kubi789 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Hello, I just bought a new Windows 8 laptop. I want to improve the overall performance of my laptop by replacing the HDD with an SSD. I am finding this to be more difficult than I had originally thought. Has anyone had any luck upgrading to an SSD on their Windows 8 machine? If so, how did you do it? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Angel Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Couldn't you use an application like Acronis disk director to simply clone the drives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubi789 Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 I had thought about cloning the drive (and am still considering it), but I figured the best way to upgrade would be with a clean install. I'd be able to get rid the bloatware with a clean install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chconline Veteran Posted January 27, 2013 Veteran Share Posted January 27, 2013 If you're doing a clean install: 1. Plug it in 2. Install Windows No different than a regular HDD. lars77 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubi789 Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 If you're doing a clean install: 1. Plug it in 2. Install Windows No different than a regular HDD. Install Windows 8 from what though? I have no media to install it. And I know that the product key is now imbedded into the system. I am used to the good ol' ways where I was given a CD/DVD to install and reinstall windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ve7878 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Could you not take an image of the PC, reimage it to the new SSD and then run the Reset computer option from the ModernUI settings app? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zumiiiiii Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 If you bought a windows 8 laptop can you not make recovery DVD/CDs and just use them on your SSD? At work we had a test windows 8 laptop it was full of bloat, just did a remove everthing and refresh windows and it installed Win 8 but no Samsung crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars77 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Install Windows 8 from what though? I have no media to install it. And I know that the product key is now imbedded into the system. I am used to the good ol' ways where I was given a CD/DVD to install and reinstall windows. Windows 8 media exists. You don't have it b/c your laptop manufacturer didn't give you a CD or anything to do clean re-installs from. You could contact them to order re-installation media, they might charge you some $$ to send that to you. Or borrow/download the disc or ISO. (I think there's a link somewhere to download the ISO from Microsoft) Otherwise it's very easy to do a re-install once you have a Win 8 disc. Or copy a Win 8 iso onto a USB stick & boot off that. Supposedly the Win 8 installation will detect the product key automatically, so in theory you won't need to type it in or anything? Granted I haven't tried this yet. But if you want to be safe, first try to extract the product key from your current installation. Haven't tried this but it could work: http://forums.mydigi...duct-Key-Viewer BTW, good thread on this topic here: http://superuser.com...ded-in-the-bios Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubi789 Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 Windows 8 media exists. You don't have it b/c your laptop manufacturer didn't give you a CD or anything to do clean re-installs from. You could contact them to order re-installation media, they might charge you some $$ to send that to you. Or borrow/download the disc or ISO. (I think there's a link somewhere to download the ISO from Microsoft) Otherwise it's very easy to do a re-install once you have a Win 8 disc. Or copy a Win 8 iso onto a USB stick & boot off that. Supposedly the Win 8 installation will detect the product key automatically, so in theory you won't need to type it in or anything? Granted I haven't tried this yet. But if you want to be safe, first try to extract the product key from your current installation. Haven't tried this but it could work: http://forums.mydigi...duct-Key-Viewer BTW, good thread on this topic here: http://superuser.com...ded-in-the-bios I can definitely find myself a copy of Windows 8, but my issue is what version do I need? There is windows 8, windows 8 pro, windows 8 enterprise. How do I know what version I have? I may have to just try Zumiiiiii's advice and make recovery disks and install windows 8 onto the SSD that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon H Supervisor Posted January 27, 2013 Supervisor Share Posted January 27, 2013 I can definitely find myself a copy of Windows 8, but my issue is what version do I need? There is windows 8, windows 8 pro, windows 8 enterprise. How do I know what version I have? just the standard windows 8 install disk is all you need, the edition that is installed is determined by the key used during install so you don't have to worry about using the wrong install disk anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManMountain Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 To find out the Windows version you could move to lower left of screen, right click and choose System or Win + R and enter winver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubi789 Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 just the standard windows 8 install disk is all you need, the edition that is installed is determined by the key used during install so you don't have to worry about using the wrong install disk anymore Interesting. I'll grab myself a Windows 8 disk and try this. To find out the Windows version you could move to lower left of screen, right click and choose System or Win + R and enter winver. When I run winver, it tells me that I am running Windows 8 Version 6.2 (build 9200) I guess it is safe to assume that I running Windows 8 Retail? (IE it isn't win8 pro, it isn't win8 enterprise) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ve7878 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Winkey+Pause/Break Under "View basic information about your computer" and "Windows edition" it will say which version it is. If it's simply Windows 8 and doesn't have Pro or Pro With Media Centre then it's just the standard Windows 8 edition. ManMountain 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManMountain Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Here, lower left / System shows "Windows 8 Pro with Media Center" as does Win + R / winver. You could also do Win + R / msinfo32. Though didn't know about the simpler Winkey+Pause/Break, cheers Vince800. I need to brush up on keyboard shortcuts :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubi789 Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Just to give a small update - I have currently obtained a copy of Windows 8 and will let everyone know how reinstalling windows with a new SSD goes. I plan on using this online guide to help me through the process Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason S. Global Moderator Posted January 28, 2013 Global Moderator Share Posted January 28, 2013 perhaps i glossed over this, but isnt your windows 8 product key on the MS sticker on the bottom of the laptop? sometimes the the sticker is hidden under the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubi789 Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 perhaps i glossed over this, but isnt your windows 8 product key on the MS sticker on the bottom of the laptop? sometimes the the sticker is hidden under the battery. I'll have to take a look later tonight when I get home. But I had the understanding that MS got rid of the sticker and the product key is now embedded somewhere in the laptop's BIOS. Thanks for the heads up... I'll check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubi789 Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 Update - I was successfully able to install my new SSD and reinstall Windows 8 with a Windows 8 iso. I never had to input a product key and I am good to go! It was actually quite easy. Windows 8 takes care of most, if not all of the setup. Brandon H 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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