Installing Windows 8 on a new hard drive

[Gerhard]

Hi

A couple of days ago my old hard drive started giving issues and eventually died. My brand new one arrived today. However, now I'm stuck with no HDD to boot my dekstop from and only a laptop to get Windows 8 onto my new HDD.
Can anyone tell me what would be the best way to go about doing this ?

Any advice is much appreciated!

 

[Reine]

To make sure I have clearly understood the situaton: you got a PC with new empty HDD and a fine-working laptop allowing you to download anything from the Net?

 

[Gerhard]

Yep. There is nothing wrong with the current hardware in my tower. I am lacking an operating system, that is all.
Fine-working laptop yes.

 

[Reine]

Okay then. I would do the following:

1. Download LiveCD, burn it to CD/DVD/USB
2. Download Windows 8, burn it to DVD/USB
3. Boot up using LiveCD
4. Insert your DVD/USB with Windows 8 and install.

Is all this possible? If no we could try to find another solution.

 

[MadHorseman]

Works only if the Bit Level of the two are the same, i.e. Laptop 32-bit will download a 32-bit win8. If you want 64-bit on your desktop borrow a pal's system!

Regards

Robin

 

[Gerhard]

I am doing this by USB. I would need two different USBs - one with LiveCD and one with Windows 8, correct?
When I download Windows 8 and transfer it onto my USB, must it be in ISO form? I am not familiar with the limitations of LiveCD, sorry.

Downloading LiveCD now, I will update on my progress. Thanks for your help! Appreciate it a lot!

 

[Reine]

Gerhard, this video might be helpful for you: Create A Bootable Windows 8 USB Installer Flash Drive by Britec - YouTube
And yes, you are right thinking of having two different USBs.
And yes again, your Windows 8 and LiveCD preferably should be in .ISO format.

 

[Gerhard]

Thank you for your help, saved me a lot of searching, appreciate it!

 

[znod]

Hi

A couple of days ago my old hard drive started giving issues and eventually died. My brand new one arrived today. However, now I'm stuck with no HDD to boot my dekstop from and only a laptop to get Windows 8 onto my new HDD.
Can anyone tell me what would be the best way to go about doing this ?

Any advice is much appreciated!

Do you have a retail upgrade product key? Is the laptop the same bitness as your problem machine? If both are yes, then go here to download an ISO--which can be used to create an install medium: Windows 8 Upgrade ISO - Download or Create. If you need UEFI support on 64-bit, which I doubt, then see the second half of the tutorial. You may need to use the refresh procedure described here to activate: Clean Install with Windows 8 Upgrade. To reinstall, except for possibly having to use the refresh procedure, follow: Clean Install - Windows 8.

 

[Gerhard]

Thanks znod, but today I have gotten to the stage where I am successfully installing Windows on my new hard drive through creating a bootable USB stick with the Windows 8 ISO image on it. Seems to be working perfectly, Thanks for all your time - especially Reine!

 

[Reine]

Glad it could help!