Windows 8 offer

Do-more

dingding wrote: »

I found there were Java errors, SPSS, NVivo and the office applications did not work. It passed the compatability test to.

I'm thinking about upgrading an old Dell desktop I have which is currently running XP.

It's used by the kids for playing Minecraft, can anyone please confirm if Minecraft is running fine in Win8?

It's got an older graphics card fitted, I presume the compatability test will tell me if Win8 has drivers for it? I'm not near it now to run the test.

bizmark

ya it runs minecraft fine

brian076

I'm having problems installing it, I keep getting the error message: "We can't tell if your PC is ready to continue installing Windows 8. Try restarting Setup".
Anyone know what this means and how do I "restart setup"?

bricky06

Beer Baron wrote: »

If you have a Dell Touchpad on Laptop there is NO driver for this so you lose the scroll up/down option for the time being.

Response on web seems to be "bear with us".

I had the same issue, but... After installing w8 I went back to Dell drivers page and reinstalled the touchpad driver, rebooted, and made sure scrolling was enabled in control panel and the touchpad is now back to being fully functional.

iPhone.

Ran the upgrade assistant on my PC a few mins ago, one item on the incompatible list was 'iTunes' - it lists under this a warning to de-authorise your PC from iTunes BEFORE upgrading.

I guess this is because the PC will have a new operating system and product code etc afterwards which iTunes will no longer recognise as your previously authorised PC.

Might save a few of you some grief afterwards!

Berty

bricky06 wrote: »

I had the same issue, but... After installing w8 I went back to Dell drivers page and reinstalled the touchpad driver, rebooted, and made sure scrolling was enabled in control panel and the touchpad is now back to being fully functional.

I went ahead and eventually found a driver from the US Support site from 2007 or so. It's a little cruder than the previous and a little more jittery but it will do for now until somebody releases something. I may get a new laptop after Christmas anyway so might only have to hold out till then.

I'm getting a little used to Windows 8. There is a heck of a lot of personalisation required when you start working with it first but it seems to be based loosely on a tablet system where you have "apps" instead of, as what we would normally call them, shortcuts. I now have Sky News, Daily Mail, RTE News "APPS" on my Windows screen. You still have the desktop which is weird because you keep thinking you're on Win 7 but when you press the windows key on the keyboard you soon get reminded your in Win 8.

Alanstrainor

It's definitely the biggest learning curve I've ever gone through for a new OS. It's very different indeed, I have it running in a VM at the moment, but I'm starting to be tempted to load it onto my laptop. It's quite nice, but I found myself having to look up tutorials on the best way to use it with a keyboard and mouse, as a lot of the UI makes more sense on a touch device rather than a mouse/keyboard combo.

Berty

Alanstrainor wrote: »

It's quite nice, but I found myself having to look up tutorials on the best way to use it with a keyboard and mouse, as a lot of the UI makes more sense on a touch device rather than a mouse/keyboard combo.

It took me a few minutes to find the restart/power option because it seems to think its on a Tablet so you wouldn't need a traditional sleep/hibernate button. :rolleyes:


Anyway, the point of the thread, I hear the moderators saying, is that the €14.99 is good value for a new OS

Alanstrainor

Beer Baron wrote: »

It took me a few minutes to find the restart/power option because it seems to think its on a Tablet so you wouldn't need a traditional sleep/hibernate button. :rolleyes:


Anyway, the point of the thread, I hear the moderators saying, is that the €14.99 is good value for a new OS

'tis a good deal alright.

iPhone.

Aye, its a good deal as Operating systems go definitely, lot better than the old days of paying between a hundred and two hundred quid for the latest Operating system.

Which reminds me to thank the OP for the heads up!

darg

iPhone. wrote: »

Aye, its a good deal as Operating systems go definitely, lot better than the old days of paying between a hundred and two hundred quid for the latest Operating system.

Which reminds me to thank the OP for the heads up!

+1

cunnifferous

I'm buying a new laptop soon from pc specialist, which would be a few quid cheaper if i bought it with no OS. Would this download offer work installing it on an blank HDD?

bricky06

Beer Baron wrote: »

I now have Sky News, Daily Mail, RTE News "APPS" on my Windows screen.

Yeah, I was trying to figure out bookmarks in IE10 (giving it a whirl as chrome isn't as "metro" as I would like) and found that 2pinning" sites to start is really the closest thing. Are these the "apps" you were talking about?

Some sites don't have a thumbnail on the pinned tile though, which is slightly annoying. Anybody have a fix for this?

The Pontiac

I'm after messing up, big time.

I installed the Windows 8 upgrade, didn't like it, so trying resetting my laptop to factory settings. Now my laptop is not working (no OS). I keeping getting this message "Windows could not complete the installation. To install windows on this computer, restart the installation." I'm after trying this about 20 times now, and the same message appears. Tried different options F8, F10 but no good. I have recovery discs, but the DVD drive on my laptop is not working. I thought of buying an external DVD writer, but the laptop won't recognise it as the drivers won't be installed.

Anyone with some ideas? Thanks.

The drink last night did not help.

paddyp

<Ollie> wrote: »

I'm after messing up, big time.

