Windows 8 upgrade or full

[Meganano]

My question may be 15 years out of date, but when I was using a Windows 98 upgrade the install process went like this,
1. Install DOS
2. Install Windows 95
3. Install Windows 98 upgrade
3. Install drivers
4. Install patches for drivers
5. Install patches for driver patches (I'm not kidding)

About this time I read that problems were less likely to occur with a full Windows 95, ME or or whatever if the product was installed as a standalone or full copy, rather than as an upgrade to an existing installation of an older version of Windows.

Is the Windows 8 upgrade that MS is offering require that XP, Vista or Windows 7 be installed prior to the upgrade, or will the upgrade provide a full Windows 8 installation on a clean HD, requiring only previous license?

 

[mikewm1111]

My experience:
- I believe the only Windows 7 requirement is for the Microsoft Application to verify your OS is valid prior to purchasing Windows 8 Pro Upgrade.
- You will then be given an Install Key

1st - I purchased the Windows 8 Pro Upgrade from Microsoft
2nd - I chose to save the 'iso' to disk and then burned it to DVD
3rd - I restarted my PC, and booted from DVD
Finally - I recreated my drive's partition and reformatted prior to install

Since the install let me boot from DVD and do a clean install; I don't see how you would ever need to Install Windows 7 before Windows 8 for any future installations.

 

[Meganano]

My experience:
- I believe the only Windows 7 requirement is for the Microsoft Application to verify your OS is valid prior to purchasing Windows 8 Pro Upgrade.
- You will then be given an Install Key

1st - I purchased the Windows 8 Pro Upgrade from Microsoft
2nd - I chose to save the 'iso' to disk and then burned it to DVD
3rd - I restarted my PC, and booted from DVD
Finally - I recreated my drive's partition and reformatted prior to install

Since the install let me boot from DVD and do a clean install; I don't see how you would ever need to Install Windows 7 before Windows 8 for any future installations.

Ok, so it sounds like Windows upgrades no longer require pre-installation of the older version.
I have satellite internet at home with a 10 GB/month cap. At work I have DSL with no cap. Is it possible for me download the Win 8 Upgrade on my work computer for installation on my home computer, or must it be installed on the machine it is downloaded to?

 

[mikewm1111]

It will examine the OS you are downloading 'from' to determine if you qualify for an 'Upgrade'

Yes, you can download it from work and burn it to DVD before heading home.

A question I would like an answer to is if Microsoft is keeping track of license keys from the validated PC? Perhaps you are 'stealing' the Windows 8 upgrade from your work PC's license key? Just not sure...

 

[ss202sl]

It will examine the OS you are downloading 'from' to determine if you qualify for an 'Upgrade'

Yes, you can download it from work and burn it to DVD before heading home.quotemsg]

If you have the option to download it from work, then explain how it verifies the machine you are downloading from that you are qualified to download it based on upgrading your computer at home?

 

[ram1009]

I wondered all these things myself and decided to be safe and wait until I get home.

 

[Kopp123]

hah, that's the same thing i did, ram1009