Windows 7 Yes,I have installed Windows 8 on my netbook. But it has wiped out my Windows 7 completely. What sho

Andrea Borman

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Link RemovedLink RemovedLink RemovedSee images above and as you can see Widows 8 is installed on the X drive that used to be my C drive. And the Windows 8 E drive partition I created is empty. So my Windows 8 install has wiped out my Windows 7 and replaced it with Windows 8. And it has also deleted my data on my recovery partition.

Readers of this forum may know me from the thread I posted 2 weeks ago about Windows 8. Well I decided to test Windows 8 out for myself and I installed the developers preview. And as you can see from above,these are pictures from my desktop from my netbook that is now running Windows 8.

The netbook used to have Windows 7 Professional,and installed Windows 8 by following the step by step instructions on the How To Geek website.

But because I have a netbook with no CD drive,I installed Windows 8 by mounting the ISO file on virtual clone drive. And I downloaded the windows 8 ISO file from the Microsoft website.

I though that it would just install Windows 8 on the spare 19GB partition that I managed to create by following the instruction from the How To Geek website. But instead of this the install has upgraded my Windows 7 to Windows 8. And Windows 7 is no longer on my netbook. It has been overridden or replaced with Windows 8. And not only that but it has wiped out data on the recovery partition. So now if I had any problems,i cannot do a factory restore to get back Windows 7.

But Windows 8 is working and as you can see from my pictures I have disabled the Metro theme after reading your tutorials on the Windows 8 forums. And I now have a Windows 7 desktop and start menu. And also all of the Windows Vista and XP software i used on Windows 7 works on Windows 8. Except for Windows Mail.

But the problem is that Windows 8 is only a developers preview and I have just read that it will expire some time this year.And that after this time we will no longer be able to carry on using it,after then. But because the Windows 8 install wiped out my Windows 7 completely and it also wiped out the data on my recovery partition. That is needed to do a factory restore.

This means I cannot do a factory restore and go back to Windows 7 after the Windows 8 developers preview expires. Also when I looked on my hard drive the install has changed my drive letters from C drive to X drive. And all that is left of is my Windows old folders that have some of my old program files from Windows 7. But the data on the recovery partition is gone.

I know that other members of this forum have also installed Windows 8 developers preview. But I don't know if they installed it over their Windows 7 or just alongside of it.

I have limited experience with computers and on the websites I read it said that.You could install Windows 8 on a netbook using virtual clone drive and that if you created a partition of your hard disk,which I did. That it would install Windows 8 alongside Windows 7.
But on my computer it did not do that.It installed Windows 8 OVER my Windows 7. And I did know this was going to happen.

And although I can still carry on using the Windows 8 at the moment and it seems to be working okay. What am I going to do when it expires. As know that you cannot use the developers build permanently. And that after this time,you have to either upgrade or go back to your previous version of Windows. As I have read that Windows will no longer be activated after the preview expires.

And as the install deleted the data on my recovery partition. How do I back up my operating system in case something goes wrong? I do not know how to do this.

What do you advise me to do. As I have asked my friends and they don't know what to do. Andrea Borman.
 

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Andrea, Congratulatiuon for biting the bullet. Sorry to hear that you wiped your Win7. But that you can easily get it back. Download a Win7 Professional .iso from the web (there are several sites), put it on a stick and install it. You can activate it with the product Key that is on the COA sticker on the bottom of your netbook.
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Well, I am going to head a different direction. You say your system is booting to X: That in itself looks a little strange since that is normally the drive letter of the Ram Disk from the WinRE. Are you sure the original install is missing? Is there a Windows.old (maybe hidden) folder on the drive you think Win 8 loaded onto?
 
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Andrea, I have consulted with a couple of guys that have upgraded to Win7 Professional like you. They downloaded the .iso from Microsoft and got the Win7 Professional product key in a seperate mail. So you should have the key. Scout thru your old mail.
 
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Hi Andrea

If you used anytime upgrade then you paid Microsoft for it.

Install Windows 7 Professional (and if it doesn't register) then call Microsoft and tell them you have a legitimate up grade and they will give you a number.

