Clean Install with Windows 8 Upgrade

How to Do a Clean Install with Windows 8 Upgrade

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This tutorial will show you how to do a clean install with a Windows 8 upgrade copy on an empty drive (HDD/SSD).

Windows 8 System Requirements
Windows 8 works great on the same hardware that powers Windows 7.

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster

RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)

Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

Graphics card: MicrosoftDirectX 9 graphics device or higher

Additional requirements to use certain features:

• To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch.
• To access the Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768.
• To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768.

Here's How:

1. If you haven't already, you will need to either purchase a Windows 8 Upgrade from a retailer, or use the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant to purchase and download a Windows 8.1 ISO file online from Microsoft to create a bootable USB/DVD with.


2. Do a clean install or clean install with UEFI with your Windows 8 upgrade USB/DVD, and enter your Windows 8 product key number during installation.
NOTE: You can do the clean install using either a local account or Microsoft account. It doesn't matter.

   Warning

You will only be able to enter a Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro product key.

You will not be able to enter a Window Media Center Pack or Windows 8 Pro Pack product key. These are considered to be an upgrade key and can't be used to install Windows 8. These can only be added after Windows 8 is installed, then use Add Features to upgrade to the Window Media Center Pack or Windows 8 Pro Pack.

3. When the clean install is finished, if you check in System, you will see that your Windows 8 upgrade may not be activated yet.





4. Do step 5 or 6 below for how you would like to activate the Windows 8 upgrade.


5. Activate by Refreshing the Windows 8 Upgrade

A) Refresh Windows 8, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: You would use OPTION TWO at this link. Be sure to keep your Windows 8 installation DVD in the drive or Windows 8 installation USB connected.




6. Activate Windows 8 Upgrade using a BAT File Download

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the .bat file below, and save it to your desktop.


Activate_Windows_Upgrade_after_Clean_Install.bat





B) Right click or press and hold on the downloaded .bat file, and click/tap on Run as administrator.

C) If prompted, click/tap on Run and Yes (UAC).
NOTE: If you like, you can stop getting the Run prompt by unblocking the downloaded .bat file.

D) You will now notice a command prompt quickly open and close while applying the changes to your registry.

E) Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)




E) Restart the computer to apply, and go to step 7 below.


7. When finshed, if you check in System, you will see that your Windows 8 upgrade is now activated with the product key you entered in step 2 above.




8. You have just finished doing a clean install with an upgrade copy of Windows 8.


That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Do a Clean Install of Windows 8 or Windows 8.1
• How to Clean Install Windows on a MSATA (SSD) Drive
• How to Install Windows 8 Using "Unified Extensible Firmware Interface" (UEFI)
• How to Upgrade from Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, or XP to Windows 8 or 8.1
• How to Downgrade Windows 8 to Windows 7
• How to Download and Run the "Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant"
• How to Create or Download a Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 ISO
• How to Install Windows 8 on VirtualBox
• How to Install Windows 8 on VMware Player
• How to Do a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 8 and Windows 7 or Vista
• How to Create a Windows 8 VHD at Boot to Dual Boot with Windows 7 or Vista
• How to Change the Product Key Number in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Find Your Windows 8 Product Key Number
• How to Activate Windows 8 and 8.1 by Phone
• How to Do a Repair Install of Windows 8 without Losing Anything

 

[Brink]

Will this work if I install my spare copy of windows 7 ultimate 32 bit and then install my windows 8 pro 64 bit using this method?

If you have a product key number for the Win 7 Ultimate and do not use it activate a Win 7 while you have the Windows 8 upgrade activated, then you would be able to do this.

 

[Adam972]

Hey shawn, i tried both of the ways to activate it, and none of them worked :/

 

[Brink]

Where did you get your copy of Windows 8 upgrade from?

