Here are tips on how to install the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, released
on
February 29th
2012.
In a nutshell, this pre-release Windows 8 version, known as 'BUILD' 8250,
is easy to install as a new operating system, or as an upgrade for the
Developer Preview, but think hard before upgrading your existing operating
system, it's very difficult to uninstall these Preview versions.
Although installing the Consumer Preview version is straightforward, there are
three tiny traps to avoid:
Trap 1: Get the product key! Unlike the developer
beta, the Win 8 consumer preview needs a product key. Here are the 20
digits you need:
DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J. If that does not work try:
NF32V-Q9P3W-7DR7Y-JGWRW-JFCK8.
This key is no big secret, Microsoft publish DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J
on their download site. My problem was that I downloaded the English
version which is at the top of the page; thus I did not see the product
key until I scrolled down, and down again past the Japanese version.
Confession: This was a case of more haste less speed, a combination of
tiredness and over-excitement caused me to type the Sha-1 hash numbers
instead of the product key! I can laugh now, but please don't repeat
my mistake!
Trap 2: Be patient for the first 3 minutes. My
install screen froze for at least 3 mins; I even restarted the boot loader
procedure twice until the penny dropped, I realized that static screen with
the fish was not going to do anything for 3 minutes!
Trap 3: Go for a clean install. People who go for an
upgrade from Windows 7, or Windows 8 Developer Preview sometimes get a
problem at about 90% completion. As you can neither upgrade to the RTM
version, nor downgrade to the previous OS, a clean install makes the most sense.
Plan How to Install Your Windows 8 Consumer Preview
Research a URL to download the Windows 8 .iso file. (see below)
Find an ISO burner, Windows 7 has one built-in.
Get ready with a blank 4.7 DVD (DVD-9 for the 64-bit version)
Prepare a test computer, or a virtual machine.
You need a product key for this installation, here it is: DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J
Alternative install method: Try the web based installer
which incorporates the Upgrade adviser and Easy transfer wizard.
Recommendations: Install these Preview versions of
Windows 8 in a Virtual Machine, or on an old laptop. To really get to
grips with the Metro UI install Windows 8 on one of these systems: HP
Elitebook 2760p convertible, ASUS EP121 tablet or a Dell Inspiron Duo
convertible.
Good News: These Virtual Machines Are Supported
Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2
VMware Workstation 8.0 for Windows
VirtualBox 4.1.2 for Windows
Beware: Window 8 won't install here: Microsoft
Virtual PC, Windows 7 XP Mode VMware Workstation 7.x or older.
The reason is they don't support
Hypervisor Type 1.
Strange but true: People asked for 64-bit versions of
Windows 8 (and 7) to run in Virtual machines, but when Microsoft deliver
64-bit compatibility, most people choose to install 32-bit versions for ease
of use and performance reasons.
Important: Because Microsoft's installs are so easy,
many enthusiasts don't read the instructions! Consequently, the Windows 8
fora are full of disgruntled readers who did not realize they cannot
uninstall Windows 8 Preview.
Plan B - Dual Boot: If you have a second partition of at
least 20 GB then you could install Windows 8 there. The result would
be: C: \Old Operating System D: \Windows 8
Please think through how to preserve any existing files on that second
partition before allowing the Windows 8 install to format the D: partition. Once you
have installed Windows 8, pay close attention to menu choices as soon as the
machine powers on.
Guy Recommends : SolarWinds' Free VM Monitor
The great feature of this new this new version of SolarWinds VM Monitor is that it
checks Windows Hyper-V. Naturally, it still works with virtual machines on VMware ESX Servers. VM Monitor is an nifty
desktop tool that not only tests that your server is online, but also
displays the CPU and memory utilization for each node.
It's easy to install and to configure this virtual machine monitor, all
you need the host server's IP address or hostname and the logon info.
The scenario: you have created a bootable DVD from the .iso image,
which you downloaded from MSDN or another internet site. Check the
BIOS is set to boot from DVD. Next fired up your
test computer with the Windows 8 DVD in its caddy.
All you have to do is catch the screen which says: 'Press any key to boot from CD
or DVD'.
The instructions are very similar to previous Microsoft Windows installs.
This was the quickest installation of a Microsoft operating system that I
can remember, it took only 28 minutes including me formatting a drive and
checking options.
Beware: At the very beginning nothing seeming to happen.
When you see a picture
of a fish with an upside-down '8' coming out if it's mouth, have faith! After about 3 minutes
it will fade away and familiar install menus will appear:
Instructions for a Custom Install
Keyboard: USA, or change to a country such as United Kingdom.
