Upgrading to Windows 8.1

[eQuilibrium]

I'm not sure if i'm in the right section, but hey, I need some help.

 

I'm currently running windows 7 Pro 64-bit on my main machine, and I installed windows 8.1 on my Laptop, and loved it.
So, I'm wishing to upgrade my main rig to 8.1.

Now, my 'issue' if it even is one, is that I run an SSD + HDD Set-up.
Now most of my storage is on the HDD, etc you know the deal.

When I upgrade from 7 to 8.1, will I lose anything/everything off my HDD? Will 8.1 recognise it like windows 7 does right now?

Heads-up; Windows is obviously installed on the SSD.

[acidydragon]

Unplug the HDD,

Upgrade to 8.1

Replug in HDD.

[_ASSASSIN_]

Unplug the HDD,

Upgrade to 8.1

Replug in HDD.

don't know about you, but I like 8.1. It's faster and much smarter than win7 which requires a lot of tweaks for using SSD's. Only issue I have with it is:

1. Start screen, easily can be fixed using classic shell or start menu replacement of choice

2. some compatibility issues with games and drivers, I currently can't get ADB drivers working with my HTC One yet. That might be an important one to consider..

but again,  win 8.1 is pretty fast compared to win 7 even without animation tweaks.

[eQuilibrium]

Unplug the HDD,

Upgrade to 8.1

Replug in HDD.

That's what I thought of doing, hence the question will it still work fine like it does now

 

don't know about you, but I like 8.1. It's faster and much smarter than win7 which requires a lot of tweaks for using SSD's. Only issue I have with it is:

1. Start screen, easily can be fixed using classic shell or start menu replacement of choice

2. some compatibility issues with games and drivers, I currently can't get ADB drivers working with my HTC One yet. That might be an important one to consider..

but again,  win 8.1 is pretty fast compared to win 7 even without animation tweaks.

I like the metro screen, i've already designed up how I want it layed out etc.

What drivers/game have you had issues with? I'm an avvid gamer and this worries me lol

[acidydragon]

That's what I thought of doing, hence the question will it still work fine like it does now

 

I like the metro screen, i've already designed up how I want it layed out etc.

What drivers/game have you had issues with? I'm an avvid gamer and this worries me lol

It'll work perfectly (you're in the exact same situation I was in). Remember to install from a CD, (or bootable USB), not from the in OS installer thing... It makes things run weird.

[eQuilibrium]

It'll work perfectly (you're in the exact same situation I was in). Remember to install from a CD, (or bootable USB), not from the in OS installer thing... It makes things run weird.

Ok Now i have another question, I dont have a bootable USB, And I Don't possess a CD Large enough to make a bootable CD.

i'm running the in OS Installer as you've just warned me about..

My usb has 7GB Free and won't allow the 4.8gb ISO to be put on  it for some reason...

And DVD..Well, they're 4.7GB -.-

[acidydragon]

Ok Now i have another question, I dont have a bootable USB, And I Don't possess a CD Large enough to make a bootable CD.

i'm running the in OS Installer as you've just warned me about..

My usb has 7GB Free and won't allow the 4.8gb ISO to be put on  it for some reason...

And DVD..Well, they're 4.7GB -.-

You have to make it through a DVD

IDK about the USB issue though

The installer will give you trouble (normally)

[eQuilibrium]

You have to make it through a DVD

IDK about the USB issue though

The installer will give you trouble (normally)

I understand how to do these things, but when it comes to  burning it to a DVD, they only DVD's I have are 4.7gb, whereas the installer is 4.85gb.

That's my issue now D:

[macpro622776]

My usb has 7GB Free and won't allow the 4.8gb ISO to be put on  it for some reason...

 

It needs to be a completely blank USB (i.e. formatted).

[colonel_mortis]

My usb has 7GB Free and won't allow the 4.8gb ISO to be put on  it for some reason...

It needs to be formatted as NTFS because the file size limit for FAT32 (which most USB drives are) is like 3.6GB. You'll loose all your data when you format the drive though, so be sure to back it up.

If you have moved the user folders to another drive (from C:\Users\* to ?:\Users\*), be warned that while you can do that in windows 8 and 8.1, for some reason microsoft has prevented windows from updating to a new major version (ie. Win8 to Win8.1), so you can't do that. Program Data must also remain on the C drive otherwise windows store apps and upgrading windows won't work.

[CapnJames]

don't know about you, but I like 8.1. It's faster and much smarter than win7 which requires a lot of tweaks for using SSD's. Only issue I have with it is:

1. Start screen, easily can be fixed using classic shell or start menu replacement of choice

2. some compatibility issues with games and drivers, I currently can't get ADB drivers working with my HTC One yet. That might be an important one to consider..

but again,  win 8.1 is pretty fast compared to win 7 even without animation tweaks.

I response to your troubles with the ADB driver, I had the same problem and tried something that has worked on both my PC's. Just found a guide for you here!

 

Hope it works!

[Sors]

I understand how to do these things, but when it comes to  burning it to a DVD, they only DVD's I have are 4.7gb, whereas the installer is 4.85gb.

That's my issue now D:

 

Doesn't matter if the iso is 4.85GB, It will fit in a normal DVD.   The iso contains more info than just the files for windows, which is why is over 4.7GB, that extra info is used to create the data structure of the DVD, that data is included in all discs, we just don't see it usually but is there, a standard DVD will have space for the structure data and the 4.7 GB of your files.

[_ASSASSIN_]

I response to your troubles with the ADB driver, I had the same problem and tried something that has worked on both my PC's. Just found a guide for you here!

 

Hope it works!

Only for xperia devices :c

[CapnJames]

Only for xperia devices :c

Just skip some stuff, follow step 2-9 to boot with driver signature enforcement disabled and then install the ADB driver and it will work!

 

Trust me, done this for my Nexus 7 on both my laptop and desktop running windows 8 and then 8.1.

 

Was labelled Xperia devices only due to links to Xperia only drivers.

[eQuilibrium]

Doesn't matter if the iso is 4.85GB, It will fit in a normal DVD.   The iso contains more info than just the files for windows, which is why is over 4.7GB, that extra info is used to create the data structure of the DVD, that data is included in all discs, we just don't see it usually but is there, a standard DVD will have space for the structure data and the 4.7 GB of your files.

i've tried burning to my 4.7GB DVD's and it simply says too large to burn.

I might give the USB Format of NTFS a try, thanks @colonel_mortis

[AznKnight82]

Are you burning the image or trying to burn just the *.iso file to the DVD?

 

Most burning software should have an option to make a DVD from an image. The other way won't work. 

[GoodBytes]

For the easier transition, simply do a Windows Upgrade from 7 to 8. All you need to do, is start the setup in Windows 7, and you are set.

It will move all your programs from 7 to 8, and your data will be transferred!

The only thing that is highly recommended is to do the following:

1- Make sure you have the latest drivers for everything, some drivers were discovered to cause issue with the upgrade process for some reason. All manufactures provided an update to solve this. So just make sure you have the latest drivers for Windows 7.

2- Uninstall ALL security software that you have installed. Many will treat the upgrade process as an attack on the system and block files from being upgraded, resulting in a disaster which would most likely require a clean install

3- Back your files to your HDD or even better external drive (assuming Windows is on your SSD), just to be extra safe, in the case something bad happens.

Using the upgrade method, you won't need to prepare a flash drive. The Setup will do most of the work within Windows.

[eQuilibrium]

Everything went Swimmingly, thanks you guys for your efforts