[Microsoft] Windows 8 for $14.99

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Might do this later if I wanna upgrade my laptop, but I got the $40 upgrade for my desktop.
 
I just did this earlier. (had extra laying around paypal.) You CAN do a fresh install.
I downloaded the ISO and let the program burn it to my USB drive.
Rebooted my PC set first boot to the USB drive..

I started up just like if you had the Windows disc in the drive.
Went through entered CDkey and it let me deleted format my drive and install from there.

So far I have to say... It's not as bad as I thought I guess I'll be giving it a try for awhile at least.
 
Has anyone upgraded form 32 bit (Windows 7) to a 64-bit? If so how do I do it? Thanks!
 
I just did this earlier. (had extra laying around paypal.) You CAN do a fresh install.
I downloaded the ISO and let the program burn it to my USB drive.
Rebooted my PC set first boot to the USB drive..

I started up just like if you had the Windows disc in the drive.
Went through entered CDkey and it let me deleted format my drive and install from there.

So far I have to say... It's not as bad as I thought I guess I'll be giving it a try for awhile at least.

good to know.. My USB stick is 89% complete.. I think I am going to try a dirty upgrade 1st & see just how seamless it is (though I am backing up 1st in anticipation of a full format oncoming)
 
I'm having a ton of problems upgrading from DVD that I got today from Amazon. It does not do a clean install =( I was able to do with the download earlier but not with the DVD. I don't understand how it's different than the download. I want a clean install. I can't cant I don't want to spend money buying full W8 more than what I already paid.
 
I'm having a ton of problems upgrading from DVD that I got today from Amazon. It does not do a clean install =( I was able to do with the download earlier but not with the DVD. I don't understand how it's different than the download. I want a clean install. I can't cant I don't want to spend money buying full W8 more than what I already paid.

See here.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1724637
 
Has anyone upgraded form 32 bit (Windows 7) to a 64-bit? If so how do I do it? Thanks!

From what I understand, when you download and run the windowsinstal file that downloads the OS files, it detects whether you're running a 32 or 64bit OS, and then downloads whatever you currently are running. So if you want to download a 64bit, you need I do it in a 64bit machine.

Take a gander through this thread http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174430&page=2
The guy Brandon talks about how he did it.
 
well im up & running in windows 8 and so far not sure what to think.. The fancy metro UI pretty much oes away whenever I click on any of my commonly used apps & drops me back to the desktop with no aero.. So I guess we will see how this goes for the next few days.
 
Ah well, I purchased Windows 8 for $40 yesterday. What's done is done. Still a really good price.
 
Going to use this on an old Lenovo Y530 laptop and let my 7 year old use it. Can't beat it for $15
 
Shadow dumping of the OS they'll use to bolster sales numbers but won't acknowledge that they looked the other way and let it happen. The board of directors will be too out of touch to notice. They'll just know they sold a bazillion copies. They just won't know it was for 1/10th the price.
 
Glad I get windows 8 pro for free from my University. And best part its I already graduated :p
 
Paid $112 for it yesterday.. full verison though.. i'm fine with that as its my main gaming rig that i'm sure i'll be reinstalling often and not hvaing to deal with trying to install fresh on a upgrade disk is worth it for me. :)

Since this is so cheap i've snagged up 1 for the main notebook and i'll grab another for the bedroom HTPC.

Thanks!
 
I was able to do a clean install with the 15 dollar windows 8 upgrade. I used my legit vista to format then did custom (advanced) and formatted the drive with windows 8 dvd iso. Not sure if you could have just done it without going through the vista step.
 
I was able to do a clean install with the 15 dollar windows 8 upgrade. I used my legit vista to format then did custom (advanced) and formatted the drive with windows 8 dvd iso. Not sure if you could have just done it without going through the vista step.

I was able to do a fresh install as well. Original OS was Vista. After install it was already activated. I'm actually really impressed with Windows 8. Using on a dual core laptop with 2GB ram and its supriseingly snappy. With Vista it was virtually unusable.

Interface isn't that bad, definitely foreign at first, but I gotta say, for $15 it breathed new life into this old laptop, can't compain, and kid will love it.
 
