Something About Windows 8/8.1, And How To Install It;

Windows 8 was released for everyone on October 26, 2012. It was a hot topic at the time of the release because of the world of changes that it ushered for Windows users.

Windows 7 had gained a fair amount of popularity and users weren’t sure if Windows 8 would live up to their expectations. But these premonitions quickly faded away when Windows 8 hit the market.




The modernistic user interface was the first to catch the attention of the users and the operating system worked exceptionally fast. By combining the features of a traditional desktop and touch-enabled devices, Windows 8 was built to be a friendly OS for traditional desktop users as well as for devices that were leaning towards touchscreens.

With a number of gestures and built-in apps encouraging finger-friendly devices to use this OS as well, Windows 8 was a breath of fresh air.

The design is surprisingly different from the previous Windows operating systems and it features deep integration with Microsoft apps like SkyDrive and Xbox.

Boot speeds are amazingly fast making it possible for devices to start up within as less as 20 seconds. The OS also saves all your settings by allowing you to use a Microsoft account to sign in. All your Office 2013 documents are automatically backed up to SkyDrive.

If you want to keep things local instead of saving it on the cloud, then Microsoft allows users to disconnect from the Microsoft account and sign in as a local user as well. If you use more than one devices, the same settings that you use on one device will follow you to the next provided you are using the same Microsoft account. All of this makes computers more user-friendly and encourages easiness in the way in which computers are used.

You can specify the settings you want to be synced and those you would want to use locally on a particular device too.

Many users were earlier intimidated by the changed interface but with regular updates and continuous use, users figured out that Windows 8 was much simpler and more user-inclined than previous Microsoft operating systems.

On April 8, 2014, Microsoft released Windows 8.1 which was an essential update that made Windows 8 faster and better. The one feature that was most looked forward to, was the addition of the Start button which had been removed from Windows 8.

The PC Settings menu makes it easier for users to control the settings without having to use the Control Panel which was more common in previous versions of the Windows OS. Windows 8.1 rolled out as a free update to users and incorporated a number of feedback that was provided by users for Windows 8.

Both Windows 8 and 8.1 greatly changed the design, look and functionality of the Windows Operating System. Users of traditional desktops and touchscreen devices have found Windows 8 and 8.1 to be modern and unconventional.

While it took time to get used to the new interface, users have found Windows 8 and 8.1 to be user-friendly with a very small learning curve.



Let’s Start With Some Checkups Before Starting Any Process:

  1. Hardware Compatibility– The first thing that you’ll need to do is to check the version of Windows 8/8.1 what you wanted to install, do compatible with your computer system or not. You can check the Compatibility List online to ensure that your hardware is supported by the Windows 8/8.1, or not.

Normally, you won’t find any compatibility problem in all the latest computers or laptops, but it might possible that you’ll need to change some of your BIOS Setting too, in order to run Windows 8/8.1. It’s all depending upon your computer.

Here Are the Minimum System Requirements for Windows 8/8.1, To Run On A Machine:

  • Processor. 1 gigahertz (GHz)* or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2.
  • RAM. 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
  • Hard disk space. 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
  • Graphics card. Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver.
  1. Product Key Or you can say “Serial Number” is actually a specific software-based License key for a particular program that certifies that the program you’ve purchased is original. Normally it’s printed on your software’s package, contains 25 characters in a group of 5 characters (each 5 long). And Yes! Just keep in mind that you’ll definitely need that product key in order to complete the Installation.

In case, if you don’t have any;

  • Buy Windows 8.1 Pro License: @Amazon
  • Buy Windows 8 Upgrade License: @Amazon
  • Buy Windows 8 Pro License: @Amazon
  1. Bootable Disc OR DriveTo install Windows 8/8.1, you’ll definitely need a bootable disc or some other bootable USB device in order to start the installation process. In case if you don’t have any or also don’t have any idea about what I’m talking, then these links will help you out with that problem.
  1. Boot Setting CD, DVD, USB, or whatever you are using for the installation, but to start or to boot that bootable device, you’ll mainly need to change the boot order of your computer so it can recognize the bootable drive of yours. Check out the link below to know more about the Boot Order Setting and how to change it:
  1. Computer System Drivers – It’s actually the most common thing which you’ll need to install for your desktop or laptop computer. So, before doing anything make sure you do have your computer driver’s disc or otherwise you’ll need to download every single one of them from the online server.
  1. Extra Bonus Tip – If your OS recently got corrupted and you wanted to recover your personal data back from the internal hard disk or SSD before this current installation process, then check out this tutorial:

Suggested Link: How To Recover, Accidentally Formatted Internal Or External Hard Disk Drive Data?

#Let’s Start the Process Now;

Step 1 – Insert/Plug the Windows 8/8.1 CD/DVD/USB into your computer and push the start button.

Step 2 – Your PC should automatically detect the Bootable Drive and shortly you will get a message saying “Press any key to boot from CD/DVD/USB”.  So, now you’ll just need to press any key on your keyboard to continue. Make sure you press it quickly or otherwise it will disappear after 5 seconds.

Step 3 – After booting the drive, you’ll see that your Windows Setup started to load the installer. Wait for some minutes and your computer will show some easy options which will help you in an easy way to install a new Windows 8/8.1 OS in your computer.

