Win7 to Win8 upgrade, keeps Domain/AD?


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I'm part of a pioneering project to test Surface Pro 3's at our company.  However, the IT dept wants to ship the Surface Pro 3 with Windows 7.  I'm requesting Windows 8 be installed instead.

 

I don't have Domain admin rights.

 

If they ship it with Win7, I was hoping to image it, then upgrade it to Windows 8, but I'm concerned I won't be able to attach it to the active directory.

 

Will domain/AD authorization carry over to Windows 8 when I upgrade?

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If you're part of a pilot group testing a machine for its compatibility within the company, you shouldn't be switching something like the operating system. It destroys the purpose of the pilot program.

Just from my own experience, if you get provided with a piece of equipment for work then you shouldn't be messing around with the setup. If we found people that had done the same thing in my last job, we took the device away citing that they couldn't be trusted with company security.

Also, compatibility issues can be a nightmare that you won't get any support with.

As for the question itself, I don't know as I've never attempted it. All I know is that I wouldn't attempt it.

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I'm part of a pioneering project to test Surface Pro 3's at our company.  However, the IT dept wants to ship the Surface Pro 3 with Windows 7.  I'm requesting Windows 8 be installed instead.

 

I don't have Domain admin rights.

 

If they ship it with Win7, I was hoping to image it, then upgrade it to Windows 8, but I'm concerned I won't be able to attach it to the active directory.

 

Will domain/AD authorization carry over to Windows 8 when I upgrade?

 

I am not going to speak to the domain/ad aspect but I will speak to the OS part.  Do not ever try to put win7 on a surface pro.  That is a huge ass mistake.  Win7 in no way is meant to be installed on it.  There will be so many problems with it.  The touchscreen alone will make you give up on it.

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I am not going to speak to the domain/ad aspect but I will speak to the OS part.  Do not ever try to put win7 on a surface pro.  That is a huge ass mistake.  Win7 in no way is meant to be installed on it.  There will be so many problems with it.  The touchscreen alone will make you give up on it.

He's right.

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I agree that a Surface Pro 3 should never have Windows 7 put on it.  I have a Samsung Slate 7 (precursor to the Surface) which came with Windows 7.  It was next to useless until I put Windows 8 on it.  I'm trying to convince our IT department to keep Windows 8 on it.

 

@Nick H. It seems like pilot testing a Surface Pro 3 with Windows 7 is just a recipe for failure.  Why cripple the test subject?  Yes, it will work as a laptop on Windows 7 with mouse, but I already have one of those.  This would be a smaller, lighter version of what I already know works for our basic programs not a good pilot study.

 

@Eric, I'm not sure running a Hyper-V version would work because I'd have a VM running Windows 8 which wouldn't be connected to the AD.  The Cisco VPN client wouldn't work within the VM because it does a security check to ensure the machine is part of the AD.

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Windows 8 works great on the surface pros.  no need to keep on windows 7 unless there is some sort of functionality issue with one of the corporations critical backbone programs that they use then that would be the only reason to try with windows 7. 

 

No the machine ID changes when you upgrade to 8, so no, you will not be able to keep it joined to the domain.  If you are a domain user, and they didn't screw with the domain rights, you are allotted 10 joins before you need to be changed over to an admin. 

 

By default, any authenticated user has this right and can create up to 10 computer accounts in the domain.

source: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc780195%28v=ws.10%29.aspx

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That's good news. If they decide to ship with Windows 7, it sounds like it's worth it to image the original and give the Windows 8 upgrade a shot.

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Did a bit of google digging and it doesn't look like you can:

 

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/ccf0a3ae-a845-4b07-9ff9-6e8cfb4561a8/windows-7-on-a-surface-pro?forum=w8itprohardware

 

http://windowsitpro.com/microsoft-surface/can-i-install-windows-7-surface-pro

 

You would have to set the SP3 from uefi back to legacy boot and then turn off secure boot.  Both of which it doesn't appear you can do.

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