Hey guys,need your help.In a bit of a conundrum right now.
I've got a spare Acer laptop that's running the Windows 8 Release Preview.It originally came with vista,tried the preview the moment i could.Vista was crap. Not using that any more,dualbooted Ubuntu on it and using Ubuntu on it.
I'm building a new rig and i'm wondering if it is possible to download the upgrade to Window 8 Pro student on that laptop,create USB bootable media, and clean install Windows 8 on the new rig AND activate the new rig. By new i mean new.The whole schebang-blank SSD,new mobo etc etc. I'm trying to avoid buying a new OEM license as much as i can.
Searching on the internet yields everything from yes to registry tweaks to calling microsoft.Thing is,the ones that said yes are still running the same hardware,from what i could tell.I couldn't find one in the situation that i am in and M$ in my country doesn't employ friendly CSOs.Tried calling them.
So,i hope the knowledgeable gurus that you guys are would be able to help me out.
Thanks!
PS. Posted this on another forum as well.Apologies if you see this twice.
If you have a license key you can install it on whatever hardware you want it wont make a difference at all, the only thing different about a "student edition" of windows 8 and a "normal edition" is the "student edition" is either free or heavily discounted.
Example - Im going back to school to finish up another 4 year and I got 3 free license this year for windows 8 pro and media center from the college.
The acer was a OEM vista. And this is what really got me:
"To install Windows 8, you must be running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 Consumer Preview, or Windows 8 Release Preview. If you are upgrading from Windows 7 or Windows Vista, you will have the ability to create back up media during the upgrade process. If you are upgrading from Windows XP SP3, backup media is available for purchase at the same time as Windows 8."
That's the product description from M$. Sent you a PM,btw.
You can pretty much install win8 on any computer as long as to meets hardware requirements and even then you can still install but the vperformance is going to be crap.
If you are doing a clean install on a ssd then its better.
The thing about OEM is that the version of windows that came with your computer is locked to the motherboard so you can't use the same key to install that version of windows in your case vista, onto another computer.
I just woke up its 7:20 AM here now, give me a little bit and ill check the pm and get back to you again
It's not the full retail license or OEM license. It's the Windows 8 Pro Student Upgrade. So i'm assuming it needs a base OS to be installed?At least,that's what the M$ website is telling me. If it does need a base OS,then i can't use the upgrade key as a full key,can i?
If you install one of the pre requisites operating systems your student upgrade key they gave you should allow you to upgrade to a full version still.
I have the win 8 release preview.I'm thinking of downloading the upgrade version using that and then using that downloaded files to install win 8 on the new rig(new hardware). Theoretically,this should work. What i'm concerned with is if the OS will be activated.
do you use skype or anything? this would be easier to discuss with you outside of back and forth forum post