I've never found them to be hard to get along with, if you paid they have your info and will be able to see it.

Mike
 
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Yes I have written down the key number Mike but the number is the upgrade key number NOT the product key number there is a difference. Also I did use Magic Jellybean keyfinder tool here-KeyFinder | Magical Jelly Bean

And it told me the product key number. But when I installed Windows 7 Profesional by downloading the ISO from Digital river and typed in the product key to activate Windows. Activation failed,it would not activate.
I got error m-Activation failed- "Sorry the product key you entered appears to be a default product key.Please enter a different key.Or purchase a new Product key."
Click to expand...

So my friend who does not know any more about computers than I do. helped me reinstall the Windows 8 again. As the copy of Windows 7 I had just installed would not activate and so was not valid.

Yes I have a Windows old folder but it only contains a few of my old files. Which are just web browsers and media players I had on Windows 7. But the Windows 8 install wiped out my recovery data the partition is empty no. And it changed the drive letters. C drive which is called install and has Windows on it is now called X drive. And the partition I called Windows 8 is F drive.

I do not know of any other solution but to buy aCD drive. As my netbook is a 1GB ram netbook with no CD drive. And buy a Windows 7 full installation CD and install Windows 7 using a custom or clean install. I want to keep the Windows 8 now that I have it. But of course it is going to expire soon.

But I hope I will be able to download and install Windows 8 beta or consumer build over the Windows 8 developers preview. The same way I installed Windows 8 developers preview.

I have thought about downloading Windows 7 professional again or one of the other ISO files. And I have read there is a command that you can paste in command prompt. That gives you more time to activate Windows.

That is instead of the 30 day deadline in which you must activate Windows. If you paste in the command it extends this period to 120 days. So you then have 120 left to use Windows without activating it. And then after that I am not sure if you can just keep extending the deadline or not.

But then I would be worrying all the time that Windows was going to deactivate and go into restricted mode. And I think if I did this it would eventually if I could not activate it.

As from what I read that command only extends the activation deadline from having only 30 days left to activate Windows to 120 days. But I don't think it is going to keep on giving you more days left to activate. And that time will run out eventually.Andrea Borman.
 
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Hi again.

As I understand it, you should install Windows 7 using the registration number that came with your computer (and the disk or recovery partition) and then upgrade from that, using the Anytime Upgrade number.

You can not install Windows 7 Professional directly from the .ISO but the Pro version is included in the Home Premium ISO.

When you upgraded to Pro you received a upgrade number.

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To upgrade you just restart the Anytime Upgrade process and type in your number when asked for it.

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It will unlock the Pro capabilities in your present install.

Mike
 
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But Mike, my netbook like all of my other netbooks DID NOT come with Windows 7 Home Premium no. It came with Windows 7 Starter which I then upgraded to Windows 7 Professional.Using Windows any time upgrade that is located in the control Panel.

And as I explained I looked at my email I got from Microsoft after I did the any time upgrade.And it is NOT a product key it is an upgrade key. There is a difference.

And I do not have a product key for pro or Home Premium as they were all upgrades from Windows 7 Starter. So the only product key I have is the Windows 7 starter product key that is on my netbook.

And I clicked on that link and you have to buy it online. And I am not going to buy my copy of Windows 7 online. Because I don't feel safe giving my credit card details online. I am going to buy my Windows 7 CD and my CD drive from the store PC World tomorrow or some time this week.Andrea Borman.
 
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That's right, you won't have to stock up on computers. That will save you a considerable amount of money.

Now what you need to do is to purchase a backup drive, at least a 500GB one, a 1TB would be preferable. And learn to backup your OS's, so that when you want to try something new, you can return your computers to the state of condition that they were in at the time of the backup.

I keep 2 backups of each install that I have, 1 of which was done when the install was new, and the 2nd of which I do after Update Tuesday, or after making any major changes, such as installing a new AV/IS program.

And secondly, your netbooks should be able to hold 2GB RAM. Many of them ships with 1GB, as you said that at least one of yours are. That extra 1GB of RAM makes a big difference in how your netbook performs.

