Windows 8 General Discussion

It is called consumer preview so I think it will be the public beta.

 

I never succeeded in creating a bootable VHD. I reckon that dual booting is just as safe and much easier to do...

 

But i would like to. I don't care about Win8 CP stability and will programs work or not. W7 is so boring for me. I have on C:\ only Win7, drivers and few programs. All data and 95% of programs are encrypted on D:\ . I'm just worried about free space on C:\ If old windows 7 files won't be removed maybe i won't be able to install 8. That's why I would like to know details about upgrade

 

Really? I found it pretty easy, especially with the WIM2VHD script.
For testing is the best. If I want to know if a program that doesn't work on CP does it in WDP I on ly have to swap the VHDs files.

Ok then. If you install Windows 8 over 7 (Update option) it will create a folder Windows.OLD on C: with your old "Program Files" "Users" and "Windows" folders. So choosing the Clean Install option you should be able to format C: and install Win8 on it.

 

I lost an entire day creating several VHDs, attaching them, partitioning them (I had no clue what I was doing), and then I just created a 600GB partition for WDP and dual booted. Way easier imo

 

You are right that part was not easy at all. But with scripts like WIM2VHD is so easy now. From the install.wim inside the iso it creates a vhd file with the size you like and it prepares it to boot in any PC. After that using EasyBCD you can add an entry to the boot menu and done.

 

So what about old Windows 7 programs? Will they work after upgrade or all need reinstalation?

 

After every install of Windows you'll need to reinstall your old programs

 

exactly like matej said. You can try the Update install option but I'm pretty sure it will became unstable so it's better to install everything anew.

 

@adisan: Dito.

 

Only 87 hours left! I hope so..

 

I've got two installations of W8 DP running stable and fast. One boots up in 2 secs - plus the bios that takes another 10 :-(.

 

The 9 year old Compaq I have here boots in 17 seconds (with POST). Best OS I ever had, by far

 

Even better - if you have a large enough second HDD, use that.

That is what I've been doing - using a second HDD for the WDP.

THe second drive need only be large enough for the OS and installed applications - data files remain on the Windows 7 drive.

Therefore, if you have a lot of ISO files, the WDP/WCP drive can be much smaller than your Windows 7 boot drive.

 

He has said multiple times that he is focusing on RC builds now, so wait until wednesday and then review the build yourself

 

Okay so here is the best VHD boot method where you don't have to care about any script, partition, wim file or bcdedit whatsoever!

Step 1: Reboot your computer with a WDP installation disk/ WDP bootable USB drive, and run the setup.

Step 2: After the initial 'Select your language and keyboard style', click next and now you should see the 'Install' screen. Press SHIFT + F10 here.

Step 3:





Step 4: Type 'exit' and exit from the Command prompt. Now continue with the setup... In the 'Select disk/partition to install to', select the VHD. Ignore the error message Setup gives and continue with the setup.

Step 5: Enjoy VHD Native 'Boot Off Metal' (note: you will suffer a performance hit of about 3-4% since you're booting WDP from a VHD)

 

microsoft should release consumer prewiev today at technet/MSDN.Only three days left MWC and public Beta

 

You're talking about WDP I presume? I'm running it in VMWare Workstation 8. From the moment I click 'Power on this virtual machine' to the moment the lockscreen appears, 50 to 55 seconds go by.

 

Here, 35 secs for VMWare WS 8. But the hard drive where is the VM is very fast.

 

It's SUNDAY, my friend. nothing will happen on sundays. So try to do something else.