View Full Version : Windows 8 for £25?
Calling the forum geeks.
My main desktop PC at home is still running XP and is due an OS refresh as it's getting slow.
2 Options.
1. Refresh it's XP build and keep with a fairly stable OS that folks tend not to bother writing new virus for or...
2. Upgrade to Windows 8. It seems currently you can upgrade for just £25.
Now I know W8 is brand new so bound to have a few issues but this sort of upgrade offer is pretty unusual for Microsoft.
I was thinking about upgrading the physical drive in the PC anyway so how about this....
Get new 1TB drive for about £50
Do a fresh XP install on it using the recovery disks that came with my PC (or more likely restore the backup I did after I refreshed it last time, applied all the SPs and installed office etc but same end result of clean and legit XP build)
Get the W8 upgrade offer at £25
Upgrade the new install
Run W8 for a bit and see if world ends
If it's a nightmare just put the old drive back in for now and consider options
If it's all good then keep old drive on shelf in case of emergencies and have a fresh build PC with W8 and a bigger drive for the princely sum of £75.
I suspect some of my ancient hardware (Canon Scanner etc) will have a moan about drivers but I should be able to get away with most of it.
I'm currently running the assessment software to see just what will be expected to work but thought I'd ask the random cross section of folks on the ORG for an opinion.
Oh and if you want to check out if the offer applies to you too, you can download the assessment software <Here> (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/upgrade-to-windows-8) then click on the "Download upgrade assistant" button which will tell you what does/doesn't work and how much it will cost when it's done. Tested it on my netbook and it said £25!
Appreciate this may come across as an iffy post possibly linking to some random virus or other but in an attempt to provide a bit of self-authentication to show I'm not some random Chinese spam-bot, I ride a loud SV1000 and my throttle body recently fell off. If on the other-hand the Chinese Spam-bot is good enough to have come up with that level of authentication then we're all well and truly buggered anyway!
Thoughts?
Oh and anyone got a good deal for SATA drives about the £50 mark?
Personally I would just yet.
I would upgrade to Windows 7 from XP. Although the cost may not be worth it.
tigersaw
04-11-12, 10:08 PM
Read a few reviews, all positive.
Most say to turn all the metro crap off and do a few tweaks so it functions like windows 7 but quicker
andrewsmith
04-11-12, 10:10 PM
Spend the extra and get a windows 7 OS disc!
Windows 7 from a XP build machine is stable, just needs a bigger HDD for the OS (15GB compared to the 4GB of XP)
http://www.ebuyer.com/146082-wd-1tb-black-hard-drive-wd1001fals ???
Someone at work got 8 but didn't like it so took it off. Like the others have said, get it then skin it to look like 7 and you will be ok. Metro is a pile of poo by all accounts and there are instances where multiple clicks are needed to do something in 8 whereas 7 would be two at most.
I've never really been a fan of this "skin it so it looks like the old one" approach.
I remember people skinning XP to look like 2000, skinning 7 to look like XP, and now we're skinning 8 to look like 7. If you don't get on with the OS at all then I can see this, and where you've got a corporate roll out it can save a huge amount on retraining staff. For you, me and anyone else I rather enjoy playing with a new interface. I spend about 2 hours annoyed that things aren't where I expect them to be, and then start using it in the way it's meant to be used. Generally it's at this point I start seeing the improvements over the last version. And when you're googling for help, having a fairly vanilla interface helps out.
Either way, if your hardware can run it, I'd go for Windows 8, but then I've rebuilt a lot of PCs by getting bored and putting alpha releases of an OS on them and watching the thing brick itself, so I'm not the best voice of restraint on these things.
Jambo
Steve_God
05-11-12, 10:32 AM
If I had a touch screen monitor, I'd upgrade.
Otherwise I wouldn't bother.
That said, as soon as my old netbook dies, I'm 90% likely to replace it with a Win8 tablet :)
Calling the forum geeks. Oh and if you want to check out if the offer applies to you too, you can download the assessment software <Here> (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/upgrade-to-windows-8) then click on the "Download upgrade assistant" button which will tell you what does/doesn't work and how much it will cost when it's done. Tested it on my netbook and it said £25!
Thanks for that. I just followed your instructions and suddenly this morning W8 is on my PC. An interface is an interface. As long as I can do what I want, even if it does take a little retraining, then that's fine. In the little 5 min play I had with it, its seems OK.