My newest notebook shipped with 6GB DDR3 RAM, I was plenty satisfied, but when Newegg was offering a 8GB (4GB x2) set of GSKILL RAM for $29.99 with free shipping, I couldn't resist. Although I see no difference, I may in the future, when more programs are 64 bit, rather than the mostly 32 bit versions that we now run. And it allowed me to lend more RAM to my VM's, making them run as if there were real installs.

Cat
 
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But Mike, my netbook like all of my other netbooks DID NOT come with Windows 7 Home Premium no. It came with Windows 7 Starter which I then upgraded to Windows 7 Professional.Using Windows any time upgrade that is located in the control Panel.

How did you upgrade it to Pro to start with?
Repeat the process and enter your upgrade key!!!

I didn't intend for you to order it, the link was just to show how you get it, how much it costs and what you get for the money. All you get is a product key, no disk, just a key, if you have your key you can update.

As far as I can see it costs $120 to upgrade from Starter to Pro.
Did you pay that at some point in the process?

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How did you pay it without using a credit card.

You should do what my wife and I do, we have a credit card just for online and it has a very low limit.

If it gets hacked they can't put much on it anyway.

Interestingly we have had our credit card data stolen twice, and both time is was our regular card not the online card that was hacked.

Both times the info was stolen from our bank, and the credit card company covered the losses.

Mike
 
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Yes when I uses Windows any time upgrade I was taken to the Microsoft website and I had to fill in the online form with my name and address and email address and my debit card number. Yes i paid for the online Windows any time upgrade with my debit card.

Then Microsoft upgraded Windows for me. And then they emailed me my receipt with my upgrade key number. And normally when I do a factory restore. That puts my netbook back to Starter,I just type in the upgrade key again to upgrade.

But the install of Windows 8 has wiped out Windows 7 and my recovery partition and data. I cannot even restore to factory condition now.

Tomorrow if the weather is all right. we had snow here in England and it has been really freezing with thick ice outside after the snow turned to ice.

But if the weather is all right tomorrow I will go to PC World and buy that Windows 7 full installation CD and also a CD drive. As i will need to buy a plug in USB CD drive. So that I can install Windows 7 on my netbook.

But as I created another partition which is 20GB I may install Windows 7 on that. And then I could keep the Windows 8 and duel boot. And I hear that Microsoft may release Windows 8 beta soon. So I hope I can upgrade or do a clean install to Windows 8 beta. Which some here said we will be able to use for a year.

I would like to keep Windows 8 on that netbook now that I have it. But because it is a developers preview it is going to expire soon . So we won't be able to use it after the expiry date.

Oh and I have joined the Windows 8 forums. I see you have too.Andrea Borman.
 
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Andrea, being that you're probably going to run the beta & RC of Windows 8, you'll have at least a year to learn & enjoy it. At that point, you may want Windows 8.

So you may as well save yourself a lot of time & money, and try Windows 8 out for a while. Just don't mess with the other computers, use the one that you have installed the Windows Developer Preview on for a tester for a while. If you like Windows 8, just buy it.

And being that you seem to now like Windows 8, it makes a lot of sense to join a Windows 8 forum. That way, you can learn more, as there will be many, just like yourself, who'll need to learn. There's nothing at all wrong in moving forward. Technology is constantly upgrading before our eyes, and at some point, we must go with the flow. Or be left out.

Going back to that long (around 16 page) thread that you created, in regards to stick with Windows 7, it surprised me that you made a 180 degree turn that fast. Who knows, I may opt for Windows 8 myself, on my desktop. But I'd rather buy a TechNet subscription to where I can have all of the OS & Office keys that I need. The desktop version costs less than $200, with a discount, and the subscriber gets 2 sets of keys for every version of Windows from XP through Windows 7 (will be Windows 8), every version of Office from 2003 through 2010, and much more.

That would cost less than the full retail of Windows 8 Pro, and will allow me to keep what I have, and dual boot between the two (Windows 7 & 8). With an upgrade license, I'll have to forfeit my OEM install that was converted to Retail when I bought the Anytime Upgrade to Pro, early in 2010. I'm not giving up my install that easy.

