Windows 8/8,1 install/upgrade issues

MOH

Just thought I'd post some of the issues I had installing and upgrading 8/8.1, in case it helps anyone else.

First
I bought an 8 Pro N key on redditsofwtareswap, and was installing it on an SSD in a new build with the intention of dual booting

I put the 8 Pro N ISO on a bootable USB.
I booted using an Ubuntu Live USB and partitioned the drive using GPartEd (55GB NTFS windows, 15GB ext4 for /, remainder ext4 for /home)

Setup was unable to create a system partition or locate an existing partition
Booted using the Windows USB. Entered the product key. Chose custom install, got as far as choosing where to install. Kept getting this error when I selected the NTFS partition. Tried deleting it and letting Windows install into the empty space, same error. After much googling, turned off the machine and disconnected the HDD, leaving just the SDD connected. That solved that problem.

No LAN/internet connection
Network connection in the motherboard wasn't working, despite being plugged in and LEDs indicating it was working OK. Had to download the drivers from the motherboard manufacturer, stick them on the USB stick, and install them. Straightforward enough

HDD not recognised
Windows kept recognising the HDD but not mounting it. I'd stupidly formatted it as ext4 instead of NTFS. A reboot with the Ubuntu stick and reformat fixed that.

Windows 8.1 update issues
This was mainly my fault, but might help someone.
I'd moved the home folders for users off the SSD to the HDD, by:
- activating the Admin account
- using regedit to set HKLM/Software/Microsoft/WindowsNT/CurrentVersion/ProfileList/ProfilesDirectory to \Users instead of %SystemDrive%/Users
- rebooting
- deleting the user I installed with
- creating a new user

When I first tried to update to 8.1, I got an error saying it couldn't do so because users' home folders were on a different disk. I changed the registry setting back, created a new temp user to do the update, and tried again, and kept getting an error 800xxxxx. This was either because:
- I still had an active user whose home folder was on the other drive
- I'd accidentally loggd back in as that user and was trying to do the update

Either way, I backed up the users home folder on the HDD, deleted the user, and used the temp user to perform the update

No LAN/internet connection redux
When the update completed, the LAN was gone again. Downloaded the 8.1 drivers from the mobo site, installed them, rebooted, no difference. (In fact, I think the 8.1 and 8.0 drivers were packaged together anyway, so if you leave the zip file on your HDD first time round, may not need to download them again). Problem was the 8.0 drivers were still installed - used the install utility to uninstall them and then installed again, LAN connection came up instantly.

So, mostly my own stupidity, but for anyone else doing a build for the first time might be a help.

Alun

I've read somewhere that instead of doing the registry hack to move the user profiles, or making a symbolic link for the whole Users folder, if you just make links for for all the individual user folders within the Users folder, then the 8->8.1 upgrade works OK. I haven't tried it yet but plan on doing so on a VM to see if it works in preparation for my upcoming upgrade from Windows 7.

EDIT: Doesn't work Well it does, kind of ... you can't run the Windows 8.1 update from the user whose profile has been moved in this way, but you can if you create another temporary user with admin privileges whose profile is still on C:\Users. Problem is that when you finish the update and then log in under the original user it creates a brand new profile under C:\Users. You can of course switch it back again, as the original moved files aren't removed, but you'll probably have to do the same thing again when Windows 8.2 comes along.