In this guide I will cover the installation of Microsoft
Windows 8 Release Preview 64-bit from a installation image. The installation of
32-bit and 64-bit are the same as this guide. If there are any mistakes please
draw my attention to them and I will correct as needed. I have tried to make
this as simple as possible, whilst covering the vast majority of scenarios
users will come across whilst installing this operating system.
Backup your data
Of course, before you get started, you should back up your
data. You can use Windows 7's Backup and Restore to create a backup or you can
simply copy your data files over to an external hard disk. You might even want
to do both operations. After all, you really can't have too many backups, can
you?
Getting started
After booting from the DVD that I created from my download,
the first thing I encountered was the new light blue Windows logo on a black
background, as shown in Figure A. This image remained on the screen for a few
moments while Setup was initializing. I was kind of hoping that the flag would
be animated, but the only animation was the dots spinning in a circle.
Figure A
The new light blue
Windows flag is introduced.
After a few minutes, you'll see the Windows Setup screen
shown in Figure B and you will specify your language settings before clicking
Next. When you do, Setup will perform some more initialization tasks in the
background.
Figure B
The first step in the installation is to specify your
language settings.
As soon as the initial steps are taken care of, you'll see
the Windows Setup screen shown in Figure C and will click the Install Now
button.
Figure C
To get started, just click the Install now button.
Collecting Information
Once you click the Install now button, you'll see the
beginning of the information collection phase of the installation procedure. As
you can see in Figure D, the first step here is to input the Windows 8 product
key.
Figure D
You'll enter your product key to start the information
collection phase of the installation procedure.
The next step is to acknowledge that you accept the license
terms, as shown in Figure E. If you take the time to read through them, you
will see that Microsoft has indeed radically overhauled EULA as Ed Bott over at
ZDNet wrote about in a recent column.
Even if you don't take the time to read the license terms
during the installation, once you have installed Windows 8, you can find the
Microsoft Software License Agreement in the Windows Help and Support system -
just search with the term License. Not only is the license shorter in length,
but it is also much clearer and easier to read.
Figure E
The new EULA is much easier to read that previous versions.
When you are prompted to choose which type of installation
you want to perform, as shown in Figure F, you'll choose Custom: Install
Windows only (advanced) type in order to perform a clean install of Windows 8.
Figure F
In order to perform a clean install of Windows 8, you'll
select the Custom option.
When you are prompted to choose where you want to install
Windows, as shown in Figure G, you'll see a list of any partitions that are
currently on your hard disk. As you can see in my example system there are
actually four separate partitions. You may have a different combination
depending on your system.
As I mentioned, performing a clean install means blowing
away all existing partitions. The first partition in this list is labeled
System Reserved and it was created automatically during the Windows 7
installation. A new System Reserved partition will be created by Windows 8, so
you can remove existing one. The partition labeled Recovery contains the OEM
recovery for Windows 7. I created the recovery DVDs soon after I got the new
system. It won't do me any good going forward with Windows 8 anyway, so I will
remove that partition too. The partition labeled WIN7 contains the Windows 7
installation that I am replacing, so it is definitely going. The partition
labeled DATA contains all of my data that I copied to an external hard disk, so
it is safe to blow that one away too.
Figure G
On you example system there are four partitions that I will
be blowing away.
To begin blowing away partitions, you start by clicking
Drive options (advanced). When you do so, you'll see a list of commands for
managing partitions, as shown in Figure H.
Figure H
When you click Drive options (advanced), you'll see a list
of commands for managing partitions.
Now, you'll select each of the partitions, one by one, and
select the Delete command. When you do, you'll see a confirmation prompt like
the one shown in Figure I. Just click OK to delete the partition.
Figure I
As you delete each partition, you'll be prompted to confirm
the operation.
Once you delete each of the existing partitions, you'll see
that all of the space will be combined together in one chunk labeled
Unallocated Space, as shown in Figure J. While you could create a new partition
and format it, you don't have to. Windows 8 will automatically take care of
that in the next step. So just go ahead and click Next.
Figure J
All of the space will be combined together in one chunk
labeled Unallocated Space.
Installing Windows
When you click Next, Setup creates the partition, formats
it, and then instantly moves into the Installing Windows phase which begins
with copying and getting files ready for the installation, as shown in Figure
K. This process will take a while to progress though, so you can sit back and
relax a bit.
Figure K
The
Installing Windows stage begins with copying files from the DVD to the hard
disk.
When this phase of the process is complete, Windows will
alert you that it is going to restart in order to continue, as shown in Figure
L. If you are really impatient and really quick, you can click the Restart now
button.
Figure L
Windows will
restart after the first part of the process is complete.
Upon restarting you'll see the black screen with the blue
Windows logo and see that Setup is getting devices ready, as shown in Figure M.
As soon as that part of the process is complete, Windows will alert you that it
is going to restart again, as shown in Figure N.
Figure M
Windows Setup
will get all installed devices ready to work with Windows 8.
Figure N
Windows will
restart again.
Configuring Windows
When the system restarts, you'll be prompted to choose a
color scheme for Windows 8 and a PC name, as shown in Figure O. I chose a light
blue color scheme for now. I can change it later.
Figure O
You can choose a color schema and name your
computer.
When the Settings screen appears, as shown in Figure P, you
can choose to customize these settings or you can allow Windows to use the
express settings. If you are unsure, you can click the Learn more link and get
more details. I chose to use the express settings. I can change any or all of
these setting later if I want.
Figure P
You can customize the settings or just go the
express route.
On the next screen, you'll choose how you want to sign on to
Windows 8, as shown in Figure Q. While you can choose to sign in with a local
account, I would recommend that you use an existing Microsoft (email) account,
such as a Hotmail.com or a Live.com account. If you don't have a Microsoft
account, you can sign up for one or you can use any email address that you want
and Windows 8 will create an account for you.
Figure Q
It will be to your advantage to use an existing Microsoft
account or to create one.
The advantage of using an existing Microsoft account or
creating one is that you will be able to instantly use the Windows Store, will
be able to easily sync settings between multiple Windows 8 computers, and be
able to easily take advantage of other Windows 8 features. I already have a
Microsoft account, so I entered it here.
After filling the details of your account on the next couple
of screens, you'll eventually see a screen that changes color as it alerts you
the Setup is getting your PC ready. The green version of this screen is show in
Figure R.
Figure R
While this screen changes color often, it will remain for a
few minutes while Setup works in the background.
As you may know, Windows 8 comes with a host of native apps
for the Start screen interface that replace and add to the group of
applications that used to come with previous versions of Windows. The screen
shown in Figure S indicates that Setup is installing those apps.
Figure S
As the last step in the installation, Windows 8 installs its
set of native apps.
Once the apps are installed, you'll see the Start screen, as
shown in Figure T, and can begin using Windows 8.
Figure T
The Start screen appears when the installation
procedure is complete.
1 comments:
It's such a quick installation steps for Dummy's. Please update and share your knowledge like these kind of post. Good Job Baskar.
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