Hope that you enjoy Windows 8, Andrea. I'm looking forward to the public beta myself.

Cat
 
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You are not completly wrong about that. They are the same thing, but you are not looking at the big picture about it. Every key that comes from Microsoft is a product key, and it is very spacific on what product it will legaly validate. Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Service Pack 1 Full Install is a completely diferent product from Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Service Pack 1 Upgrade. The DVD that comes inside of the box is the same as ever other Windows 7 Ulltimate Service Pack 1 disks ever made. The only thing that is different is the product key that came with it. When installing Windows it takes a note, did you upgrade or did you make a full install. This note will be taken into consideration when trying to activate your product. Also it will take in consideration how many times you have activated the product. 1, 2, 5, 10, sometimes even 15 are okay. Though the more you activate it the more likely you will have to call Microsoft and get the product activation sorted out.
 
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Yes that is what I hope to do to upgrade on do a clean install to Windows 8 beta. And then when that expires after a year.Then if they are selling Windows 8 CDs in the shops,I will buy a copy of Windows 8 and install it on that computer. Or if I could install Windows 7 again,if I have the Windows 7 CD.

From what I understand,I could install any version of Windows on that netbook,Windows Vista,Windows XP if I have the CD. But unfortunately I don't have a Windows XP or Vista installation CD. And in England they are not selling Windows XP and Windows Vista any more. So it will have to be Windows 7. If I want to install another version of Windows on that computer.

There is also Linux which is free to use and requires no product keys or activation. And can be downloaded from the Internet.But I have used Linux before last year and I found it very difficult to use.So I am better off with Windows.

Naiya said I could activate Windows with my upgrade key or my Windows 7 Starter product key. But I have tried all of that when my friend helped me install Windows 7 Pro service pack 1 from Digital River. But it did not work.It would not activate. So me and my fried did not know what else to do but to put Windows 8 back on that netbook again. So we reinstalled Windows 8 again.

The only way I can reinstall Windows 7 is if I go to PC World a store here which sells Windows 7. And buy a Windows 7 full installation CD and a plug in CD drive. And install Windows 7 that way. And that will have a product key,which I must activate Windows with.

I read that you can download the Windows 7 ISOs from the internet and there is a command you can paste in command prompt to extend your activation deadline from 30 days to another 30 days.

But you can only use this command 3 times and that will let you use Windows with out activating it for 4 months. But I don't want to do this because in the end this won't work as after the 4 months Windows will deactivate. And I will be stuck with a copy of Windows I cannot activate.And it will then go into resticted mode.

So the only thing I can do now is go to the shop and buy a valid copy of Windows.And as it is a netbook with no CD drive.I will need to buy a CD drive which I can plug into my netbook with the USB plug socket. So that I can install Windows from the CD.

I don't know what's going to happen when the Windows 8 developers preview comes to an end. I hope I can upgrade to Windows 8 beta. But I should get a CD drive so that I can back up my files and get a Windows 7 CD.

Because if they deactivate Windows 8 developers preview which they will do when it expires. I could find myself stuck without an operating system on that netbook.

And I think if I am going to keep Windows 8 I should at least install Windows 7 on the second partition that I made 20 GB. So if for any reason I cannot install or upgrade Windows 8 to the beta version. I will at least have one working operating system. And i can always install Windows 7 on the drive where Windows 8 is later on. If I find I need more disk space to run it.Andrea Borman.
 
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Well I have bought my plug in USB CD drive and two Windows 7 Home Premium full installation CD.And they came with product keys.

I was getting on fine with Windows 8 Developers Preview. Until I upgraded to Windows 8 Consumer Preview. And to my shock and horror you cannot disable the Metro theme at all.The registry edit and Metro Controller does not work on CP.And Classic Shell does not work either. And that's not the only problem.

The ribbon tool bar in Windows Explorer froze my mouse.So I could not right click or send short cuts to the desktop. Windows 8 CP is very very slow.

Windows 8 CP is nothing like Windows 8 DP. And if you try it you will uninstall it like I did and go back to Windows 7.

