Windows 8 BAD NEWS.Windows 8 is only being sold as an upgrade install.

[Andrea Borman]

I have just found out last week that when Windows 8 goes out on sale in the shops tomorrow on 26th October 2012,it will only be sold as an upgrade install. And I telephoned PC World a large computer store in England,where I live and they confirmed this.

Which means that there will be no full installation DVD of Windows 8 like there is for Windows 7 and the other versions of Windows. And this is going to cause problems for many Windows users. As an upgrade install will work in certain cases, but if you have problems with your computer. For example you have wiped out your OS you won't be able to re install Windows with an upgrade install.You would need to do a clean install.Which you can only do with a full installation CD.

Also with an upgrade install,you must already have a supported version of Windows on your computer. And although you can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro from Windows 8 RP. That's no good. Because Windows 8 RP expires in January 2013.

So say you do upgrade from Windows 8 RP to the retail version and your OS crashes in say,July 2013. To reinstall Windows again,you would first have to install the previous version of Windows you upgraded from.Before you could install Windows 8 Pro. And you won't be able to upgrade from Windows 8 RP after January 2013 because it will have expired. And so Windows won't activate.

And once you have done the upgrade from Windows 8 RP. If you then try to do the upgrade install from another version of Windows it won't work. Because Windows won't activate because you have activated Windows 8 Pro as an upgrade from Windows 8 RP,which will no longer be supported by then.

The alternative is to instead upgrade from Windows 7 or Windows Vista. But that I and other Windows users will be faced with the inconvenience of having to go through the long installation process of Windows 7 all over again.And waste a product key activating it. When what we really want to do is to install Windows 8.

With Windows 8 RP and the Beta versions of Windows 8 we had the option to do a clean install or an upgrade install. But with the final version of Windows 8,we won't be able to.

Also on all of the Windows forums experts advise Windows users to do a clean install rather than an upgrade install. As upgrade install sometimes have problems. And I don't want to do an upgrade install of Windows 8. I want to do a clean install as I have done with Windows 7.

People were worried that we would not be able to have the start button and Windows 7 start menu on the final version of Windows 8. But all of the start menu software like Classic Shell is working on Windows 8 RTM. So that is not our problem.

The problem is being able to install Windows 8 as because it is only being sold as an upgrade many people won't be able to install it. And if something goes wrong with Windows you need to do a clean install. Which you cannot do with an upgrade version.

There is the OEM version but OEM is only for people building their own computer for the purpose of selling them. For example computer makers like HP and Dell. So OEM is not for ordinary home computer users like us. And also I am not clever enough to build my own computer and most people cannot either. So OEM is not an option for us.

Windows 8 will be sold as 32 bit which is what I want as I don't like 64 bit Windows,I only have 32 bit Windows. But the problems is that it is only being sold as an upgrade version and not a full version. And that's not what I and most Windows user want.

So it looks like we will have to go back to Windows 7 or whatever version of Windows we had when Windows 8 RP expires.
Andrea Borman.

 

[Joe S]

Maybe you should do some more research Newegg.com - Operating Systems, OS Software, Microsoft Windows 7
Joe

 

[Andrea Borman]

I clicked on that link and first of all that is 64 bit Windows 8. Which I cannot install because I have netbooks. And you can only have 32 bit Windows on 1GB ram netbooks like mine.

And as it says on the web OEM is only for people who are building their own computer with the intention to sell computers. So that's not us home computer users. And I cannot build my own computer.

And also I don't buy things online I go to the shop or buy over the telephone. because I don't give my credit card details online. I don't know what the situation is in the USA if you can buy Windows 8 full install version or not. But you cannot in England where I live.

But I think the whole thing is stupid.Microsoft should have made a full install version of Windows 8 like they have for Windows 7 and the other versions of Windows.
Andrea Borman.

 

[Manolopoulos Apostolos]

You are SOOOOooo wrong. Retail version exist

 

[Trouble]

You are SOOOOooo wrong. Retail version exist

Do you perhaps have a link to a vendor who is selling a Full Retail Version of Windows 8. Not an upgrade and not an OEM version. I would certainly like to purchase a copy if you do.

 

[Joe S]

From what I've read there is no Full Retail as in the past. Now there is just OEM (System Builder) and upgrade. Here's a link Windows 8 System Builder will replace full version at retail | PCWorld Some of this doese get a bit confusing.
Joe

 

[Andrea Borman]

Well they say an OEM version is the same as the full install version. But it is only for PC vendors building their own computer. And I think it is stupid that PC World the top leaning computer store where I went and bought my full versions of Windows 7 ,won't sell Windows 8 full version.