Upgrade or Custom: I chose 'Custom' because I wanted to dual
boot. Alternatively, run setup from your existing OS and 'Upgrade'
Select the Drive and Partition.
If you need to format the partition select: Drive options (advanced)
Main Windows 8 Customer Preview Install Theoretically it's possible to install Windows 8 with only a dozen
clicks, but I was happy to detour and visit an extra 4 menus and get my
custom choices.
Copying Windows Files (After 4 mins had elapsed)
Expanding Windows Files (4 mins) Installing features (17 mins)
Automatic reboot x 2. Beware! If you still have the DVD in the caddy, DON’T press
any key and start all over again! Preparing. Getting devices ready. (22
mins elapsed) Installing updates! Almost done
installing Windows (25 mins since start)
Post-installation
I am so pleased that Microsoft ask for the product key at the beginning
of the Windows 8 install, consequently, we now have only simple questions
such as the new machine's name. I was impressed (and relieved) that
Windows 8 found the NIC drivers and connected to my physical network
automatically. Naturally, it needed the password for the wireless
connection.
Logon with a Microsoft Account (Windows Live ID) The Windows 8 install completed without my intervention.
I was able to logon with my Microsoft Account
(Windows Live ID).
What's New with Windows 8 Install
Upgrade Advisor When I tried to install Windows 8 on
an old laptop it stalled due to a compatibility problem. Once I
updated the XP driver to Windows 7, the install carried on from where I left
off, there was no need to start all over again. Clever stuff -
appreciated.
My research also discovered that Windows 8 install will incorporate the
Upgrade Advisor and the lovely Windows Easy Transfer. Even in Windows
7 these were separate products, handy to have them bundled in the Windows 8
setup experience.
One of its cleverest features is
the way Windows 8 adapts to a huge variety of form factors, it recognises
computers with our without keyboards
and different
screen widths, and adapts accordingly. Nevertheless, if possible choose a recommended screen
size, so that you can activate the menus near the screen
edge.
Free Monitor for Your Network: SolarWinds Real-time Traffic Analyzer
The main reason for monitoring your network is to check at a glance which
servers are available. If there is a network problem you
want an interface to show the scope of the problem immediately.
Even when all servers and routers are available, sooner or later you will be curious to
know who, or what, is hogging the precious network's bandwidth. A GUI
showing the top 10 users always makes interesting reading.
Another reason to monitor network traffic is to learn more about your
server's response times and the consumption of resources. To take the pain out of
capturing frames and analysing the raw data, Guy recommends that you download a copy of
the SolarWinds
free Real-time NetFlow Analyzer.
Windows 8 Download Option
For years techies have been downloading software from TechNet then
installing it. Microsoft is now going to extend this principle for
members of the public to install Windows 8. Thanks to digital
delivery, Microsoft will sell downloads of Windows 8 anyone who has a credit
card, thus saving people having to go out and buy a physical disc from a
store, or place an internet order with postal delivery.
Windows 8 "Upgrade" from Win7 or Developer Preview
There were some pleasant surprising when I upgraded TO Windows 8 Consumer
Preview. Amazingly, you can upgrade to Windows 8 Consumer Preview from
Windows Developer Preview. Less surprisingly you can upgrade from
Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP.
Microsoft set the gold standard for installs, everything was simple until
I came to the logon. Here the legacy settings haunted me, the USER
ICONS for the old Windows 7 accounts were so big I could not see them all!
I had a problem because Windows 8 seemed obsessed with a Windows Live ID for
logon and I forget my password. Problem solved, I logged on with
another of my accounts.
New Install Strategies for Windows 8
Streamlined Setup Many want a fast no-hassle install, or
more likely an upgrade. Those who take this option get a web browser
interface and can download the files from the internet. These users
sacrifice the ability to customise, but gain in speed and simplicity.
Advanced Setup For techies it's important to control
what's installed. They are happy to install from a DVD, or possibly a
USB stick. Speed of choosing the settings is not a primary consideration,
indeed these users love to explore all possible options.
Preparing a Bootable Windows 8 Disc
I began by downloading the 32-bit .iso file of Microsoft's Windows 8 onto
my Windows 7 machine. I chose this version because at 2.8GB I knew it would fit on
a regular DVD. Once it finished downloading, I right-clicked the .iso, selected
'Open with' and chose the native Windows Disc Image Burner.
Just in time, I inserted a 4.7GB DVD and allowed the burning to proceed.
Incidentally, I could have used a USB flash drive to create this bootable
disk. I hear that the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool will prepare
your USB stick for the .iso image.
Choice of Test machine Keep in mind that you cannot
uninstall these beta versions of Windows 8, so when you have finished with
the trial you'll need to format that drive and re-install from scratch. I found each of these configurations
worked for me:
A clean install on an old laptop. Setup reformatted my C:\
drive as part of the install.
