DirtyLarry Veteran Posted October 2, 2013 Veteran Share Posted October 2, 2013 Thanks to finally picking up an SSD, I plan on doing a clean install of Windows 8 on it. One of the main reasons I plan on finally going to Windows 8, is the news Battlefield 4 recommends using it. And honestly, it is just time to take the plunge. I just have a few questions as to what my best approach would be to installing Windows 8 Pro (legit retail copy) on this new SSD. Again, I plan on doing a clean install, but it is my current drives I am wondering what I should do. Currently I have 2 good old fashioned 3.5 Seagate Barracuda HDD's HDD 01 is 500 GB HDD 02 is 1 TB. HDD 01 that is 500 GB is split into 2 partitions. Partition 1 has Windows 7. Partition 2 has Windows 8. I am dual booting, almost primarily into Windows 7. I have not touched 8 in months. HDD 02 is strictly my media drive. No OS at all on it. So that is all fine. I know what to do with it. My main question is what is my best approach with HDD 01? First and foremost, do I have to deactivate the current install of Windows 8? Or when I install it fresh, will that just "override" the older install? So my plan is pretty much the following. Obviously backup all important documents. Also create a folder on the current HDD02 and also on one of my external drives as my "clean install" folder, that has all the apps, drivers, etc. that I need on a clean install Unplug all current HDD's Hook up only the SSD Install Windows 8 on the SSD Once Windows 8 installation is complete, Hook up HDD 02 to my motherboard and have it as a drive partition in Windows 8 Finally, I plan on formatting HDD 01 completely using my Thermaltake BlackX I would completely wipe out both partitions that currently have the OS's on them, and just make it one normal partition. Hook up HDD 01, which is now completely formatted, to my motherboard, set it up as another partition Have the SSD as my boot drive, and HDD's 01 & 02 as drives for storage, etc. So does this sound like a good plan of attack? Should I do any steps differently? Pretty much my biggest thing is what do I need to do with my current install of Windows 8 (even though I have technically not booted into it for months). Everything else I can pretty much wing and am thinking I do not have to follow my steps in the exact order. I just tend to like to be prepared for projects like this, so they go as smooth as possible. TIA for any help. I will probably do this all in about 4 days over the weekend so I have some time. And apologies if this all comes off a tad noobish, just has been awhile since I have installed Windows at all. Basically when I installed 8 on the partition above, that was the first time I had done it in YEARS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dot Matrix Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 One of the main reasons I plan on finally going to Windows 8, is the news Battlefield 4 recommends using it. How have I not seen this yet? It sounds like a good plan of attack. Your current Windows 8 install should deactivate automatically when you install onto the SSD. You might be required to dial an 1-800 number to complete activation, though. I'm a little unsure of what you're asking with your current install of 8? Are you done with Windows 7 completely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooky560 Veteran Posted October 2, 2013 Veteran Share Posted October 2, 2013 Windows Activation only de-activates when more than three of the hardware checks it makes fail if I remember correctly, since most of these are motherboard based, and the HD it was on originally is still in the system it might not ask for reactivation. The plan seems pretty good otherwise, and if you do have to reactivate Windows its really easy after the staff member is satisfied your Windows license is genuine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryster Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 What size is your SSD mate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyLarry Veteran Posted October 2, 2013 Author Veteran Share Posted October 2, 2013 Thanks for confirming my plan sounds like a good one. And very nice to know about the Windows 8 install. How have I not seen this yet? It sounds like a good plan of attack. Your current Windows 8 install should deactivate automatically when you install onto the SSD. You might be required to dial an 1-800 number to complete activation, though. I'm a little unsure of what you're asking with your current install of 8? Are you done with Windows 7 completely? Yeah that news kind of came and went, but it all has to do with the version of Direct X on Windows 8. Apparently the game is much more optimized under 8, and since my GPU is not a beast by (EVGA 660 Ti) today's standards, all of the optimization I can get is welcome. And I really just wanted to make sure if I installed Windows 8 on the SSD, it would not give me issues saying the license was already in use, etc. because it is