Microsoft take orders over the telephone so you don't have to order online. Which I won't. But would they sell us an OEM version of Windows 8? Could we not maybe tell them a lie and say we are building a computer and selling it to get them to sell us an OEM version of Windows 8?

But we should be able to buy the full version anyway. And it's not right that we can't. Andrea Borman.

 

[bukaw1625]

don't know if this helps andrea ,but depending on what brand of pc you have, there may be a partition area on your pc(check it out).while learning windows 8,I had difficulty in uninstalling Lexmark ,I had to reboot my pc from the partion (I can on mine ,I have a Toshiba)and then uninstall Lexmark from windows 7.total time to reboot 7,uninstall,then put 8 back in about 5 hours.rebooting 7 temporarily is best done while you sleep.I bought the uprade and chose the option of bringing over everything.it was succesfull.windows 8 upgrade advisor will tell you what to delete for now,and what wont work.delete the incompatable software before installing windows 8,you'll save time and a headache.then windows 8 should install,It will take time to install,but I like it,Im like a child at Christmas.good luck and cherio(?(.Thomas(usa)

 

[bukaw1625]

I bought and downloaded a digital download($39.00 us),its seems to work just fine.

 

[Andrea Borman]

I went out yesterday,Saturday and bought a Windows 8 Pro upgrade install DVD from PC World a my local computer store in England.And the staff even looked on the Internet for me as well as check their records.And they could not find anywhere that sells Windows 8 as a full install like Windows 7. So I had to buy the upgrade version because that's all they sell. There is nowhere that sells Windows 8 as a full installation DVD.

So I bought the upgrade version which was £49 and it comes in both 32bit and 64 bit. And as I have a netbook with 1Gb ram I am going to install the 32 bit version. But what I am going to do is first uninstall Windows 8 RP and reinstall Windows 7. which is the original version of Windows that was on my netbook. Then do the upgrade install to Windows 8 Pro after that.

My advice to anyone is DO NOT do the upgrade install from Windows 8 RP. The reason is that if you choose to do this,Windows 8 RP expires in January 2013. So if after that time you need to reinstall Windows.The upgrade install from Windows 8 RP to Windows 8 Pro won't work then. Because Windows 8 RP will have expired by then. And because you upgraded from Windows 8 RP to Windows 8 Pro. Windows won't activate. You will need a new product key. to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 Pro.

So you should reinstall Windows 7 first before you do the upgrade install.The upgrade install will work from all versions of Windows XP,Windows Vista and Windows 7. It's not the perfect solution but it does work. But it still would have been better if we could have just bought a full version install of Windows 8.
Andrea Borman.

 

[Trouble]

I went out yesterday,Saturday and bought a Windows 8 Pro upgrade install DVD from PC World a my local computer store in England.And the staff even looked on the Internet for me as well as check their records.And they could not find anywhere that sells Windows 8 as a full install like Windows 7.

My advice to anyone is DO NOT do the upgrade install from Windows 8 RP.

So you should reinstall Windows 7 first before you do the upgrade install.The upgrade install will work from all versions of Windows XP,Windows Vista and Windows 7. It's not the perfect solution but it does work. But it still would have been better if we could have just bought a full version install of Windows 8.
Andrea Borman.

While conceptually the basic premise of your post sounds good and practical on its' face but my question is;
Did you even try to do a clean custom install from the Upgrade you purchased?

I have done two so far, on new unallocated hard drives without any issue so I can not see a problem going forward as there does not seem to be anything like a previous version checker implemented during a clean install with the upgrade version. I suspect that the real issue is to be sure you remain in compliance by actually owning a legitimate qualifying Operating System so as to be legal in all respects regarding the installation of the new Operating System on a system that does not have a previous qualifying Windows version installed.

I will say, that both of my clean installs were performed using the $39.99 digital download from the Microsoft Store, from which I created an ISO and then from that I created a bootable USB Thumb Drive to facilitate the install. I cannot speak to the actual boxed retail upgrade version as I do not own one yet and do not know if it is even bootable as a source for the install but I would expect it to behave similarly.
Regards
Randy

 

[Andrea Borman]

Well I bought my Windows 8 pro upgrade installation DVD from PC World on of the big computer stores in England,where I live. And I only bought it yesterday,Saturday,so no,I have not got round to installing it yet. But my plan is to install it on one of my windows 7 netbooks.I have got several Netbooks with Windows 7 installed.

