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Reinstall Windows 8.1 on the same machine but different drives

Jared_1
By Jared_1
in Operating Systems
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I'm building a new computer and I'm going to use my 500GB SATA drive lying around. The problem is, the drive is SATA 3GBps. I have Vista on my current machine and obviously it does not support UEFI and 3GBps SATA. I am going to buy Windows 8.1. Since my new motherboard will support SATA 6GBps, I try and get an SSD and use the 500GB as mass storage. Until then, (I need a new GPU, Intel HD graphics are terrible) I will install Windows 8.1 on my 500GB drive. When I get the SSD, I will do a fresh install. Can I do that since I already installed on the 500GB drive?

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I think so yes. I had problems using the same license twice because I changed the motherboard. But a drive will be no problem I think.

I'm will be using the same motherboard. But, I will also be getting a better CPU later on. (My first CPU will be the Pentium 20th adversary and I want a quad core)

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Yes. You'll have no problem.

System Builder OEM version of Windows (the one we can buy in retail computer stores), will be locked to your motherboard. Retail box version costs a bit more, but the license allows you to transfer systems. So if you plan to change your system in the next 3 years or so, it might be best to get the retail box version.

Be aware that Windows 10 is coming July 29th, so I would recommend to wait for it. Granted it is a free upgrade for Windows 8.1 users. But it is convenient and nice to have Windows 10 disk for easiest experience.

If you are a student, see if your school IT department if you are registered to MSDNAA or Dreamspark Premium. If so, you have Windows 7, 8, and soon 10 among all other Microsoft software ready to be downloaded. Office 365 subscription is available to all students (if you have a school e-mail address) regardless if you are part of Dreamspark Premium/MSDNAA or not. See your school for more information on how to get it. If they don't offer it, you can get it here: https://products.office.com/en-us/student/office-in-education

Part of the free subscription, you have 1TB OneDrive space, and you can install Office on 5 PCs/Mac and also on 5 mobile devices such as tablets running iOS or Android, or phone.

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Yes. You'll have no problem.

System Builder OEM version of Windows (the one we can buy in retail computer stores), will be locked to your motherboard. Retail box version costs a bit more, but the license allows you to transfer systems. So if you plan to change your system in the next 3 years or so, it might be best to get the retail box version.

Be aware that Windows 10 is coming July 29th, so I would recommend to wait for it. Granted it is a free upgrade for Windows 8.1 users. But it is convenient and nice to have Windows 10 disk for easiest experience.

If you are a student, see if your school IT department if you are registered to MSDNAA or Dreamspark Premium. If so, you have Windows 7, 8, and soon 10 among all other Microsoft software ready to be downloaded. Office 365 subscription is available to all students (if you have a school e-mail address) regardless if you are part of Dreamspark Premium/MSDNAA or not. See your school for more information on how to get it. If they don't offer it, you can get it here: https://products.office.com/en-us/student/office-in-education

Part of the free subscription, you have 1TB OneDrive space, and you can install Office on 5 PCs/Mac and also on 5 mobile devices such as tablets running iOS or Android, or phone.

It would be best to get Windows 8.1 because its getting pretty cheap. Microsoft said your key will be "converted" into a Windows 10 key once youve done the upgrade so reinstalling will be no problem.

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Yes. You'll have no problem.

System Builder OEM version of Windows (the one we can buy in retail computer stores), will be locked to your motherboard. Retail box version costs a bit more, but the license allows you to transfer systems. So if you plan to change your system in the next 3 years or so, it might be best to get the retail box version.

Be aware that Windows 10 is coming July 29th, so I would recommend to wait for it. Granted it is a free upgrade for Windows 8.1 users. But it is convenient and nice to have Windows 10 disk for easiest experience.

If you are a student, see if your school IT department if you are registered to MSDNAA or Dreamspark Premium. If so, you have Windows 7, 8, and soon 10 among all other Microsoft software ready to be downloaded. Office 365 subscription is available to all students (if you have a school e-mail address) regardless if you are part of Dreamspark Premium/MSDNAA or not. See your school for more information on how to get it. If they don't offer it, you can get it here: https://products.office.com/en-us/student/office-in-education

Part of the free subscription, you have 1TB OneDrive space, and you can install Office on 5 PCs/Mac and also on 5 mobile devices such as tablets running iOS or Android, or phone.

My internet sucks so yeah. I want a disk but I probably will buy it at Best Buy. My build probably will be done after July 29th (I wish it would be sooner  :P )

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It would be best to get Windows 8.1 because its getting pretty cheap. Microsoft said your key will be "converted" into a Windows 10 key once youve done the upgrade so reinstalling will be no problem.

I will have to do that because I don't have copies of Windows that can use UEFI so I need something to test my new build.

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It would be best to get Windows 8.1 because its getting pretty cheap. Microsoft said your key will be "converted" into a Windows 10 key once youve done the upgrade so reinstalling will be no problem.

Meh. marginally cheaper
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Meh. marginally cheaper

I not so sure that I want to go to Windows 10.

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Why not?

I liked the tulip paper that was in Windows 8 but was removed in Windows 8.1. I also miss the start screen that Windows 8 had.

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I liked the tulip paper that was in Windows 8 but was removed in Windows 8.1. I also miss the start screen that Windows 8 had.

You can have a similar start screen in Windows 10

windows-10-start-full-screen.jpg?itok=eU

The left side column appears when you click on the hamburger button at the top.

As for the wallpaper:

http://wallpaperswide.com/windows_8_default-wallpapers.html

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