On the first menu, you’ll need to select or choose your language and the keyboard’s input setting. Mainly, most of the time, it’s on the default setting according to your region.

So, just click on the “Next” button after selecting your choice. And after then, click on the “Install now” button.

Step 4 – Enter your Product key and the setup will automatically activate your windows when your computer is connected to the internet.

Step 5 – Now, Accept the license agreement page by ticking it and then click on the “Next” button again.

Step 6 – Now you’ll have to decide whether you’re going to “Upgrade” your previous windows or you need to perform a Custom (advanced) installation.

  • Upgrade – In up-gradation, the setup will install the Windows 8/8.1 without making any changes to your current data and softwares. Setup will automatically overwrite your previously installed windows and then restore all your saved softwares and previously stored data.
  • Custom (advanced) – It basically installs a new copy of Windows on your hard drive.

In this tutorial I’m only showing you how to perform a custom install;

And personally, I only recommend you to install a new copy of windows because new is always best and your computer does not rely on old leftovers.

Step 7 Creating partition: here comes the trickiest part of the installation process; and yes, it’s the understanding of the new partition creation, or maybe saving the old one.

This step is really important because now I’m going to show you where actually your Windows OS going be install in your computer, and not just that, I also going to talk something about which partition you might need to leave for the previously saved data.

And right now, there are mainly two different conditions which can possible to manage the partitions differently and yes, you definitely have one of them on your side too.

So, Let’s See What You Can Do About It;

  • Only Need To Format The Previous OS Drive And Save Other Driver Data – To do that, first, you’ll need to find out that which one the partition is having your previous OS, and which might need to format too. It’s possible that the listed C: drive on the setup menu is actually your OLD OS Drive, but you might also need to confirm it by cross-checking the size of your previous OS Partition. In case, if you don’t know about the size of your previous OS drive to cross-check, then I think you should need to click on the “X” button and quit the setup and run your main OS again, just to check the actual Partition Size of your currently installed OS.
  • Need To Format Everything And Install A New Clean OS – In that case, you’ll need to delete all the listed partition showing in front of you, by using the “Delete” option. And then it will merge all the local drives into as one, named something like ‘Un-partitioned Space’. Then, just use the menu key “New” option to create the partition and then enter the amount of storage size which you wanted to assign to your New OS Drive. At least make it to 80 to 100 GB.

So, what’s now?

Answering Condition No. 1 – To overwrite the previous installation, first, you’ll need to delete that old local drive who’s containing the old OS, and not just the OS drive you’ll also need to delete the old boot drive too.

Just like most of the times, both of these drives listed on the top of the installation menu. And in case if you still can’t be able to identify it, then the one who named as System Reserved is the one who contains the boot files and for the old OS drive you’ll need to cross-checking the size of the drive by reboot to the previous installation.

I’m only saying this because your computer’s C drive isn’t listed as C in the installation menu, you’ll always need to confirm about the old drive by checking its storage size (mainly in bytes).

Answering Condition No. 2To do a clean installation, the only thing what you’ll need to do is to delete all the listed drive in front of you.

Suggested link: How To Recover Data From Corrupted OS Like Windows, Linux & etc.

Do whatever what suits you but after deleting the partition make sure you do recreate them. The minimum recommended space for a partition to install Windows 8/8.1 is 16384 MB (16 GB).

You can click on the “Drive Options (Advance)” to get the partition editing menu.

Step 8 – Now select the partition in which you wanted to install the OS and then click on the “Next” button.

During the installation process, your computer may restart several times, which is completely normal. This will take around 30 to 40 min to finish the process, but it fully depends on your computer’s speed.

Now your Windows Setup is making your device ready to work with new Windows 8/8.1.

Step 9 Now, the main installation is actually completed but still the setup will ask you choose some settings to proceed next. This time, the setup asks you to choose a color scheme for your new Windows 8/8.1 PC.

And after that, it’s time give your PC a good name to make it as cool as you.

Step 10 Now it will ask you to choose the setting type. You have two setting options to choose from.

  • Express setting – In express setting, it contains all the windows features what Microsoft provides you to give our best performance.
  • Customize setting – In customize setting, you can choose some features by your own, it’s like what to start or not.

Recommend: Express setting

Step 11 At last, just sign in with your Hotmail.com or a Live.com account and click on the “Next button. You can also create a new account by clicking on a Sign up for a new email address link below, in case if you don’t have any.

The advantage of using an existing Microsoft account is you can easily access the windows store or you can sync setting between your other windows computers.

After this, the Setup will again getting your PC ready.

Those are pre-installed apps which Microsoft provided you free;

Once the installing is done, you’ll see the Start screen of your new Windows 8/8.1 computer.


After when the installation completes, install your motherboard’s driver to use the full performance of your computer. Here is a list of those signs, which might get stick with your PC if the drivers aren’t properly installed in the computer:

  • System’s Instability
  • Malfunctioning Of Hardware
  • Unresponsive Hardware
  • Computer Errors

Suggested Links:

“And that’s all for now, thanks for sticking with the article, and you know it will always good to let me know about the tutorial, in the comments down below.” 🙂