Windows 8 DP was very much like Windows 7. But Windows 8 CP is not. Windows 8 CP is the worse operating system of all time.THE OPERATING SYSTEM THAT NOBODY CAN USE. Andrea Borman.
 
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I'm not understanding what you mean by it froze my mouse. Give me some more detail. What do you mean it froze my mouse. How were you using the ribbion interface, with the mouse only or with the alt key? What where you trying to do in the first place. You do realize that you can not send anything from the ribbion to the desktop, becaue it is all window dependeant. You can not make a cut shortcut on your desktop, or a copy, paste, move, or any of the like. this is what is on the ribbion. So Give us some more detail.
 
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Naiya, why are you even trying to understand. Don't get all frustrated wasting your time. Just put her on Ignore. Click on Settings @ the top-right > My Account > Edit Ignore list.

Cheers,
Drew
 
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First of all Windows 8 CP is a disaster. It is nothing like the quite user friendly and flexible Windows 8 DP.

Well you know that you cannot disable the metro theme at all in Windows 8 CP like you could in DP. And also the Metro theme is A LOT LESS user friendly in CP.

And yes,when I tried to right click with my mouse and open my files in Windows Explorer there is a bug in Windows Explorer to do with the ribbon which froze my mouse.I use a plug in USB mouse I don't use the keypad. I tried a different USB mouse but I still had the same problem.

It is true that even though classic Shell no longer works in Windows 8 CP,you can use V Start. Which will bring back the start orb and give you the Windows 7 start menu in Windows 8 CP.

But it won't disable the Metro theme and there are still so many other problems in Windows 8 CP. It is very very slow. And on my netbook the screen resolution only goes up to 1024 by 600 pixels which is the highest any netbook will go. So the Metro apps don't work so the whole Metro theme is pointless.

It was the same thing in DP but I was using my own software and as the Metro theme was more user friendly,it did not effect me. And I had both the Windows XP and Windows 7 start menu while I was in Metro thanks to Classic Shell. So I could toggle between the metro theme and the Windows XP start menu. And there were no problems with the ribbon tool bar on DP.

And also I could turn off the Metro theme completely in DP and have the Windows 7 desktop and start menu. And this also disabled the ribbon. But you cannot turn off the Metro theme at all on CP.

So yes,it's true I am afraid. Windows 8 CP is the worst operating system I have ever tried,worse than Linux.I love Windows and Windows XP and windows 7 are both very good operating systems. And even Windows Vista is good. But Windows 8 CP is rubbish. And most people won't be able to use it anyway with the Metro theme.

So if you have not tried Windows 8 CP yet,don't bother. Stay with windows 7,Windows XP or whatever you have got.You are better off. Andrea Borman.
 
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Well this goes back to the point that I made a while back ago, net books are crap. It is not the OSes fault that your crap netbook can not go over a set resolution, it is the fault of the crap netbook. Being that I am using a USB mouse and touch pen on my laptop, and they both work, that is not the problem. Both my think pad, finger plunger and touch pen work 100% fine using CP. Right clicking on a file in the explorer is not part of the ribbion. That is the same thing that it has been since 95. So saying that just because the ribbion is in CP and blaming it for things that it has no control over, is a waste of time. Sounds to me like it is either a user or hardware error. Also if you would buy a desktop or a laptop and not a bunch of netbook crap tops, you would not have this problem. That is my 20+ year experience opinion.
 
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Well I have got both Windows XP and Windows 7 netbooks.And both versions of Windows run very well on my netbooks.I have even had Windows 7 Ultimate on one of my netbooks in the past. And that ran well without any problems.

My netbooks are running the same as a full sized desktop computers is and working just as well. Another reason I buy netbooks is that they have 32 bit Windows 7. But the 2GB ram laptops come with 64 bit Windows which is slower than 32 bit.

I suppose I could buy a full sized laptop.It would come with 64 bit windows 7 but I could install 32 bit Windows 7. Which I prefer as a lot of my software I took from my Windows XP and Windows Vista which is 32 bit. Might not run on 64 bit Windows,another reason why I want 32 bit Windows 7.

But Windows 8 CP is a very poor version of Windows and a lot of people don't like it.Not just me. Andrea Borman.
 
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