Thank god for being a college student. I've got like 4 keys for x32 and 4 for x64 for 7 and 2 x86 and 2 x64's for 8.

Is it legal to give away keys for the student edition?

Technically it's against the MSDNAA EULA to give them away, I've given them to friends/family in the past tho, no big deal. Some people go as far as selling them tho (see this very thread), which is not only against the EULA but also illegal, and people have been busted for doing so on Ebay.

Those x86 / x64 keys are all interchangeable btw, or they've always been anyway (haven't checked if it's changed with Win 8, doubt it). You can easily get two or three times as many keys if you're an engineering student by joining student societies like ACM/IEEE, dues are like $20-34/year and they basically grant you another MSDNAA account with all the same keys/privileges (including the $100 full Office version deal, which used to be cheaper).


As far as this particular deal, yeah you're abusing a loophole, and they'll probably close it once it gets out of hand; just like when the IEEE/ACM had to stop distributing Windows 7 keys when a metric ton of non-students applied with bogus credentials. Truth be told tho, if I didn't have student rights I'd jump on it as well... Then again, the regular $40 deal is pretty solid too.

There's a lot of improvements in Windows 8 and the freaking Start menu was always a mess anyway (how many people here avoided it, particularly pre-Win 7 taskbar, by using stuff like rocket dock?). Frankly I don't see how the Start screen is any worse, you'll see it for maybe all of 30s in daily use, what's the big deal? How does clicking on big squares and scrolling sideways (if you're somehow averse to typing app names) any worse than mousing up and down and waiting for sub menus to cascade?
 
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So, during installation does this $15 version Windows 8 check for a previous version of Windows? Later in life and you need to reinstall, does it always check that you have a version lower than Windows 8?

Here's a question for EULA afficionados: Are we allowed to install this version of Windows 8 on custom built computers?
 
So, during installation does this $15 version Windows 8 check for a previous version of Windows? Later in life and you need to reinstall, does it always check that you have a version lower than Windows 8?

Here's a question for EULA afficionados: Are we allowed to install this version of Windows 8 on custom built computers?

It will always checks, yes, but apparently a workaround to avoid that has already been found. See post #47 of this very thread (and post #1 & 9 on the thread linked there), seems like it's a fairly simple registry edit in order to be able to activate after installing it without another OS present beforehand.

As for the EULA question, I've no clue if this download would have a different EULA than the regular upgrade version... Even if it's not stated on the EULA tho, the offer is clearly not intended for custom DIY builds, it's intended for people that bought Win 7 PCs very recently and everyone's just abusing a loophole.

It's no more egregious than buying a standard upgrade key and using it as a full version tho, IMO... I've never heard of MS invalidating keys over stuff like this and they've certainly never made it very hard to get keys thru student programs or to use upgrade media on custom builds. They'll probably crack down on this offer loophole at some point tho.

I imagine they know a lot of enthusiasts just won't upgrade if they have to pay $100+ per system, and enthusiasts account for an insignificant (though vocal) percentage of their business anyway.
 
From what I gather, the $15 upgrade edition officially upgrades Windows 7 PCs only. The regular upgrade edition can upgrade from xp, vista and 7.
 
Windows 8 probably adds just as many small improvements over 7 as 7 did over Vista, this hating for hate's sake meme is ridiculous. When did anyone ever marvel at the brilliant design of the start menu anyway (Win 95 launch aside), it wasn't any more elegant or useful than thestart screen (where you can still pin whatever the heck you want).
 
Windows 8 probably adds just as many small improvements over 7 as 7 did over Vista, this hating for hate's sake meme is ridiculous. When did anyone ever marvel at the brilliant design of the start menu anyway (Win 95 launch aside), it wasn't any more elegant or useful than thestart screen (where you can still pin whatever the heck you want).

Hate for the sake of hate? Microsoft decided to reinvent the wheel and try and turn a desktop OS into a phone OS. Theres a LOT to hate about that.
 
Hate for the sake of hate? Microsoft decided to reinvent the wheel and try and turn a desktop OS into a phone OS. Theres a LOT to hate about that.

