Windows 8 laptop + upgrade to SSD


Recommended Posts

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
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1133162-windows-8-laptop-upgrade-to-ssd/
Share on other sites

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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)

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.

  • Like 1

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 :)

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.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Internet Download Manager (IDM) 6.43 Build 2 by Razvan Serea Internet Download Manager (IDM) is a tool to increase download speeds by up to 8 times due to its smart dynamic file segmentation technology. Unlike other download managers and accelerators, Internet Download Manager segments downloaded files dynamically during download process, and it reuses available connections without additional connect and login stages to achieve the best possible acceleration performance. Comprehensive error recovery and resume capability will restart broken or interrupted downloads due to lost connections, network problems, computer shutdowns, or unexpected power outages. All popular browsers are supported IDM integrates seamlessly into Google Chrome, FireFox, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Safari, Internet Explorer, Maxthon and all other popular browsers to automatically handle your downloads. You can also drag and drop files, or use Internet Download Manager from command line. The program supports proxy servers, ftp and http protocols, firewalls, redirects, cookies, authorization, MP3 audio and video content processing. IDM includes web site spider and grabber IDM downloads all required files that are specified with filters from web sites, for example all pictures from a web site, or subsets of web sites, or complete web sites for offline browsing. It's possible to schedule multiple grabber projects to run them once at a specified time, stop them at a specified time, or run periodically to synchronize changes. Easy downloading with one click When you click on a download link in a browser, IDM will take over the download and accelerate it. You don't need to do anything special, just browse the Internet as you usually do. IDM will catch your downloads and accelerate them. IDM supports HTTP, FTP, HTTPS and MMS protocols. Changes in Internet Download Manager 6.43 Build 2: Resolved the problem that caused a "403 Forbidden" error when downloading some files Fixed a problem causing IDM download panel not to appear on some websites Fixed a bug that caused a crash when converting some TS files to MP4 Download: Internet Download Manager 6.43 Build 2 | 11.9 MB (Shareware) Links: Internet Download Manager Website | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • I am not a US citizen nor a Trump fan. Respect to both left and right. But I will, for the sake of fun, predict something for my own. There will come a day when the US and China will collide like titans ( over Taiwan or anything else ). Then, on that day, some people in this comment section will realize how good an idea it was to become independent in areas like that. ( Or atleast try )
    • Microsoft Edge gets tons of security features, including AI model that can see your screen by Usama Jawad Microsoft Edge may not be the most popular browser out there, but it does receive quite frequent updates that sometimes bring surprising new features and axe others that are not as popular. Now, Microsoft has detailed some of the new security enhancements that it has introduced in Edge for Business, typically used by commercial customers. Microsoft has emphasized that security features are baked into Edge for Business and offer native integration with security and governance tools like Defender and Purview. Browser sessions are governed by default on managed devices but can also be governed through dedicated work profiles on unmanaged devices. An important aspect in this area is controlling the use of shadow AI. We have talked about this before, but it essentially restricts employees from using unsanctioned AI apps through data loss prevention (DLP) policies, with Edge redirecting them to trusted AI services like Microsoft 365 Copilot. This feature, available as a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) license, ensures that confidential data never exits AI boundaries set by your organization in Purview. Additionally, Microsoft also has strong DLP policies for contractors. Contractors leveraging a Entra ID-joined work profile provisioned by their contracting company on a device managed by their actual employer can be restricted from downloading files locally. In such scenarios, the file is saved on the contracting firm's OneDrive rather than being downloaded locally. Another useful Edge security feature disallows copying and pasting from unmanaged locations and apps. Similarly, DLP policies can be configured at a granular level to restrict screenshots or downloading of files from certain locations. In the same vein, IT admins can block the installation of extensions, hosted apps, themes and scripts, and control if users can install extensions from external locations. They can also enable the installation of specific extensions and allow users to request access to certain extensions, so that they can be managed on a case-by-case basis. Finally, Edge for Business now has an on-device AI model that uses computer vision to see what's on your screen and block potentially malicious content immediately. This does not rely on site reputation, as it simply monitors what is being displayed on your screen, which means that it is effective against malicious content that takes over your screen and employs scareware tactics. Since this is an on-device AI model, it does use your system's resources, so it's enabled by default only on devices with at least 2GB of RAM and four CPU cores. You can find more details in the Microsoft Mechanics video here.
    • Could you come up with a slightly less depressing background for Tux instead of that gray gradient? Doesn't have to be cheerful, just less of a downer...
  • Recent Achievements

    • Dedicated
      Zeynel earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • One Month Later
      JKR earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Dedicated
      Asgardi earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Conversation Starter
      jessse3334 earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • Reacting Well
      JuvenileDelinquent earned a badge
      Reacting Well
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      495
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      247
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      154
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      86
    5. 5
      macoman
      65
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!