installed on the one partition. So it sounds like I am fine and do not have to deactivate it first, which honestly I may just do anyway, as it is just a matter of booting up to that partition. And yeah, I think I am just going to try and move on from 7 completely. I am not full convinced this is a smart thing to do, but I am doing it. :wacko: What size is your SSD mate? Just went with a 120 GB for now. Especially since my current motherboard only supports SATA II, I did not want to spend a ton on one since I will no doubt be building a new PC sometime within the next year, and hopefully SSD prices will drop even more by then, so when I build my new PC, I will probably get a 250, and use this 120 GB as a second media drive or something. I figured it out and the 120 GB, although it will be tight, should cover things. An OS install (20 GB), a few random apps (40 GB thereabouts), which then leaves me around 50 GB for game installs, etc. I will only install the games I am playing at the time to the SSD, which would only be 1 or 2, then use the other partitions for my Steam game library. Just realized I also may need to deactivate my copy of office? Or is it also like Windows, based on hardware? EDIT - Never-mind about office, picked up my copy of 2013 through work for $10. Dot Matrix and Brandon H 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remixedcat Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 If you do a clean install grab the windows 7 disk tool and instead of a dvd use a pen drive. I went from first power on to desktop in 15 minutes for Server 2012. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dot Matrix Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Office is just the same, install it, re-activate it, and you're set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyLarry Veteran Posted October 4, 2013 Author Veteran Share Posted October 4, 2013 Did not want to start a new topic, but all I would like to say is Windows 8 installation truly is such a horrible end user experience. Apparently I only had the upgrade version of Windows 8 Pro. I guess perhaps I should have remembered this, but I did order on October 17th 2012, so I just forgot, ESPECIALLY since nowhere on the packaging whatsoever does it say it is upgrade only. In fact, the word upgrade is nowhere to be seen at all. So yeah, thinking I just had a pro version of 8, I did a clean install of Windows 8 to my SSD, and it was amazing how fast it went. Was not so amazing when I went to activate my key and it told me it was an upgrade only copy. So I called Microsoft, explained my situation, and I got into a full fledge argument with the "customer service" rep I talked to. They were the rudest, most unprofessional person I have ever, ever dealt with. Their tone with me from the first word was that I was the idiot. They gave me some option of downloading something from the MS servers that would somehow disable the activation temporarily, but could not answer my question that if I went that route, would I eventually have to do it again. After getting nowhere with them, I asked to talk to their supervisor, and as I was on hold for over an hour (I eventually gave up), I installed Windows 7 Ultimate clean. As soon as I was able to boot into 7, I then went and did a clean install of Windows 8 over the installation. I did the clean install of Windows 8 over my Windows 7 install at about midnight, which was already way late for me on a work night, so I never checked if it would activate clean. And to clarify, when I say clean install, I did not use the upgrade option on the Win 8 installer, I chose custom or however it is worded, deleted the partition with Windows 7 on it using the installer, and did a clean install of 8. My key should activate now and not tell me it is an upgrade copy, correct? Win 7 was installed first (which I did successfully Activate Windows 7 by the way) If it does not activate again, I really may never touch 8 again. What a truly unfriendly customer experience in all regards. Again, I would have zero issues with the whole process if the packaging, or the installer for that matter, explicitly stated it was only an upgrade copy. I would have just done it the right way and installed 7 first. Yet neither the packaging or the installer at any time say it is an upgrade only copy. That is incredibly ass backwards to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDisneyMagic Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 I know this is a bit late now but for future.Do a clean install of Windows 8 (using the upgrade media is fine)Before activating open up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBEFind the key called MediaBootInstallEdit its value to be 0.Open a Command Prompt with Administrator privileges and type slmgr /rearmReboot your Computer then try to activate.I have used this on numerous installs and was able to activate successfully after this change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts