sammytruck
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My Acer-V5 laptop has a hidden partition with Windows 8 on it.
I ran Jelly-Bean Finder and got my 25 digit serial number. Could I get/download a copy of Windows 8, use MY serial number, and wipe the whole drive? Then install Windows 8, without any hidden partition?
I want to do all this.... so I can dual-boot with Linux, with the Legacy option in the bios.
Help would be grateful......
I ran Jelly-Bean Finder and got my 25 digit serial number. Could I get/download a copy of Windows 8, use MY serial number, and wipe the whole drive? Then install Windows 8, without any hidden partition?
I want to do all this.... so I can dual-boot with Linux, with the Legacy option in the bios.
Help would be grateful......
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The hidden partition, you may be referring to, contains the Windows 8 factory image. It should be around 10 GB in size and can be removed if you create a Recovery drive, it will give you the option to remove it. I would be certain I had the image somewhere safe before doing anything else.
I would also make sure I had a System Image Backup of my system in case something goes wrong.
Ubuntu 13.04 or later can be installed as UEFI if you wanted. It is also compatible with the Windows 8 secure Boot. Linux can also be installed as Legacy on a GPT configured drive if it was necessary. The Details of how to do this will be up to you.
The key you recovered, as far as I know, can only be used for installing the original Windows 8 that came on the system. It should not work with a downloaded version or purchased DVD, but I haven't actually tried it.
You should realize, if you remove the Recovery partition, you may loose any special recovery options the OEM supplied with the system.
I would also make sure I had a System Image Backup of my system in case something goes wrong.
Ubuntu 13.04 or later can be installed as UEFI if you wanted. It is also compatible with the Windows 8 secure Boot. Linux can also be installed as Legacy on a GPT configured drive if it was necessary. The Details of how to do this will be up to you.
The key you recovered, as far as I know, can only be used for installing the original Windows 8 that came on the system. It should not work with a downloaded version or purchased DVD, but I haven't actually tried it.
You should realize, if you remove the Recovery partition, you may loose any special recovery options the OEM supplied with the system.
sammytruck
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The hidden partition, you may be referring to, contains the Windows 8 factory image. It should be around 10 GB in size and can be removed if you create a Recovery drive, it will give you the option to remove it. I would be certain I had the image somewhere safe before doing anything else.
I would also make sure I had a System Image Backup of my system in case something goes wrong.
Ubuntu 13.04 or later can be installed as UEFI if you wanted. It is also compatible with the Windows 8 secure Boot. Linux can also be installed as Legacy on a GPT configured drive if it was necessary. The Details of how to do this will be up to you.
The key you recovered, as far as I know, can only be used for installing the original Windows 8 that came on the system. It should not work with a downloaded version or purchased DVD, but I haven't actually tried it.
You should realize, if you remove the Recovery partition, you may loose any special recovery options the OEM supplied with the system.
Nice info. I will do backups. I have two 32-gig sticks, and one 64-gig stick, one 500-gig external usb3 drive.
I'd like to just wipe the 500-gig 7200-rpm drive. Install a raw Windows-8 OS. THEN pop in a PCLinuxOS into an external dvd-usb drive, and install it.
sammytruck
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