I'm keen to get a WIN 8 Upgrade disc in October but does anyone know what happens if I haven't got the Win 7 disc (no OEM supplied) and something goes wrong after WIN 8 is installed. Should I get the full WIN8 Install disc instead?
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The thread discusses upgrading to Windows 8, with users seeking guidance on recovery options if they don't have Windows 7 installation media. The consensus suggests that for PCs from major brands, a recovery partition or software can restore Windows 7, but a clean install of Windows 8 would erase all data, including hidden recovery partitions. Overall, users recommend considering a clean install for stability and saving essential recovery files beforehand, especially for non-retail or custom-built systems.
The thread discusses upgrading to Windows 8, with users seeking guidance on recovery options if they don't have Windows 7 installation media. The consensus suggests that for PCs from major brands, a recovery partition or software can restore Windows 7, but a clean install of Windows 8 would erase all data, including hidden recovery partitions. Overall, users recommend considering a clean install for stability and saving essential recovery files beforehand, especially for non-retail or custom-built systems.
Solution
Have you tried Windows 8 in the beta versions released to public? The start button is gone so there is a learning curve involved. It can be quite a shock the first time you boot it up if you haven't read about it. I had to do a web search to find out how to shut it down after the install.
Joe
Joe
Jimbo22
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Is your PC a retail brand...ie HP, Asus, Dell and so on. If so, you should have a partition called the D: drive that has the OS hidden to set back to factory condition, the day you first turned it on and set it up. There also should be some sort of branded recovery software in your programs list, under the brand of computer.
This will only work if you upgrade from windows 7 to windows 8. If you do a clean install, which is the preferred method....less problematic, you will loose everything to include the hidden partition to restore windows 7.
There is a work around if you do go the clean install route of windows 8. You will need to get windows 7 ISO, free download, bit specific and OS specific and reinstall windows 7 or order the recovery OS from your PC's website. I've ordered several from HP and if I remember correctly they were $20 each. Keep in mind, either of these options wont have the bloated/add on software that came with your system. The PC's website might have all that software to download if you so desire.
This will only work if you upgrade from windows 7 to windows 8. If you do a clean install, which is the preferred method....less problematic, you will loose everything to include the hidden partition to restore windows 7.
There is a work around if you do go the clean install route of windows 8. You will need to get windows 7 ISO, free download, bit specific and OS specific and reinstall windows 7 or order the recovery OS from your PC's website. I've ordered several from HP and if I remember correctly they were $20 each. Keep in mind, either of these options wont have the bloated/add on software that came with your system. The PC's website might have all that software to download if you so desire.
Mitchell_A
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Hello, Welcome to Windows7Forums.com 
Although not immediately clear, according to this article on the Windows Blog (Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99). It will be entirely possible, so long as a pre-existing version of Windows Vista or higher is installed on your computer, to perform an actual clean install using this upgrade offer. So the likelihood that something would go wrong is minimal, however as stated by bassfisher6522, if you wanted to rollback to Windows 7, you would need the installation media, which is available from your manufacturer or also through Microsoft's Digital River channel.
Although not immediately clear, according to this article on the Windows Blog (Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99). It will be entirely possible, so long as a pre-existing version of Windows Vista or higher is installed on your computer, to perform an actual clean install using this upgrade offer. So the likelihood that something would go wrong is minimal, however as stated by bassfisher6522, if you wanted to rollback to Windows 7, you would need the installation media, which is available from your manufacturer or also through Microsoft's Digital River channel.
Thanks for the info. Am I correct that after the WIN 8 install the WIN 7 "hidden" OS will still be in the same partition? But I'd then have to uninsall Win8 and lose everything else? then start over?..Its a DELL by the way
Jimbo22
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Only if you do a clean install it will wipe your hard clean and install 8. If you just go with the upgrade method it will leave all of your files and settings and just install 8 over top of 7....which can get buggy. There are some rare occasions of the upgrade method not having any issues at all.
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