Formating disk for clean install of Win 8 - need disk or?

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Big Jeff

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Oct 26, 2009
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I am currently running Windows 8 - I had Windows 7 and back in January 2013 I did a promotional deal to upgrade to Windows 8 - paid my $ and downloaded it.

Now nearly 1 year later I have a lot of "stuff" on my computer, am having some issues that may be hardware or software related - not sure - so wanted to format my C: drive holding my OS (an SSD drive) and re-install it. I have two other "storage drives" - a 1 TB internal and a 1 TB external - I figured to disconnect both of those and only deal with the SSD through this.

My question - to get the format option and basically to start fresh - do I need a physical DVD disk to insert for the install? I have my original Windows 7 disk - but I was thinking installing Windows 8 or 8.1 directly versus "over" Windows 7 must be a cleaner install, correct?

My Windows 8 was an upgrade deal - I have my purchased product code for Windows 8 Pro and a web site to plug the code into for the download:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only

But I am assuming that site needs to see Windows 7 on my machine to do the "upgrade"? Also would it even prompt me to do the clean/format install?

Would I be better off just going and purchasing another full version of Windows 8 on a disk?

Thanks for any direction/input.
 
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avjguy2362

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Jun 21, 2012
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All good questions and your assumptions are correct! Yes the upgrade path is a bit of a problem as the upgrade does require that you have W7 on it first. You could do this, but it isn't the cleanest way to get W8 on the disk. I did this from Vista to W7 and after several not so perfect re-installs ( they always seemed great at first, but eventually got some odd behaviors ), I eventually went and bought a W7 Pro disk. It's been a flawless ride ever since, so I think I am going to avoid the upgrade path in the future. W8 to 8.1 is not a problem, since it is more of a large update than a new OS. So, my best advise is to have a new 8.1 disk and go from there.
Other simple advise, after you install W8.1 turn on System Restore. Make a 200+GB partition on you external drive or get another small drive and use that partition for system restore and make weekly back-ups. If you have a large enough partition, you will be able to restore you system back to any point in the past several months without having to deal with re-installs. It makes one large system image and then smaller weekly updates. Most weird problems are fixed when using system restore and going back 1 to 3 weeks to before the problems started. You don't lose any files or programs, just any Windows updates, which you can restore manually in Windows Update. Don't forget to make the System Restore Backup Disk at the same time. If you really screw things up ( and WIndows is unusable ), you put in the bootable system Disk you make and it reads from your external partition to restore your computer back to exactly the way it was on the restore date!
 
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avjguy2362

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Question for johnnyb105! Are you saying that if they have an unformatted partition and a W8.1 "Upgrade" Key, MS will still allow a fresh install of W8.1? The info on that page seems to indicate that you must be "Running" a copy of W7 or W8 preview to allow W8.1 to Install. I'm not doubting you, just wondering how you do this? I am asking, because I am assuming that a W8.1 Upgrade Key and a W8.1 key are not the same. Am I wrong?
 
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johnnyb105

johnnyb105

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Yes you need to provide proof you own win 7 before a upgrade to 8 and 8.1 but there are ways around it which I wont provide. I just wanted to give the op links so he can have solid copys of his upgrade same as win 7 you can download all there versions and install them provided you have a key to install the OS.
 
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Big Jeff

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I have the original disk and product key for my Windows 7 version. This was what I originally upgraded from to Windows 8 via my upgrade product key.

While I would certainly agree it would be nice if I could load Windows 8 or 8.1 directly (without loading Win 7 first) - it looks like that would run me around $175 - money I could use on hardware updates - considering I do have a legal copy of Windows 8 Pro - it's just an upgrade product key.

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-8-1-Pro-Version/dp/B00EDSI8HW/ref=pd_cp_sw_2/182-3900491-5741510

So given the added cost - I guess I will wipe the drive via the Windows 7 new install - get things settled again with the clean drive - then use the upgrade product key to load up Windows 8 and/or 8.1 Pro. Not ideal but it should be better than my current state.

One question somewhat related - my SSD became more and more full when I would load/download a program that would not give me the option of loading it to another drive other than C: - where my OS was at. Is there a way in Windows 8 to always get a prompt for the install drive location? I would much rather put most non-essential programs on my 7200 RPM 1TB storage drive -than to use up my limited SSD space.
 
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