The upgrade version of Windows 8 cost £49 which is cheaper than what a full installation DVD of windows 8 would have been.If they made one,which they don't.But I would have bought a full install version of Windows 8 if I could have. But of course you can't because there is no full install version of Windows 8.

And I have been using Windows 8 from the beginning since Windows 8 DP. So now I want to see it through to the end by installing Windows 8 Pro which is the permanent version of Windows 8.

But because there is no full installation version of Windows 8 it will have to be an upgrade install. There is no other option,if you want to install Windows 8. But from what I have read on the web you can install Windows 8 from any version of Windows XP,Windows Vista and Windows 7. And you can also format the hard drive during the installation.

And I am going to try to install Windows 8 from Windows 7 this evening or tomorrow. And I will let you know how that goes. But the upgrade install should work from Windows 7. You could either first uninstall Windows 8 RP and then reinstall windows 7 or the previous version of Windows that was on your computer. Then install the upgrade version. Or do the upgrade install from one of your other computers that has any version of Windows XP,Windows Vista or Windows 7 already on there.
Andrea Borman.

 

[Trouble]

Wow! Well OK then...... good luck.

 

[bukaw1625]

Wow! Well OK then...... good luck.

As of 10-27-12,every thing is fully operational,no complaints yet(he he)

 

[nmsuk]

From my upgrade disc I did a completely clean install of windows 8 pro. So you don't even need a qualifying product on the system to install.

 

[SupportTypeGuy]

Multiple sources have reported that there is no validation of previous version of Windows on the upgrade disk. Typically you would see an upgrade have this verification service so that you can only install when a prior version is legally owned. However, this is not true of Windows 8; YOU CAN DO A FULL INSTALL FROM THE UPDATE DISK.

Try this, wipe one... delete the partition so there is no history of the prior OS then just stick your disk in and try to install it. See for yourself if that works. Sincerely, I promise you it will work without any problems.

 

[Drew]

Yes, on an empty, formatted drive, you simply select the "Don't keep anything" option. The Upgrade is, indeed, the complete Windows 8 SKU.

And, correct, w/ Windows 8 there is no such things as OEM, as there was in the past. May sound like semantics but, what we thought of as OEM versions before, w/ Windows 8 it is the System Builder version. And is what is for people like myself who custom build new computers.

And while I'm at it, by the way, the Win8 Upgrade can be used to go from the RP & Keep Data; this is the 1st time we could go from a beta OS to Final. This is especially ideal & nice for people who (wrongly) wiped out their existing non-beta/current OS & replaced it w/ a beta OS, namely Win8 RP.

Cheers,
Drew
Link Removed

 

[Saltgrass]

To install Windows 8 Pro upgrade, customers must be running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, or Windows 7

Considering the quote, it would appear, that you need to be running one of the qualifying OSes. But for the Windows 7 release, it stated you had to have a previous OS installed and activated...

I have not yet purchased any Windows 8 product since I was looking for, but have not found a full retail version, except for the OEM.

Considering some of the changes that occurred when Windows 7 came out, if you have not forgotten, Microsoft can change what they will allow at any time. It appears, because of the price, they are trying to get Windows 8 on as many systems as possible, so they may be forgiving certain things, like a prior OS, to get folks to install this one.

If they are forgiving certain requirements, that might continue for a while, possibly the end of January, but no way to know. The fact they are not selling a full retail version means something. I suppose there will not be any version of Windows 8 beside the Pro version..so no bitlocker or language packs -- ever?

Edit: Looks like Bitlocker may be in the pro versions, and I suppose language packs would be an additional item as the Media Center is. I also found this statement. So if you have a prior OS activated, maybe they are just reading your computer to see if it has a prior license. Maybe we need to hear from someone with a new system and whether the upgrade will install on that system.

you can install the upgrade only on PCs that have a valid base license

 

[Drew]

1. Win8 Pro does have Bit-locker
2. The Upgrade can not only go from XP, Vista & 7 but, also, from the RP
3. It IS possible to do clean installs to blank drives w/ the Upgrade.
4. The (what was called) OEM is System Builder version.


I can research Lang Packs for you, if you'd like; I just don't recall the details about them right off the top of my head, right now.

Cheers,
Drew
Link Removed

 

[Saltgrass]

See my Edit Drew, the last comment may explain some things. But thanks, I was only considering 8 if it did not invalidate my Windows 7 license...I just hope they end up releasing a Desktop friendly OS in the next two years or so...