Yes its missing shortcuts to the thing that you do 90% of the time when you use your PC but I'm guessing its a matter of customising the settings. the only thing that seems "long" is the power off option which is now under settings. The only other thing I'm interested in learining about is the multi tasking shortcuts. Other than that, its seems ok for £25.
One thing that is clear is W8 is a massive advertising platform for MS. They sell it to you as being "customised to you" when in fact what this means is that they'll take every opprtunity to sell you stuff from Apps, to Movies to Music directly through the interface. But again, for me its simplay a case of turning this **** off.
1.5 TB drive en-route for £55 :)
Guess this weekend I will be mostly watching progress bars slip slowly by.
Runako, when you upgraded was there an option to burn the image to a DVD as ideally I'd like to do a clean W8 rather than rebuild XP then upgrade again. However I suspect it will need to authenticate against the original XP license so may be onto a bit of a non-starter.
1.5 TB drive en-route for £55 :)
Guess this weekend I will be mostly watching progress bars slip slowly by.
Runako, when you upgraded was there an option to burn the image to a DVD as ideally I'd like to do a clean W8 rather than rebuild XP then upgrade again. However I suspect it will need to authenticate against the original XP license so may be onto a bit of a non-starter.
Yeah something like that. From memory, there was an option for DVD Install or something (which may be what you're referring to - I thought they would send a DVD with the OS as backup) but it cost an extra £12 or so and me not being too fussed couldn't bothered with all that.
As for the install, it was all automated. It only asked if I wanted to save preferences and personal files. The only other thing to note is that some functionality and apps won't work (some of the Vaio stuff and Google chrome requires a reinstall). Other than that the process was easy peasy.
madnlooney
07-11-12, 03:24 AM
i grabbed it with a £10 off coupon so for £15 i took it. i did a fresh install and its ok, you can download the iso and burn to DVD.
the metro is more for phones / tablets and not much use without touchscreen. but the live tiles are nice for weather and news.
oh and it didn't need a good license to upgrade for me ;) so an extra plus
It installed on my tablet and is much faster, intuitive than win 7. Boot speed is faster. They have removed media centre from it and it is a paid upgrade. Currently you can get the product key free from Microsoft for now
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-8/feature-packs
Big bonus of hyper V when i get it on my desktop :)
muzikill
07-11-12, 08:06 AM
Ive got it dual booting with windows 7. I have to keep 7 as there are driver issues with external hardware i have. There are plenty of tutorials on the net on how to prep your drive for a dual boot and if you are getting a new drive i used acronis to image and move across my current install. The downloadable file from ms allows you to fresh install btw and installs the dual boot os option menu.
Ive got it dual booting with windows 7. I have to keep 7 as there are driver issues with external hardware i have. There are plenty of tutorials on the net on how to prep your drive for a dual boot and if you are getting a new drive i used acronis to image and move across my current install. The downloadable file from ms allows you to fresh install btw and installs the dual boot os option menu.
Can you do a fresh build even from the upgrade license? How does it validate your XP license?
Ideally I'd like to do a fresh W8 then dual boot my old XP from another partition so I have all bases covered.
Thunderace
07-11-12, 08:44 PM
One thing that is clear is W8 is a massive advertising platform for MS. They sell it to you as being "customised to you" when in fact what this means is that they'll take every opprtunity to sell you stuff from Apps, to Movies to Music directly through the interface.
Ah so someone has finally twigged it! 8 is just the Xbox dashboard update that came out nearly a year ago! It's a bizarre mix of advertising space and making navigation of the interface a little more difficult for no reason!
muzikill
07-11-12, 09:13 PM
Can you do a fresh build even from the upgrade license? How does it validate your XP license?
Ideally I'd like to do a fresh W8 then dual boot my old XP from another partition so I have all bases covered.
Yes you can do a fresh build. Plenty of tutorials on how to do it. Xp needs to be the main installed os. When you install win8 put your key in during the install. If it doesnt activate give me a shout coz i know the workaround to get a fresh install to activate. Backup and image your xp install first before you start mucking around with it!
Stage 1 Underway. New 1.5TB drive arrived today. Bargain £55 from ebuyer if anyone is doing similar. Got a cheap usb-sata adapter off ebay (£4 delivered) which came with enough leads to let me plug the new drive onto a spare sata port on the motherboard so should be a lot faster to swap data around than using USB. Is taking an absolute age to format though. 90 mins in and still only 45% done!
