Solved Is it possible to install W8.1 as a trial.

Mooly

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Slightly strange question and I haven't found a definite answer to this.

Is it possible to legally download W8.1 (to create an ISO from it) such that it can be installed with no product key (knowing it only has a 30 day activation period) so that it can be test run on an older PC. If so are there any genuine links I could follow ?

Ta very much :)
 

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    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
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    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
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Thanks... I'm having a look/see now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
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    Realtek
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    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
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    HP Z4000
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    76 down, 20 up
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If you want to test your hardware compatibility you be best off installing dual boot as VM will not tell you much in that regard.. Features wise it is pretty much like the Pro version.
 

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    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
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    MacBook Pro Core2Duo
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    T7600
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    3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon X1600
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    1440 x 800
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    40GB
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Thanks.... actually I've hit one snag already, the set up won't run with Vista being installed, says it has to be W7. I can probably get around that by installing W7 from my Dell disc as long as the W8 installer doesn't need an activated copy of W7 to run.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    MacBook Pro Core2Duo
    CPU
    T7600
    Memory
    3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon X1600
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Internal
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 800
    Hard Drives
    40GB
    Keyboard
    Apple
    Mouse
    Apple
    Internet Speed
    Varies
    Browser
    Various
    Antivirus
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Don't worry, its no problem as its only a "second" PC and I wanted a play with W8.1 I'll see what it makes of running from a W7 unactivated copy but that will probably be tomorrow.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
Thwarted again... W7 installed and it now objects to the W8 file being the 32 bit version (which on an older laptop with 2gb seemed the sensible choice). Ho hum, looks like I'll have to grab the x64 version and try again. At least this time it said insert the other disc (the x64) and setup would commence.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
Windows 8 enterprise is not an "upgrade" version. You don't need anything on the computer to install it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
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    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
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    Corsair 620HX modular
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    Antec P182
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    stock
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    ABS M1 Mechanical
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    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
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    15/2 cable modem
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    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
I've no answer to that. I got the warning that it wouldn't install because Vista was already present, now I've put W7 x64 on it, it wanted a W8 x64 version. At this moment I'm just burning an ISO of W8.1 x64 and will try it shortly all being well.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
All seems good so far. W8.1 installer is running.

The installer objected to my screen resolution at first and refused to continue. I thought it had done that because the W7 install is "out of the box" with just the generic graphics driver installed. I've just whacked the resolution up to max with the generic and its allowed the installer to run. You learn a lot by doing :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
Are you launching the setup by running setup.exe? The Windows ISO is bootable. It should not matter whatsoever what is installed on the machine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
Are you launching the setup by running setup.exe? The Windows ISO is bootable. It should not matter whatsoever what is installed on the machine.

This is something that puzzles me. I burned the first 32 bit version using Ashampoo (which I've used before to do ISO's) and when I tried booting from it wouldn't get recognised and the pc, after pausing for a couple of seconds would just carry on into the already installed Vista OS. No "press this any key to boot from the disc" message. So I ran the W8 x86 version from within Vista. No go. Has to be run from W7 or W8. Without changing anything in the Bios I pop the W7 Dell disc in and that boots straight off. Install W7 and reburn the ISO of W8 x64 this time using W7's own disc burner. Again, the W8 ISO seems non bootable for me. So I ran it from within W7 and its installed OK, however....


I have a major stumbling block. All seems good apart from the fact that W8 won't recognise my wireless card. Its not showing in device manager at all and W8 reports no wireless settings are available. Its too late today to investigate but tomorrow I might see if I have a Vista driver for the Atheros card and see if that brings any joy. If not its game over, Acronis and back to Vista :(

I was looking forward to play with W8.1 as well.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
Further update on this. (its still not fixed though :()

I went back to square one and put the x86 ISO onto a USB drive using a free utility to make it bootable. So far so good, it booted OK and launched into the installer, however on the first reboot it simply went back to the start of the install procedure. I tried again and this time pounced when it rebooted and swiftly changed the boot order back to HDD. The install process continued perfectly and I have a clean W8.1 install.

But still no wireless card detected. Grrr If I can't turn any fixes up for this then I might start a new thread on the problem. It is just not showing anywhere in device manager. I've set it to show hidden devices and still nothing.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
Download the driver on another PC and put it on a thumb drive. Then run it on your PC that has no wireless card detected. For future reference a lot of PC's have a quick boot BIOS option. You can boot from an external device like a thumb drive that one time. On the next reboot it goes back to the default device automatically. It's great for doing install and diagnostics. On my laptop all I have to do is press the ESC key during boot up to get a one time boot menu.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
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    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
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    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
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    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
Do you see devices in device manager with the yellow exclamation points?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
Download the driver on another PC and put it on a thumb drive. Then run it on your PC that has no wireless card detected. For future reference a lot of PC's have a quick boot BIOS option. You can boot from an external device like a thumb drive that one time. On the next reboot it goes back to the default device automatically. It's great for doing install and diagnostics. On my laptop all I have to do is press the ESC key during boot up to get a one time boot menu.

Thanks. That's really useful re the BIOS and rebooting. The only (and latest) driver for the Atheros is a Vista one which I grabbed direct from Acer (its an old Acer 9301 laptop).

The wireless adapter still wasn't showing in device manager although the wireless LED is lit on the front, so on a hunch I manually "disabled" it (there is a separate Wireless on/off switch on the keyboard). I rebooted and then back to device manager to search for new hardware. This time it finds an unknown device... hmmm and it seems to be the Atheros adapter. So I try the Acer file with no joy. Next I go into manually finding compatible hardware in the driver tab and can actually bring up "Atheros 5005" but W8 still refuses to install the driver although it appears to actually attempt to. I've tried a few of the Atheros ones, the two 5005 variants and some more generic sounding ones but all come up with the same "code 31" failed to install. I've yet to Google that :)

Do you see devices in device manager with the yellow exclamation points?

At first I didn't. Only when I manually turned off the switch for the WLAN and then rebooted and manually searched for new hardware did it then show. Yes it has the yellow triangle.
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
And another update... working :)

Don't know what happened. I typed the reply above on another PC and the left the W8 sitting there. Looked for W8.1 drivers and found an unofficial Atheros site that looked half reputable. Downloaded driver and popped USB into W8 PC. At this point I notice the wireless symbol has changed to "connections available".


Very very odd......
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 x64 pro and W8.1 x86
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3750/Acer 9301
    CPU
    Intel i5/AMD Turion 64
    Memory
    4Gb/2Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel i5 internal/NVidia GEFORCE GO 6100
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Hard Drives
    250Gb SSD and 120Gb
    Mouse
    HP Z4000
    Internet Speed
    76 down, 20 up
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
Was it connected to the Internet via a LAN cable? I never thought to suggest doing it, but it might have been the easiest way to get a driver for the WIFI adapter. Windows could have then looked online for a driver. Anyway it sounds like you have it working now and that's the main thing. :thumb:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
What is the make and model of your computer? If self built, what specific NIC do you have?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
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