11 replies to this topic

[Broni]

Well I figured it'd be time to create this new forum for incoming Windows 8...

Windows 8 Pre-Beta ISO Download Links

http://www.windows8n...download-links/

Quote

Now that the Microsoft Build Conference has ended, you can now download a pre-beta copy of Windows 8. As this is an early build of Windows 8, it is not recommended that you install this on a production machine as it might not be stable enough. Also, some features in this build may not make it through to the final version of Windows 8.

I'm downloading it as we speak.
I'll install it on virtual machine to check it out.

[rowal5555]

I installed Win 8 yesterday afternoon in about 20 minutes without any problem so thought this may be of interest to others who may wish to experiment. It is a repeat of another post. I didn't try it on a virtual machine.


OK. For those of you who are reading this and think you may like to experiment with Win 8 but are not sure how to go about it, here is a quick rundown. You will need a spare drive or partition to install to before you start .
In Win 7 this is easily done in Computer Management - right click on COMPUTER and choose Manage. If you are using XP you will need a partition manager from Easus, Paragon or similar.

Download the developer to your hard drive from MS. Your choice of 32bit or 64bit. It could take all day so be patient.
http://msdn.microsof...s/apps/br229516
I used the 64 bit 3.6GB version and it took 7 - 8 hours even though I have a 16 Mb/s ADSL connection.

If you are using Win 7, right click on the .iso file and OPEN to burn to DVD. If you are going to use IMGBURN, the .iso is bootable so simply choose 1x burn speed and check the VERIFY box.

Check that your computer is set to BOOT FROM CD as first boot device. As your system starts, there should be instructions on the screen to tell you which key to press to get into BOOT ORDER or into BIOS SETUP.

Put your burned DVD into the CD player and reboot. Keep an eye out for "PRESS ANY KEY TO BOOT FROM DVD" and very quickly press the spacebar. Follow the prompts and your new Win 8 will install. Go to Windows Updates and install all available.

If you want the normal START MENU (and if you are a keyboard and mouse user then you probably will) go to REGEDIT and change the 1 to 0 as detailed below. Close regedit and it is done.

(If you want to disable Metro UI entirely, you can open up the registry editor and change the value of RPEnabled to 0 instead of 1 at the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\)

Install your favourite AntiVirus (I used MS Security Essentials) and you are ready to roll. If you don't want to spend time installing all your programs, go to the drive with your other OS on, go to program files and find the .exe for the app you want. Right click on that and SEND TO DESKTOP(Create shortcut) and the link will be there on your desktop.

The only problem I have struck so far is SKYPE which simply closes down after trying to sign in. If anyone has a solution to this I would be glad to hear it as I now have to keep a laptop beside the desktop just for Skype.

I started using Win 7 on the day the first trial was released and never went back, so it will be interesting to see if the same applies to Win 8, LOL

More from PCWorld - http://www.pcworld.c...ml#tk.rss_howto



Enjoy, Rob

[Broni]

Thanks for extra info :)

...and...Welcome aboard

[rowal5555]

Thanks Broni.

And ASHRAF has just posted a tut on installing to VirtualBox here -
http://dottech.org/t...-on-virtualbox/

Cheers, Rob

[Broni]

Thanks Rob
Yesterday I tried very similar manual here: http://www.bench3.co...-on-how-to.html and it didn't work for me.

I'll check yours maybe over the weekend.

I really hate when something doesn't work as it supposed to, so I'll definitely get on it :)

[rowal5555]

While doing the regedit seemed like a good idea at the time and does give you your Start Menu back, it also gets rid of the new Metro screen and the great features of the new TaskManager, so in effect you are back in Win 7. No point.

There is a lot to learn but accessing simple stuff like WordPad etc seems unnecessarily complicated. In order to access everything, I put the desktop on the taskbar (right click on taskbar/Toolbars and click Desktop). At least I can now get at everything again by clicking on the chevrons.

Shutting down is also a bit of a mission. You must be in the Start window (Click the WinLogo on screen or keyboard) and hover the mouse at bottom left of screen until Settings come up and find the Power Button. WHEW!! If you have set the button to Shutdown in Power Options on modern machines you can just tap the main power button to achieve the same result. NOTE!!! I am not talking about doing a hard shutdown by pressing and holding the power button. Just a tap will start your computer doing what you have set.

[rowal5555]

Accessing apps is in the same place as finding the shutdown, hover in bottom left of start screen and choose search.
I found a handy desktop gadget which contains the Restart/Shutdown etc options.

[rowal5555]

...and some Win 8 wallpapers

http://www.techfreak...e-download.html

[djhoeft]

I'm planning on downloading tonight. I also downloaded Windows 7 shortly after the first Beta was release and have never looked back. I'm really looking forward to playing around with this one too... I plan on installing to a spare HDD. Thanks for the pointers, guys!

[rowal5555]

Yes, lots of fun but you also need plenty of time, LOL.
One thing that drove me crazy was that my install hid the navigation pane - what I always called the Directory Tree (Folders in XP) so am glad that I got that sorted.
Skype has put out a new version now that works too. 5.5.0.117.
Have fun.
Cheers

[rowal5555]

Oh dear, LOL.
Everything has been running smoothly on 2 machines for months, and now will have to start all over again with Consumer Preview which I picked up when I was home for a couple of days recently.
Problem is that you cannot update and keep installed programs so there is going to have to be a thinkfest for a while. May be a good time to look at VirtualBox.
Cheers

[Lewis]

[indent]

18
inShare

Pocket-lint is reporting that Windows 8 will be launched in October of this year, quoting director of Windows PR Janelle Poole:[indent]"One of the things that I think is a good guideline though is we've always said that Windows releases come round about every three years and this year will be three years in October since we launched Windows 7. So I think that's a good guideline to consider."[/indent]Now, Microsoft has been hinting at this three-years-after-7 thing for a while. In fact, it used the same tactic to talk about a Windows 7 launch date, citing a three year gap from Vista. What's new is that instead of saying "Fall," or 12 months from BUILD, Microsoft is actually saying the word "October" out loud. Still, that's no guarantee of an October launch; there's plenty of leeway in this quote. The gap between Vista and Windows 7 wasn't exactly three years: Vista came out in January 30th. Also, there's a difference between the Release to Master date, Microsoft's volume licensing release to manufacturers, and the actual consumer availability, so even if "October" is true, it could be any one of those slots.
Microsoft has been disappointingly mum here at CES about any launch plans for Windows 8, only mentioning the upcoming "milestone" public beta release in February, so at least we have this hint now. In the middle of last year dates were as wide ranging as mid-2012 and back-to-school 2013, so at least we're honing in.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/11/27...e-date-october[/indent]