Next step shuffle some data around so it's all on the right spindles and backed up before I kick off the upgrade.
muzikill
09-11-12, 07:53 PM
Yeah my 500gb drive took ages. Quick format is the key. Its a new drive and shouldnt need it?
6 hour format, 3 hour download, 1 hour install and my clunky old XP desktop now goes from off to browsing faster than Joe M at a Lambo convention!
The Win8 desktop will take a bit of getting used to but with a few mins messing you can make it all look like W7 anyway and still have super-fast start-up.
madnlooney
11-11-12, 05:42 PM
Can you do a fresh build even from the upgrade license? How does it validate your XP license?
.
it doesnt validate your old key just the new one you put in
6 hour format, 3 hour download, 1 hour install and my clunky old XP desktop now goes from off to browsing faster than Joe M at a Lambo convention!
The Win8 desktop will take a bit of getting used to but with a few mins messing you can make it all look like W7 anyway and still have super-fast start-up.
Ok so now got most of my life back together and everything except the scanner working well (need to mess with WIA but at leas the scanner now starts up so getting there)
So now I'm thinking about refreshing my apps. I've got a legit Office enterprise suite so that's all good. Itunes for music so good enough there. Found a nice little lightweight W8 radio player so that's good.
Any advice on a sensible photo editing suite. Previously I had Photoshop but it's a bit of a brute and I'd rather keep my licensing in a better shape than previously. So are any of the freebies any good or am I better replicating my Photoshop environment? PS facilities I use a bit are:-
Levels, a bit of background cloning and airbrushing, some selective cutting to lift out items to re-post elsewhere and some colour manipulation. I've not got a tablet for any real pen work and quickly get out of my depth with any of the advanced menus so any suggestions?
SoulKiss
12-11-12, 05:31 PM
Google for "Gnu Image Manipulation Program" - or GIMP as its better know.
Steve_God
13-11-12, 08:06 AM
Google for "Gnu Image Manipulation Program" - or GIMP as its better know.
Ah... I never realised that was what it stood for!
Ok following on from the W8 download, I've come across a problem. I was lent a DVD which will not play. I went to Sony themselves to query and they have explained the following:
"I understand that the Blu-ray player is not working after upgrading to Windows 8 and you wish to have the Windows 8 compatible drivers for your computer. Microsoft has made the decision that Windows 8 editions will no longer include Windows Media Center by default as had been the case in previous versions of Windows. The result is that when you upgrade to the Windows 8 operating system, or purchase a new computer with the Windows 8 operating system, Windows Media Center will not be installed. Because of this, Blu-ray Disc (BD) and DVD movies will not playback without the installation of additional software"
The "Additional Software" can only be purchased from Sony (Power DVD). Although they have kindly explained that I can get basic DVD functionality by doing a search for " Windows 8 DVD player", but they cannot recommend anyone in particular. So I take my chances with downloading some malware or purchase Sony's software.
This angers me, because it appears that by paying to "upgrade" my computer its removed some of its basic functions, that I will have to pay to regain. What?
Albeit I very rarely watch DVD'd these days but this is besides the point, you know what I mean? Other than the lack of (free) drivers, W8 is alright.
muzikill
24-12-12, 08:00 AM
You can get windows media centre for windows 8 for free just now which adds the functions back in.
Lazadude
24-12-12, 09:21 AM
Download VLC, (video lan player), plays everything and anything.
It's shareware, so free etc.
Second for VLC, tis very good :-)
Welcome to the forum Lazadude.
joshwalker094
24-12-12, 11:19 AM
Hmm, is it really good?
Might update my w7 laptop, it's got a bit slow even though its Decent spec
If speed's important to you then yes its a decent upgrade. You'll live with or or ignore the tiles and a normal desktop is available. Search for anything using the windows button and typing in, so similar function to the start button. But what works best for me is being able to start working on anything using any program, shut the lid and it will save my work while keeping the laptop in the equivalent of hibernation. But lift the lid and start up is instant. There's no need to save anything or power up/down. Bad things are as mentioned above.
muzikill
24-12-12, 12:49 PM
You can get windows media centre for windows 8 for free just now which adds the functions back in.
Do this quick. It wont be free next year. Get your key in an email.
Lazadude
24-12-12, 01:15 PM
Welcome to the forum Lazadude.
Thanks, been lurking for a while :smt108
Been looking at SV's for a while as a step up from my ER5, prob end up shopping in spring :)
vBulletin® , Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.