Useful post, thanks, definitely a great step by step tutorial. Can you make a Tutorial on how to add the greek language maybe? is it possible to do this during the setup?
I have never integrated any language so I'm not the best person to ask. Hope someone can chime in to add those instructios
Ahem,you have a rather serious mistake in the OP - you have to select MBR partition for UEFI computers,not GPT for UEFI... That + posting even the default install keys is frowned upon AND can get MDL in hot water.
This guide is a generic guide not for a particular computer. Most new laptops or computers are best installed in UEFI/GPT mode NOT UEFI/MBR Regarding the default install keys, these are not real keys and cannot be used for activation, they are just for the sake of installation then you have to enter your real genuine product key to activate because if you try to insert your REAL key during setup, the setup will not even continue
Can you please explain little more on this. As I have 2x HDD, 1st HDD w/ 4 Partitions (C,D,E,F) and 2nd HDD w/ 2 Partitions (G,T). Why is it bad to install with 2nd HDD plugged in and was it same with Win 8 x64 RTM ?
It's the same for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 If you have more than 1 HDD/SSD installed, then the boot files will also be copied to the 2nd drive which you don't want. 1) to make things simpler when backing up your main partition using an image backup utility such as Macrium Reflect or Acronis True Image 2) To ensure maximum speed keep the boot file on the main SSD / HDD rather than on a 2nd HDD. So what you need to do, is keep your 1st HDD plugged in and remove the others just while installing, after the installation is done, change the drive of the DVD-ROM to someting like F: or G: then plugin the 2nd HDD/SSD
He means: for the USB install media. There's no need for GPT partitioning of the install media; a plain UEFI+MBR scheme is enough for any UEFI-compliant computer to recognize and boot the FAT32 partition. This "mess" is true only if other hard disks are able to receive such boot files, in which case the setup process will attempt to use suitable disks in their logical order (device 0, then 1, etc.). Let's say you install W7/8 on a UEFI-enabled computer that has 3 disks, any arbitrary two of them being already MBR-partitioned (for data storage etc.). In such a case, Windows won't attempt to put any system/boot files in there and gladly install on the only empty (or GPT-formatted/-formatable) disk. No need for unplugging anything... - which would prove a hassle with many notebooks anyway. So... How to force W7/8 setup to use only the disk you want, while installing on a clean system? it's as simple as having the disks you don't want configured in some unsuitable partition/filesystem scheme. Have unsuitable disks as MBR if your computer is UEFI-mode. Have unsuitable disks as GPT if your computer is Legacy MBR-mode. In both case, have disks identified as HFS or exFAT or whatever to force setup not to use them. One can easily fake that "unsuitable state" temporarily at the beginning of the setup routine (by altering the partition ID with diskpart... shift+f10 is your friend) and revert things back once setup has completed.
Ahh I see, but that's what the Rufus page says in their instructions as well so what's that I did and that;s what worked for me
If you have a modern graphics card with a GOP Bios and a motherboard with Ultra Fast Boot, you need GPT on the Boot drive. Otherwise MBR it's enough.
Ian82, pastebin.com, paste the keys there and put a link to them in your post. Even if generic, MS will send a DMCA request to the thread and it will be deleted.
Just curious, does anyone know why MS asks for a separate key for installing W8.1 from scratch? Is there a way to not having to enter it manually?
A separate key is only needed if you use an 8.0 key to activate - an 8.1 key will install and activate.... With the former use pid.txt with default 8.1 key and setupcomplete.cmd with 8.0 key for seamless install.
Thank ian82 ! I know why I have a problem when "I've installed Windows 8.1" with 1 HDD + 1 SSD on my note-book Have a problem: there is no partition "system reserved" is created as usual Tks !
What partition scheme in Rufus settings should I use if I have and old motherboard without UEFI (gigabyte p35-ds3p)? p.s. Do not recommend to do an upgrade