I installed the Windows 8 upgrade, didn't like it, so trying resetting my laptop to factory settings. Now my laptop is not working (no OS). I keeping getting this message "Windows could not complete the installation. To install windows on this computer, restart the installation." I'm after trying this about 20 times now, and the same message appears. Tried different options F8, F10 but no good. I have recovery discs, but the DVD drive on my laptop is not working. I thought of buying an external DVD writer, but the laptop won't recognise it as the drivers won't be installed.

Anyone with some ideas? Thanks.

The drink last night did not help.

Unless your laptop is really ancient there should be a bios option to boot from usb cdrom.

The Pontiac

paddyp wrote: »

Unless your laptop is really ancient there should be a bios option to boot from usb cdrom.

Is there a way of getting my recovery discs (3 dvds) on a USB? Laptop is only 2 years old.

jamesd

<Ollie> wrote: »

Is there a way of getting my recovery discs (3 dvds) on a USB? Laptop is only 2 years old.

External DVD drive is your best option

The Pontiac

jamesd wrote: »

External DVD drive is your best option

I thought of this, but the laptop won't recognise it, as there's no way of loading the driver for external DVD.

jamesd

<Ollie> wrote: »

I thought of this, but the laptop won't recognise it, as there's no way of loading the driver for external DVD.

There is no need for a drive it will see it automatically, plug it in, boot laptop into bios, set boot from cd as 1st boot and then put the dvd into the external drive and reboot.
Normally you can press F12 on boot to get to pick the device to boot from so try this and pick cd.

The Pontiac

jamesd wrote: »

There is no need for a drive it will see it automatically, plug it in, boot laptop into bios, set boot from cd as 1st boot and then put the dvd into the external drive and reboot.
Normally you can press F12 on boot to get to pick the device to boot from so try this and pick cd.

That's great. I'll order an external DVD writer from amazon as PC world are a rip-off.

I have an old laptop to keep me going in the meantime. Thanks for your help.

Kevface91

Do-more wrote: »

I'm thinking about upgrading an old Dell desktop I have which is currently running XP.

It's used by the kids for playing Minecraft, can anyone please confirm if Minecraft is running fine in Win8?

It's got an older graphics card fitted, I presume the compatability test will tell me if Win8 has drivers for it? I'm not near it now to run the test.

bizmark wrote: »

ya it runs minecraft fine

I'm surprised minecraft works- wasn't Notch saying before that he was asked to digitally sign the game so it would work, but refused to, because it helped lock down the OS more, preventing third party developers and such? googling minecraft windows 8 will get you a bunch of the news articles surrounding this....

Kevface91

also, its e15 for download, and e30 for the dvd postage- i assume we can just download an ISO and burn it to dvd ourselves, right? i mean, the file is less than 4.7gb, yeah?

bizmark

Kevface91 wrote: »

I'm surprised minecraft works- wasn't Notch saying before that he was asked to digitally sign the game so it would work, but refused to, because it helped lock down the OS more, preventing third party developers and such? googling minecraft windows 8 will get you a bunch of the news articles surrounding this....

Indeed but i believe microsoft wanted it signed for the "app" store built into the o/s more than the operateing system which tbh is a genuine source of worry i dont want my pc or lappy being turned into a apple/android or i guess xbox acrade like closed system

jamesd

Kevface91 wrote: »

also, its e15 for download, and e30 for the dvd postage- i assume we can just download an ISO and burn it to dvd ourselves, right? i mean, the file is less than 4.7gb, yeah?

2GB so yes.

Belfunk

For anyone looking to do a clean install try http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/a/clean-install-windows-8-upgrade.htm

I presume you can now dual boot here no problems.

antodeco

Might give this a go. Have a Acer Aspire 1 D150 netbook running XP. Sitting there unused at the minute!

cunnifferous

Anyone know if this is an oem upgrade only or if it can be installed on a blank hdd?

Headshot

can you upgrade from vista?

Xcellor

Just downloading now...

Gumbo

Guys, my mam has a laptop running Windows Vista.
Will this work?
Do i need to upgrade from 7 or can i do it from Vista?

johnwd

just upgraded from xp to win 8 on an oldish lappy ... had some hassles doing the upgrade but eventually got it going. Seems a nifty bit of kit so far.
Thanks to the OP for highlighting.

Berty

kceire wrote: »

Guys, my mam has a laptop running Windows Vista.
Will this work?
Do i need to upgrade from 7 or can i do it from Vista?

You can upgrade but it might take longer I'd say.

My system was originally XP, then Vista, then Win 7 and now Win 8. The system can handle it as can yours but you should leave about 3-4 hours for the process I'd say.

dingding

long_b wrote: »

It wouldn't let you downgrade back to 7 ?

No so just be careful to take a full backup to allow you to go back.

And you will need to restore your machine based on the backup

dingding

Dr. Nick wrote: »

@dingding Can't believe with all your knowledge of everything you took such a risk...

Thanks Dr Nick, hence why I took a full systems backup before I done the install. The compatability application only showed something small like a couple of bluetooth drivers.