 

[Enigma]

Brink: I know you werent addressing me, but I have one digital download upgrade copy that I bought from MS's authorized reseller, and another 2 copies that I obtained from Wal-mart. Both are 8 Pro x64. I pretty much assume their contents are the same. But I compared the file size of my ripped Wal-mart disc ISO files to the official download files, and I noticed that the ripped copy is around 500 to 800 MB larger (just an estimate). So what could be making up the difference? It's not relevant to activation, just curious is all.

 

[Adam972]

Where did you get your copy of Windows 8 upgrade from?

i bought my copy from pcworld.co.uk

 

[Brink]

Brink: I know you werent addressing me, but I have one digital download upgrade copy that I bought from MS's authorized reseller, and another 2 copies that I obtained from Wal-mart. Both are 8 Pro x64. I pretty much assume their contents are the same. But I compared the file size of my ripped Wal-mart disc ISO files to the official download files, and I noticed that the ripped copy is around 500 to 800 MB larger (just an estimate). So what could be making up the difference? It's not relevant to activation, just curious is all.

Hello Steve,

Not sure why either.

 

[Brink]

Where did you get your copy of Windows 8 upgrade from?

i bought my copy from pcworld.co.uk

Adam,

You might start completely over from scratch, but only use the refresh option.

 

[Adam972]

Ok, re install windows 8 and then using the refresh straight away?
will this certainly work?

 

[Brink]

Usually, if done as per the tutorial, unless there's some issue with the type of Windows 8 you have.

 

[Adam972]

it didn't work

 

[Brink]

Must be something with the type of Windows 8 you got. You may need to install and activate Windows 7 first then upgrade to Windows 8 instead.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2234-upgrade-install-windows-7-vista-windows-8-a.html

 

[makaveli316]

Why did they make this so confusing?
Why in the hell do i need an already installed windows, so i can "upgrade" to 8?
This is stupid, i don't understand microsoft.
I have a non touched iso of windows 8 somewhere on my hard disk, downloaded from a torrent few months ago, which i tried for 30 days.
Now i want to buy a cd key, but i'm so confused. I don't know which version to buy, i mean is there a normal retail version of windows 8 Pro or there is only that crap upgrade?
I don't want to download no assistant or anything from Microsoft, cause it takes ages. I just want to use any iso image of windows 8 pro, insert my cd key and make a clean install on a blank hard drive.
Is that possible?

 

[Brink]

Hello Makaveli, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Yes, it's called a "System Builder" copy of Windows 8 that you can get at any retailer.

 

[makaveli316]

Hello Makaveli, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Yes, it's called a "System Builder" copy of Windows 8 that you can get at any retailer.

Thanks for the answer.
I also wanted to ask, how it works, when you need to format and activate with the cd key again. Is it problematic if i do this more than once or twice? And what happens if i change hardware, is the cd key tied to it (motherboard)?

 

[Brink]

You can install and activate a "system builder" copy on any computer, but it can only be activated on one computer at the same time.

If you like, the link below contains the full EULA for "system builder" that can give you all the details about this.

http://www.eightforums.com/general-discussion/10837-windows-8-eula.html#post129488

 

[makaveli316]

You can install and activate a "system builder" copy on any computer, but it can only be activated on one computer at the same time.

If you like, the link below contains the full EULA for "system builder" that can give you all the details about this.

http://www.eightforums.com/general-discussion/10837-windows-8-eula.html#post129488

Thanks man

 

[Brink]

You're welcome.

 

[whs]

I wonder whether that procedure would work if I used the .iso to install in a vBox virtual machine. I do not want to replace my Win7 with an upgrade. Just want to have a Win8 around for study.

 

[Brink]

Hello Wolfgang,

Yes, it'll work the same way in a VM as well.

 

[makaveli316]

I bought an upgrade cd key, cause the system builder was too expensive.
The problem now is, that i can't activate my windows.
I don't know what type of iso i have, but during installation it didn't ask me to type the cd key.
So i installed it and i went to manually insert the key and i got the error message, saying that my cd key is only for upgrade and not for a clean install.
What are my options now?
Should i try another copy of windows 8?