Windows 8 Upgrade Clean Install

H

HaX

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 17, 2005
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Like many other users, I have purchased the Windows 8 Pro upgrade through the windows upgrade offer and received it for 15$. Once you have the installation media (dvd iso or usb) you can then proceed to do a fresh install. Once you have it installed on new equipment you may have noticed that you cannot activate windows this way by doing a fresh install. But here's the workaround:

  • Open regedit by pressing Windows-q, entering regedit and selecting the result from the list of hits.
  • Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/
  • Change MediaBootInstall from 1 to 0
  • Go back to the start screen and enter cmd there.
  • Right-click Command Prompt and select to run it as administrator.
  • Type slmgr /rearm on the command line and hit enter.
  • Reboot Windows now.
  • Run the activation utility afterwards, enter your product key to activate Windows.

oops didn't know there was already a thread on this; however, it'll be like a bump for good measure :p
 
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I had no problem with a full, clean install from the $15 upgrade.. No workarounds needed
 
oh, i put it on a relatives new computer i built for him. he originally had windows 7-32bit and then i downloaded the 64-bit on another computer. windows 8 accepted the upgrade key during installation but whenever we tried activating it, it would say that the upgrade key we entered was invalid. this workaround fixed that.
 
A dual install works to make a clean install. I installed windows 7 then put the upgrade over it doing a clean install. I will probably have the upgrade for sale. The OS is awful but I need to see how it works to help others when they bring me their computers to fix. What was windows thinking with this??!! Adding a start menu helps but it isn't very impressive outside of the fast boot and fast shutdown. It reminds me of Unity in Ubuntu YUK!
 
I personally don't like it, It's much more tailored for tablet users and liking to mobile elements.
 
I find mobile os's aweful :) I only use them as I have no choice on a mobile device.

I think this post needs sticking as its a great workaround.

However my question is this, when doing this workaround at what point does it know you have a previous version of windows? does it ask for old product key? or does it use the product key from when you run the upgrade assistant?

Because right now my desktop and laptop both use win7 technet keys, I do not want to use these to upgrade to win8. I am not even planning to upgrade to win8 but am considering buying win8 before the prices go up ready for maybe a later date if I upgrade. Instead the keys I want to use are the oem vista key on my laptop base, and a boxed unused win7 retail I have. But both these keys are not currently been used, they just keys I own. So my concern is the upgrade assistant is required to buy the upgrade, and it then uses the key I am using now for eligibility instead of letting me enter the boxed win7 key I have.
 
I clean installed 2 PC's yesterday with the Win8 Pro upgrade disk I burned. Both PC's had Win 7 on them. I deleted the Win 7 install partitions but not the factory reinstall Win 7 partitions. No issue what so ever, they both activated on their own & I didn't have to edit anything nor do any cmd tricks.

Most likely re-do my PC soon with a clean install since I went the upgrade method on it.
 
i deleted the windows 7 partition and then installed windows 8, no windows 7 was installed during the installation of windows 8.
 
HaX said:
i deleted the windows 7 partition and then installed windows 8, no windows 7 was installed during the installation of windows 8.
Click to expand...

if the installer can see that Windows was once there, either by a old partition or by using it to delete the partition and create a new one it will install fine. The only time people will likely have issues is if they are installing on brand new equipment, which you then would need to do the above trick.
 
oops sorry, we actually did install it on brand new equipment lol
 
msny said:
All you need is here.

http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/clean-install-windows-8-upgrade-media-144648
Click to expand...

I really don't know why people's brains shut down and they keep linking articles like this. People are often asking about installs onto wiped hard drives. This thread is listing steps for using the upgrade media on a wiped drive, with no OS on it. Booting from the Windows 8 upgrade media, then blowing away the Windows 7 partition is not the same thing as installing on a fresh hard drive.
 
oneforspeed said:
A dual install works to make a clean install. I installed windows 7 then put the upgrade over it doing a clean install. I will probably have the upgrade for sale. The OS is awful but I need to see how it works to help others when they bring me their computers to fix. What was windows thinking with this??!! Adding a start menu helps but it isn't very impressive outside of the fast boot and fast shutdown. It reminds me of Unity in Ubuntu YUK!
Click to expand...


Why in hell would you install windows 7 fresh just to install the upgrade over it?
As for Win 8, I have no issues with it, don't think it's aweful at all. I fresh installed the upgrade version of Pro on a new disk in my laptop and it's freaking great.
 
HaX said:
oops sorry, we actually did install it on brand new equipment lol
Click to expand...

So did I, had no problems installing it on a new hard drive, straight from using the upgrade version disk. It never prompted me for anything related to an older OS version.
 
the question is how is eligibility checked? when people are proper clean installing (using the reg hack). Does it utilise the key thats installed when running the upgrade assistant, or is this a loophole that keeps the old version of windows useable.
 
chrcoluk said:
the question is how is eligibility checked? when people are proper clean installing (using the reg hack). Does it utilise the key thats installed when running the upgrade assistant, or is this a loophole that keeps the old version of windows useable.
Click to expand...