Spent a couple of hours trying to get it to work, Memory errors and java machine errors on almost every programme including the office applications.

Rang microsoft and they are refunding me.

Dr. Nick

Installation failed three times now, returns to Win7. Any ideas?

jamescd

breathn wrote: »

When the download image is burned to a DVD or flash disk, can it be booted from and install the OS on a blank hard drive and have the product key work for it?

quarryman wrote: »

So it will actually work as a fresh install?

cunnifferous wrote: »

Anyone know if this is an oem upgrade only or if it can be installed on a blank hdd?

I did the double install method to do a clean install (i.e. a blank hard drive) on my sister's PC using an Upgrade version of Windows 7 Pro.

There's no reason why it shouldn't work with Windows 8. I'll be buying the upgrade myself and will install it on a blank hard drive.

P.S. Thanks OP

Allyall

Want google as your home page?
getyourgoogleback.com

Tony Soprano.

Windows 8 is a horrible Operating System IMO. Seems to be designed for touch screens and mobile devices (in which case, it should be very good).

It's fast alright. But Windows 7 is one of the best OS ever (or XP?).

I wouldn't upgrade for the sake of upgrading. Just make sure to backup 7, in case you don't like.

Not taking away from the OP's genuine bargain find.

galait

Must say after initially not liking it , I now love it , Even my 4 yr old has managed to find his way back to his shortcuts that were imported via upgrade from W7 ,8 yr Old never batted an eyelid , I go back as far as to Windows 3.1 and installing a new OS is now worlds apart compared to 1994/1995

Darren 83

When I tried to upgrade I got a error that my processor does not support nx any one have this problem?

long_b

Darren 83 wrote: »

When I tried to upgrade I got a error that my processor does not support nx any one have this problem?

Yeah, I had it on my old HP PC here.
You may be able to enable it in the BIOS

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w8itprogeneral/thread/4f81e0b5-dcce-4bbc-9d74-b365cfbd3c46

.. worked for me

long_b

Dr. Nick wrote: »

Installation failed three times now, returns to Win7. Any ideas?

Are you upgrading from Win 7 ?
Are you trying to keep your installed apps and settings ?

Mine crapped out 3 times on "Finalising your settings" - in the end just went with the option to only preserve user files and it worked a treat.

Dr. Nick

long_b wrote: »

Are you upgrading from Win 7 ? YES
Are you trying to keep your installed apps and settings ? YES

Mine crapped out 3 times on "Finalising your settings" - in the end just went with the option to only preserve user files and it worked a treat.

What does 'preserve' mean though?

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Tony Soprano. wrote: »

Windows 8 is a horrible Operating System IMO. Seems to be designed for touch screens and mobile devices (in which case, it should be very good).

It's fast alright. But Windows 7 is one of the best OS ever (or XP?).

I wouldn't upgrade for the sake of upgrading. Just make sure to backup 7, in case you don't like.

Not taking away from the OP's genuine bargain find.

For all us computer simpletons how does one go about doing that?

Tony Soprano.

THFC wrote: »

For all us computer simpletons how does one go about doing that?

It gives you 3 options during setup/upgrade i.e. keep everything, just keep personal files or keep nothing (not exact wording, but you will know when you see it). You can save to USB.

Darren 83

long_b wrote: »

Yeah, I had it on my old HP PC here.
You may be able to enable it in the BIOS

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w8itprogeneral/thread/4f81e0b5-dcce-4bbc-9d74-b365cfbd3c46

.. worked for me

I don't have the option to change it in the bios, I have a three year old Acer, Don't know if it would be worth getting a new laptop

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Tony Soprano. wrote: »

It gives you 3 options during setup/upgrade i.e. keep everything, just keep personal files or keep nothing (not exact wording, but you will know when you see it). You can save to USB.

Right, I'm presuming I go with the keep everything option, but how do I save Windows 7 (as in, the operating system) to a USB? Apologies if this is a really dumb question.

long_b

THFC wrote: »

Right, I'm presuming I go with the keep everything option, but how do I save Windows 7 (as in, the operating system) to a USB? Apologies if this is a really dumb question.

In my experience if the install fails it will gracefully back out to your original OS

Having said that it would be prudent to attach a biggish USB drive to your pc and use the windows backup program to make a complete backup for you

cookie1977

I've been playing with it for a while now and I have to say I like it. I've an Alienware M14x without a touch screen so I'm not getting the full experience but to me Metro is nearly like the quick launch toolbar I would have used on previous OS's. I'm not really impressed with a lot of the apps on the store. They seem a little dumbed down or inhibited compared with their full software cousins. For instance I use sugarsync and the full software is superior to the sugarsync app on the windows store at present. Maybe it's up to devs to extract as much as they can from the possibilities but some of the apps I've seen to date have been a little weak.

Saying that the full software programs can be added to metro view and thus it makes for great shortcuts. I'm not missing the start button at all.

Speed wise it's a nice upgrade coming from windows 7 Pro x64.

mik_da_man

Does a clean install actually do a clean install?
I installed the developer preview a while back and all my old win 7 stuff was still there taking up half my hard drive.