need help doing fresh install of W8

MarkY91

ive had windows 8 a few days ansd im getting a good few errors and doly home theater wont open even with the w8 version..stuff like that

ive never did a fresh install but im sure i could handle it by following instructions. i need to do it by a usb stick by putting my iso file onto it..google doesnt show me how to find my windows 8 iso file so im stuck.

regarding files and programs..transfering my music/videos to ps3 and just writing down programs i have and installing them after the install. that will be fine or is there an easier way?

again, never did anything like this so im probably asking stupid questions

GreenWolfe

MarkY91 wrote: »

ive had windows 8 a few days ansd im getting a good few errors and doly home theater wont open even with the w8 version..stuff like that

ive never did a fresh install but im sure i could handle it by following instructions. i need to do it by a usb stick by putting my iso file onto it..google doesnt show me how to find my windows 8 iso file so im stuck.

regarding files and programs..transfering my music/videos to ps3 and just writing down programs i have and installing them after the install. that will be fine or is there an easier way?

again, never did anything like this so im probably asking stupid questions

If you've upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 8, the files (in my case) were in a hidden directory at the root of C:\. Make hidden files viewable in Windows Explorer and look for a folder called "ERD" (or something like it, I don't remember exactly). If you're not sure how to make sure hidden files viewable, look at this - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IE/windows7/Show-hidden-files

Download Imgburn and use this tutorial to make an ISO out of the files - http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=11194 - use the instructions for Windows 7.

The Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool works with Windows 8 ISO's too.

Seeing as you're doing a Windows reinstall you may as well install everything else from scratch.

Overheal

As was true with Vista (and retrograding to XP...), 7, and now 8, you will get the best experience if and when you have correctly signed drivers for the Operating System you wish to switch to. In some functionality it might be better to wait (fingerprint readers etc) but the base system should work ok. And with 8 I've heard both ways: better experience with clean installs, and with upgrades. In the case of upgrades it was because 8 keeps in place a lot of the drivers that get strapped in that were still signed into 7.

That muck meaning: ... I would probably create a system image, in case you need to undo stuff. Having your Windows 7/8 discs is handy, too.

MarkY91

i dont have discs. i bought a laptop with windows 7 pre installed and i downloaded windows 8 from the microsoft website so im forced to use an iso file...ill give it all a go..am i in danger of screwing up my laptop? or is it fairly simple to do a fresh install?

i cant even click on my volume button anymore without a werfault application error.


ill go through all of what the top poster said..thats alot for the help. i read that i need a usb stick with a MINIMUM of 4gb memory. ive only got a usb stick that holds around 3.50.i hope thats enough

MarkY91

quick question....ive seem to go 2 hardrives in my laptop. 1 is the 1tb one with all my files. the other is a 30gb one named "lenovo" will the lenovo hdd get its files deleted? itd come in handy to store my music while i do this new install

danger_mouse_tm

It's unlikely that you have two hard drive's in your laptop. I am a Lenovo reseller and I don't know any current systems that have the space for the second hard drive unless you have an ultra bay DVD drive swapped out.
I would burn the iso down to disc instead. I wouldn't worry about the usb stick. Press F12 at startup to select your DVD drive as your first boot device. You will need your windows 8 product key at this point. Unlike previous versions of windows you can't install without supplying the product key in the first place. I highly suggest getting an external hard drive and putting your files on that before starting. You will probably want to wipe your your partitioned hard drive before you begin.

Capt'n Midnight

the 30GB is most likely a recovery image , check the documentation on how to back it up / make disks from it in case you ever need to roll back

MarkY91

i did it and everything worked fine so glad i did it. was so simple in the end. the "2nd hdd" is a partition of the hdd..my mistake(amateur learning as i go along)

one more problem before this thread can be locked..

i stupidly clicked irish as my language during the installation process of w8:rolleyes:. my w8 start menu thingy is all in irish and ive changed the keyboard and language settings back to english and it still shows up in irish, ive looked up google for ages and found feck all. i even opened up vlc media player and the writing at top of that is in irish :S any tips?

Overheal

MarkY91 wrote: »

i did it and everything worked fine so glad i did it. was so simple in the end. the "2nd hdd" is a partition of the hdd..my mistake(amateur learning as i go along)

one more problem before this thread can be locked..

i stupidly clicked irish as my language during the installation process of w8:rolleyes:. my w8 start menu thingy is all in irish and ive changed the keyboard and language settings back to english and it still shows up in irish, ive looked up google for ages and found feck all. i even opened up vlc media player and the writing at top of that is in irish :S any tips?

Assuming you rebooted after changing languages and its still ****ed up, I would go ahead and redo the installation again while you dont have that much invested in the current installation

practice never hurt anyway