It's not nearly that intrusive, they reinvented the start menu which was always a kludge anyway, and replaced it with something optimized for tablets, sure... If you spent a lot of time navigating the Start menu you were already wasting an inordinate amount of time, functionally the start screen is pretty similar, you can still type to get to stuff quicker, etc.

Outside of that minor interface change, they improved a ton of things all over the place. They added a dozen multiple display features and enhancements that people had been supplementing thru third party utilities for years (and even added some new stuff no one had thought of like the hard corners). Boot/hibernate times are cut nearly in half, which is huge for laptops. The task manager gained a lot of functionality. You can now pause/resume file copy/move operations and keep better track of them. So on and so forth... All of that and more is easily worth $15.

So yea, coming to a thread that's about a deal on Windows 8 (hence for people already interested in it) and adding zero value with useless snark is hating for hate's sake.
 
When did anyone ever marvel at the brilliant design of the start menu anyway (Win 95 launch aside), it wasn't any more elegant or useful than thestart screen

No, but it knew its place and it stayed out of your way. The same can't be said for Metro, which will only induce migraines unless you're savvy enough to find a Start Menu replacement - which most end users won't know how to do and they'll be stuck in Tard Tile World.

Don't get me wrong, if you're a power user/enthusiast the upgrade price is still worth it for the under-the-hood improvements once you are running with a start menu replacement, things *are* snappier, even some of my legacy apps actually run better in Windows8 than Windows7. But sadly there is absolutely ZERO to do in Metro - all the native apps are abysmal and there isn't a single killer app compelling me to use that environment. I'm sure that'll change with time and while top tier third party devs aren't really moving on developing anything for Metro right now MS will end up having to write large checks to these companies to 'encourage' development and avoid embarrassment.
 
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hey there is another deal if you have win 8 pro where microsoft will give the pro pack or media center for free its a $69.99 value. you just give them your email address and they email you the cdkey and you just update your version of windows.
 
It's not nearly that intrusive, they reinvented the start menu which was always a kludge anyway, and replaced it with something optimized for tablets, sure... If you spent a lot of time navigating the Start menu you were already wasting an inordinate amount of time, functionally the start screen is pretty similar, you can still type to get to stuff quicker, etc.

Outside of that minor interface change, they improved a ton of things all over the place. They added a dozen multiple display features and enhancements that people had been supplementing thru third party utilities for years (and even added some new stuff no one had thought of like the hard corners). Boot/hibernate times are cut nearly in half, which is huge for laptops. The task manager gained a lot of functionality. You can now pause/resume file copy/move operations and keep better track of them. So on and so forth... All of that and more is easily worth $15.

So yea, coming to a thread that's about a deal on Windows 8 (hence for people already interested in it) and adding zero value with useless snark is hating for hate's sake.

Minor interface change? Vista to 7 was not even a "minor" change.
 
If Microsoft is smart like they were with the first word (easy to pirate with super simple serial keys) then they'll let everyone get away with this so that more people use 8 and hare happy with their purchase, making 8 have positive feedback and a larger market share.
 
i don't think this works anymore it asks me for a windows 7 serial key ?
 
what is the difference between win 7 and 8? Why upgrade?
 
I'm surprised this discussion is allowed. Lying about having bought a PC in the past few months in order to reduce the cost of a W8 upgrade is no different than asking for pirated copies of the software.
 
I'm surprised this discussion is allowed. Lying about having bought a PC in the past few months in order to reduce the cost of a W8 upgrade is no different than asking for pirated copies of the software.

Pirated - you don't pay anything.

This - You still pay, and they will still make money off of it.

not the same.
 
Pirated - you don't pay anything.

This - You still pay, and they will still make money off of it.

not the same.

Ripping them off is ripping them off. Saying "oh but i payed something" id just justification.
 
Ripping them off is ripping them off. Saying "oh but i payed something" id just justification.

You are ripping them off. OTOH, do you think they are oblivious? By now they've probably had more Windows 8 $15 downloads than sold qualifying PC's. And it seems to me all it would take is a little website re-work to ask for your Win7 key to break this trick for most people.

Not saying its justified but I have to wonder if Microsoft is being hurt when they know what is going on and could have mitigated it by now.
 
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