64 bit from Win 7 32 bit?
View 4 Replies View RelatedIt's a temptation to install and explore 8.1, but siding on the side of caution and prefer to delay the upgrade.
The 8.1 upgrade is NOT automatic, is it?
I would like to wait, maybe a month, for all the kinks and bugs to get worked out of 8.1 before it's installed on my PC.
Using a dual-boot, with Win7 on the other side. If it's not possible, then I plan to continue with just using Win7.
I am currently using asus a42ja as my main laptop, and installed EOM version of windows 7 on it. Then i got an upgrade (from Microsoft store) to windows 8, a couple of months ago I upgraded to windows 8.1. Long story short, i got an SSD , and i wanted to clean install windows 8.1 on it.
1. the windows update advisor for windows 8.1 wont receive the product key that i currently have (win 8 upgrade) does that mean i cant do clean installation?? or should i install win 8 and do upgrade manually (which is a pain)??
2. lets say i will do clean intall win 8 on the ssd, will my upgrade key works? will i encounter a problem with the activation process?
3. other option is to reset my win 8.1 and clone the fresh copy to the ssd , but i never done this before , only refresh, and if im resetting my computer, do i need to re activate the windows? (and will my product key works?)
4. the last and least preferred option : do windows refresh and clone the system drive to ssd.
is there some utility to backup the windows activation?all i wanted to do is do a clean install of windows 8.1 (and activate it) on the new drive.
I have windows 7 and bought windows 8 upgrade discs (still unopened), I have no SSD now but want to buy one. What should i Do install win 8 first then the SSD? Or the other way around? What's better What will my recovery options be if I get a nasty virus? Also once my ssd is in it can't fit everything so when i want to download things and programs to the old HDD that will be fine right i can still access them from the desktop.
View 7 Replies View RelatedI just got a new laptop, running Windows 8.1 SL. I wanted to connect it to the office Active Directory domain, just to find that it can't. Now I know I can go to Control Panel, to the "Add features to Windows 8.1", and purchase an 8.1 Pro key. But my company has a Windows 8.1 volume license key, and there are still a few available that I can use.
However, I already have everything set up pretty much the way I want it; I don't want to format and re-install Windows. I tried to do the Windows "Add features to Windows 8.1" ("Windows Anytime Upgrade" as it was called in Windows 7) using our Volume License key, but it doesn't want to accept the key.
So I was wondering if there is any way to do this upgrade without losing any data? For example, is there something I can do with slmgr? Or can I maybe just insert the 8.1 Pro disc and do an upgrade?
Is upgrading from Win 8 to Win 8.1 working ?
I used the downloaded .iso (MSDN), but it only offered to keep personal files, all applications were gone after install.
Is this the expected behavior ?
If yes, this will be difficult cause MS has stated that all 8 users must upgrade to 8.1
Do the same applies to Server 2012 R2 (upgrade from 2012 to 2012 R2) ?