Install on a virtual machine inside Windows Server 2008.
I started with an existing Windows 7 machine and asked the Windows 8
setup to preserve the old settings, this meant I kept my user accounts,
machine name and IP address.
See how to create a bootable USB drive known as: 'Windows
8 to Go'
Troubleshooting Windows 8 Install
Error: Sorry, we're having trouble determining your PC
Windows Consumer Preview. Please close setup and try again
Solution: Download the .iso file once more, the first
one is probably corrupted.
Microsoft's File Transfer
What's new here is that Windows 8 File Transfer moves whole folders rather
than individual files, thus reducing the number of calls for a file
operation. In the case of a Windows 7 upgrade, you start setup inside
the old OS by running the DVD. Thanks to new intelligent routines, install
scans for the existing OS language and provides check-lists of compatible
(and incompatible) programs. Alternatively, you could eschew old
settings and select a clean install.
Dual Booting Windows 8 and Windows 7
Before you create a dual boot configuration remember that you cannot
uninstall the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Now you can dual boot provided you plan ahead and
create a 50 GB partition BEFORE you begin the Windows 8 install. The
trick is to select 'Custom' during the first section of the setup.
Thus utility makes it easy to check the health of a router or
firewall. Check the real-time performance, and availability statistics, for any device
on your network. Get started with an extensive collection of "out-of-the-box"
monitors for popular network devices.
You get the full set of installation
options in the final phase of setup. The key decision is 'Express' or
'Customize', I hit customize just to see the choices.
Windows 8 Secure Boot UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface)
UEFI is an alternative to the BIO; either one can prepare the motherboard
to load an operating system such as Windows 8. UEFI supports 'Secure
boot', one benefit would be stop malware loading before Windows 8.
Many experts in Malware claim that this not a common method of viral
infection.
Secure boot works on code signing principles. Microsoft will sign
the Windows 8 boot loader and a public key will be burned into the UEFI
chipset. Your Windows 8 boot loader is signed with a corresponding
private key, so your operating system works as you would expect.
The main reason that this is a hot issue is that Secure Boot would
prevent you from loading an alternative such as Linux.
Install the Windows 8 Language Pack
Using a WDP Universal Language Installer and the Win8Lang files you
can choose to change from say English USA to ZHH - Chinese (Hong Kong).
Go to the Control Panel, Hardware, Clock, Language Region and Add Languages.
The Benefits of Keeping the Previous Windows 7 Settings
As my Windows 8 was born it did not ask for a computer name or IP
address, it got these from the previous (now over-written Windows 7) machine.
Here above is the App Bar displaying the tailored 'Metro-style' programs.
Each app can be run full-screen and is immersive. Developers will be
inspired by the September 2011 BUILD conference to write more apps in HTML 5
or a .NET programming language.
The knack is to use the Desktop tile to access the traditional style Start
Menu and Taskbar, from there I could launch Internet Explorer and PowerShell
3.0.
Updates! Windows 8 build 8102 was the first Microsoft
beta that I have seen that gets an automatic update, therefore, look out for updates
for build 8250.
»
Windows 8 Start Button
The biggest news in Windows 8 is the disappearance of the Start Button.
For those who bemoan its loss I say this: 'Think of the whole Metro UI as
one massive start button'. Voila! there are your icons; and if you
want to 'Search' - just start typing!
At first I found it difficult to access the 5 'Charm' buttons in general and
'Start' in particular. What seemed
to happen was that the 'Charms' appeared ONCE then remained hidden. What then
worked best for me was to drag the mouse downwards the very bottom right
of the screen. Once I had the knack it was easy, as it would be if I
had a
touch-screen.
Here are the 5 'Charms': Settings, Devices, Share, Search and of course,
Start. They appear on the Edge UI when you swipe to the right side of
the screen.
Windows 8 Sign Out (Log Off)
How to log off from Windows 8 perplexed me. I kept clicking on the Start
button, and the Desktop, after going around in circles for longer than I
care to admit, eventually I clicked on my username / icon, and there it was 'Log
off' was now Sign out! (See screenshot right).
Once logged off, I found the Windows 8 Shut down power button at the lower right of the
main Lock screen. A better way of shutting down is clicking on the
'Charms', Settings from where you can see the same Power button.
Windows 8 Accounts
You have two choices of logon methods: New
Microsoft Account or
traditional domain or local account. I accessed
'User accounts' via the Control Panel and added more users.
Getting started with this consumer version of Windows 8 really was
straightforward especially if you got the correct product key, and were
patient during the first 3 minutes of the boot loader stage.
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