I did the upgrade on my PC last week sometime. As noted above I did clean installs on 2 more PC's in my house with no issue. Last night I did a clean install on my PC & windows wouldn't activate. Did the hacks & it still wouldn't activate. I had to call MS & get a new Product ID.

Apparently you only get 1 activation right now or you have to call MS for a new product ID (atm)
 
PinchedNerve said:
I did the upgrade on my PC last week sometime. As noted above I did clean installs on 2 more PC's in my house with no issue. Last night I did a clean install on my PC & windows wouldn't activate. Did the hacks & it still wouldn't activate. I had to call MS & get a new Product ID.

Apparently you only get 1 activation right now or you have to call MS for a new product ID (atm)
Click to expand...

sorry you have confused me.

I would have thought it obvious its 1 activation per key, you tried to activate 3 times with 1 key?

I am talking about the key on windows upgrading from, I dont want my win7 technet keys deactivated.
 
chrcoluk said:
sorry you have confused me.

I would have thought it obvious its 1 activation per key, you tried to activate 3 times with 1 key?

I am talking about the key on windows upgrading from, I dont want my win7 technet keys deactivated.
Click to expand...

3 different keys. Only one (mine) was tried to activate 2 times, on the same PC. 1st time was the upgrade method then I decided to clean install.

The 2 other PC's were both clean installed 1 time with their own keys.
 
ok I think I understand you now, so because you reinstalled a previously activated key you had to ring up. Even tho was same hardware. Thats a lot of hassle.
 
What if I decide to use the refresh/reset options in Windows 8 in the future? Will I need to perform this registry hack again?
 
chrcoluk said:
ok I think I understand you now, so because you reinstalled a previously activated key you had to ring up. Even tho was same hardware. Thats a lot of hassle.
Click to expand...

Correct, but its still early in the life of Win8 so hopefully they will relax that a bit.
 
ocellaris said:
I really don't know why people's brains shut down and they keep linking articles like this. People are often asking about installs onto wiped hard drives. This thread is listing steps for using the upgrade media on a wiped drive, with no OS on it. Booting from the Windows 8 upgrade media, then blowing away the Windows 7 partition is not the same thing as installing on a fresh hard drive.
Click to expand...

People need to READ all the articles there then that apply to their specific situation.
It's nor rocket science, the super site has ALL the needed info..
 
May i suggest this awesome tool: Advanced Tokens Manager to backup your activation files, if you ever need to reinstall, do it offline and restore the files and windows is activated in no time.
 
BBA said:
So did I, had no problems installing it on a new hard drive, straight from using the upgrade version disk. It never prompted me for anything related to an older OS version.
Click to expand...

Same here. Upgrade keys made a full fresh install no problem. No work around needed. Activated flawlessly.
 
BBA said:
Why in hell would you install windows 7 fresh just to install the upgrade over it?
As for Win 8, I have no issues with it, don't think it's aweful at all. I fresh installed the upgrade version of Pro on a new disk in my laptop and it's freaking great.
Click to expand...

I didn't upgrade I used the full install option to wipe the Window 7 out. An upgrade won't do a full install without having a Microsoft OS already on the disk. I didn't want to waste time installing windows 8 upgrade twice just in case it doesn't full install like windows 7 upgrade did. Besides it was the legal way to do it :)
 
oneforspeed said:
I didn't upgrade I used the full install option to wipe the Window 7 out.
Click to expand...

That is still an upgrade... If the drive has a qualifying OS on it when you first boot the media, this is considered an upgrade and not a clean install in terms of activation :rolleyes:
 
ocellaris said:
That is still an upgrade... If the drive has a qualifying OS on it when you first boot the media, this is considered an upgrade and not a clean install in terms of activation :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Precisely. The install is no different than a clean install, with a full version, in terms of operation. It is in terms of activation. Doing an upgrade, with the upgrade media, attempts to save program settings and information. A formatted install, with the upgrade media, dumps everything which is the same as full, clean install. :rolleyes: back at ya :D I bought the upgrade for $35 and did a full install with it after I performed a clean install with my legal Windows 7 media on a new drive. The upgrade won't full install without an OS already present.

Are we in agreement? Does it matter?
 
oneforspeed said:
Precisely. The install is no different than a clean install, with a full version, in terms of operation. It is in terms of activation. Doing an upgrade, with the upgrade media, attempts to save program settings and information. A formatted install, with the upgrade media, dumps everything which is the same as full, clean install. :rolleyes: back at ya :D I bought the upgrade for $35 and did a full install with it after I performed a clean install with my legal Windows 7 media on a new drive. The upgrade won't full install without an OS already present.

Are we in agreement? Does it matter?
Click to expand...

It matters because this is a thread about upgrade activation issues.
 
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