Doing a fresh install of Win8 on a blank HD?

I don't like upgrading OSes. I want to do a fresh install of Win8.
I know this sounds like a dumb qestion but if I go and buy the $70 Win8 Pro box at Staples will I be able to install this "upgrade" DVD on a BLANK HD?
I've been reading about Win8 being only an upgrade as if it's not for doing fresh installs but I'm assuming that was all just an exaggeration.

11 minutes ago, dentaku wrote

if I go and buy the $70 Win8 Pro box at Staples will I be able to install this "upgrade" DVD on a BLANK HD?

No.

@dentaku: That's a good question. Historically MS upgrades would do a full install but require you to insert a valid install disk from the previous version as a form of validation; somehow I doubt that will be case now that it's based on licence keys and not media.

Come on dentaku, there's only one way to find out ... 

Herbie

No a fresh install on a blank HDD is not possible using the upgrade media, read the windows 8 installation FAQ. For that you will need a retail version or system builder version probably which is currently not available for purchase.

You will need to have a valid windows XP or upwards OS version already installed as a base to start the upgrade process.

At the very beginning of the upgrade process you can select something like a clean install or custom install option (not sure of the exact wording), where by you can format/re-partition your HDD and do a clean install. 

When I was installing my upgrade, I had a choice to have the install media put on a flash drive or an ISO file I could burn to a DVD, if I wanted the OS to be installed on a different partition, i.e. a blank HD. I opted to just go ahead and upgrade and not create install media.

I had to do an in place upgrade because otherwise my ATI tv tuner doesn't work. Though I don't know if that was fixed in RTM. Still waiting for my Media Center product key to show up in my email.

After posting this I went and read this article which shows going a fresh install.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/ss/windows-8-clean-install-part-1.htm

Considering it's just $70 for Win8 Pro I'd rather just buy the box so I can easily do a fresh install like this (I'm assuming the $70 retail box from Staples is not also an upgrade DVD). I don't want to install an older OS an a blank drive just so I can then wipe it out by doing a custom install and install Win8. That sounds rather clumsy.

The wording on the Staples website doesn't explain exactly what they're Win8 Pro boxed version is.
http://www.staples.ca/ENG/static/static_pages.asp?pagename=win8_home&icid=HP:H1:Windows8:MER:FNR:102612&utm_source=SPLS&utm_medium=BN&utm_campaign=Windows8

Note I'm using the download from Microsoft version and not a DVD install. My DVD drive stopped working anyway, though I get around that problem in a variety of ways, one is to use another computer across the network, though that won't work if you need to boot from DVD to install. I can boot from a flash drive, if I had one big enough.

2 minutes ago, dentaku wrote

After posting this I went and read this article which shows going a fresh install.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/ss/windows-8-clean-install-part-1.htm

Considering it's just $70 for Win8 Pro I'd rather just buy the box so I can easily do a fresh install like this (I'm assuming the $70 retail box from Staples is not also an upgrade DVD).

Tough luck. It is the upgrade DVD (and the upgrade key). Notice all the "upgrading" on the homepage.

2 minutes ago, dentaku wrote

I don't want to install an older OS an a blank drive just so I can then wipe it out by doing a custom install and install Win8. That sounds rather clumsy.

But exactly the way it needs to be done. In the NT5 days you only needed to provide the CD of the previous version at installation - but the upgrading has been re-imagined since then.

Dentaku, I bought my upgrade for $39.99 ($47 after taxes).  Download from Microsoft, not physical media.

You can choose to do a clean install in the Upgrade setup. The boxes in the stores for $70 are upgrade versions. There is no retail version of Windows 8, only upgrades and OEM.

There's also a Win8 option to "reset" Win8 via the Metro's control panel menu, which might clear out lots of the crap that you bring with you during the upgrade.

What if someone doesn't have any previous OSes they can install on a brand new hand built PC?
Would they have to buy the "system builder" version or something like that?

I wonder if it's possible to just stick in an old Vista DVD (I have a 32bit OEM Vista DVD and a OEM 64bit Win7 DVD)
Let it dump the files to the harddrive so I at least have a Windows folder on the drive
Stop the install
Put in the Win8 Pro DVD and do a custom clean install.
This way you don't have to go through the whole process of installing the entire old OS.

Just get a Windows 8 Pro trial, install using the trial key and then change the product key on the first Windows boot. Windows will activate the key immediately and you don't have to screw around like this.   

I did this earlier today, works a treat.  

There are 2 problems here, a technical one and a legal one.

I'm not sure about Windows 8, but for Windows 7, the situation is:

Technically, yes, there are many workarounds to do the trick.
http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media-128512
http://www.mydigitallife.info/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media-and-product-key-on-formatted-or-empty-blank-hard-drive/

Legally, it depends
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/clean-install-with-windows-7-upgrade-media-get-the-facts/1505

if you do have a existing license of a prior version of Windows assigned to the device, then yes, you can do a clean install using those workarounds, legally.

if you do not, then you can't, even if you do a fake 'upgrade' by 'install a trial/evaluation first' (basically as the 'double install' workaround), or "stick in an old dvd and dump the files", if your license of the old dvd has been assigned to another device, then you are still violating the 'upgrade' license, even if you installed and activated Windows 8 successfully.

BTW, Paul Thurrot discussed this problem in yesterday's Windows Weekly, and he promised to investigate this more as soon as possible.

I just recently installed the Windows 8 consumer version on a Windows 7 starter system.  I like the performance of Win 8 so I tried to install a Win 8 Pro with media player but recieved an error about having  the consumer version.  Walmart has upgrades of Win 8 Pro for $70 but there is a different version costing $199.  B&H Video.com has this version on sale for $99.  I will purchase it but first I am dling versions to find the correct one that works.  Since at the moment I only have one working PC, I'm not going to goof around because Win 8 Consumer Evaluation is running just fine.

5 hours ago, Geonosis wrote

I'm not going to goof around because Win 8 Consumer Evaluation is running just fine.

If you haven't upgraded (or downgraded) already, you need to think about doing so. All of the Windows8 betas and previews that haven't already stopped working are timebombed to stop working in January 2013.

Oddly, the upgrade is technically valid for the consumer and release previews which seems to completely destroy the whole "you need a previous license" business. Unless, of course, it's Microsoft's way of saying "thanks for dogfooding".