Install Windows 8 with USB

Install Windows 8 with USB

1. 
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   Install a free burning program. There are a number of free burning utilities available online. You need one that can create ISO files.

   • If you received your copy of Windows 8 as a downloadable ISO file from Microsoft, you can skip to the next section.
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   Insert your Windows 8 DVD. Open your new burning program. Look for an option such as “Copy to Image” or “Create Image.” If prompted, select your DVD drive as the source.
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   Save your ISO file. Choose an easy to remember name and location for the file. The ISO you make will be equal in size to the disc you are copying. This means it can take up several gigabytes of space on your hard drive. Be sure you have enough storage available.

   • Creating the ISO can take a long time, depending on the speed of your computer and DVD drive.

Part 2 of 4: Creating a Bootable Drive

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   Download the Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool. This is available for free from Microsoft. Despite its name, this tool works with Windows 8 ISOs as well. You can run this tool on virtually any version of Windows.
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   Select the Source File. This is the ISO that you created or downloaded in the first section. Click browse to navigate to the file. Once you’ve selected it, click Next.
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   Select USB Device. The download tool will allow you to create either a DVD or USB install. Click the USB Device.
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   Choose your USB drive from the list of attached devices. Make sure that your flash drive is connected correctly. You will need at least 4GB space on your flash drive to copy over the Windows installation. Click Begin Copying.
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   Wait while program works. The program will format the USB drive to boot and then copy the ISO file onto the drive. The copying process can take up to 15 minutes to complete, depending on the speed of your machine.^[1]

Part 3 of 4: Setting the Computer to Boot From USB

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   Open the BIOS. To boot from the USB drive, you will have to set the BIOS to boot from USB first instead of the hard drive. To open the BIOS, reset your computer and hit the displayed key to enter Setup. The key varies by manufacturer, but is usually F2, F10, F12, or Del.
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   Navigate to the Boot menu in your BIOS. Change the 1st Boot Device to your USB drive. Be sure that it is inserted, or you may not be given an option to choose it. Depending on your manufacturer, it may say Removable Device or list your flash drive’s model.
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   Save changes and reboot. If you set the boot order correctly, your Windows 8 installation will load after the manufacturer’s logo disappears.

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   Select your language. Once the Windows 8 installation begins, you will be prompted to select a language, time and currency format, and keyboard layout. Once you select these, click Next.
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   Click Install Now. This will begin the installation process. The other option is for repairing an existing Windows installation.
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   Enter your product key. This is the 25 character key that came with your purchased copy of Windows 8. It may be located on a sticker on your computer or underneath your laptop.

   • You do not need to enter the dashes between the groups of characters.
     
   • This is not an optional step. Previous versions of Windows allowed you to register your product up to 60 days after installing. You must now enter the key before installation begins.
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   Accept the license agreement. Once you have read the agreement, check the box signifying that you accept the agreement and click next.
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   Click Custom Install. You will have two options to install windows. Picking Custom will allow you to do a complete installation of Windows 8. Selecting upgrade can cause performance problems in the long run. It is highly recommended that you do a clean Custom Install.
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   Delete the partition. A window will open asking where you would like to install Windows 8. In order to perform a clean install, you need to delete the old partition and start with a clean slate. Click “Drive options (advanced).” This will give you the ability to delete and create partitions.

   • Select the partition of your existing operating system and click the Delete button.
     
   • If you are installing an operating system for the first time on this hard drive, then there will be no partitions to delete.
     
   • If your hard drive has multiple partitions, be sure to delete the correct one. Any data on a deleted partition is lost for good.
   • Confirm the deletion process.^[2]
     
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   Select the Unallocated Space and click Next. There is no need to create a partition before you install Windows 8, this is done automatically.
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   Wait while Windows installs files. The percentage next to Expanding Windows files will steadily increase. This part of the process can take up to 30 minutes.

   • Windows will automatically restart your computer when finished.
     
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   Wait while Windows gathers information. After the computer reboots, you will see the Windows 8 logo. Beneath it will be the text “Getting devices ready” followed by a percentage. Windows is collecting information on the hardware installed in your computer.

   • When this is done, the text will change to “Getting ready”.
   • Your computer will restart one more time.
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    Personalize your Windows 8. Once the computer finishes rebooting, you will be asked to pick the color scheme for your installation of Windows 8.

    • You can change the color at any time in the Windows 8 settings.
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    Enter a computer name. This is the name that the computer displays on the network. Any other device on the network will see your computer listed with this name.
12. 12
    Choose your wireless network. If you have a wireless-enable computer or device, you will see a menu asking you to choose a network. If you haven’t installed the driver for your wireless card yet, this step will automatically be skipped.
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    Choose your settings. The most common option is Express Settings, which will enable automatic updates, Windows Defender, and error reporting to Microsoft, among other things.^[3]

    • If you’d rather set these yourself, choose Customize instead of Express Settings.
      
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    Create an account. To log in to Windows, you will need an account. Microsoft recommends using a Microsoft account, so that you can make purchases in the Windows store. If you don’t have a Microsoft account, entering a valid email address will create one for free.

    • If you don’t have an email address, click the “Sign up for a new email address” link to create one. This requires an internet connection.
      
    • If you’d rather sign in the old way, without using a Microsoft account, click the bottom link. This will create a login similar to previous versions of Windows.
      
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    Watch the tutorial while Windows loads. After choosing all of your settings, Windows goes through one final setup process. You will see several screens explaining how to use the new Windows. Once the loading is complete, you’ll be presented with your Start screen. You’re ready to begin using Windows 8.

Clean Install Windows 8

Clean Install Windows 8 with DVD/CD

After booting from the DVD that I created from my download, the first thing I encountered was the new light blue Windows logo on a black background, as shown in Figure A. This image remained on the screen for a few moments while Setup was initializing. I was kind of hoping that the flag would be animated, but the only animation was the dots spinning in a circle.

Figure A

The new light blue Windows flag is introduced.

After a few minutes, you'll see the Windows Setup screen shown in Figure Band you will specify your language settings before clicking Next. When you do, Setup will perform some more initialization tasks in the background.

Figure B

The first step in the installation is to specify your language settings.

As soon as the initial steps are taken care of, you'll see the Windows Setup screen shown in Figure C and will click the Install Now button.

Figure C

To get started, just click the Install now button.

Collecting Information

Once you click the Install now button, you'll see the beginning of the information collection phase of the installation procedure. As you can see inFigure D, the first step here is to input the Windows 8 product key.

Figure D

You'll enter your product key to start the information collection phase of the installation procedure.

The next step is to acknowledge that you accept the license terms, as shown in Figure E. If you take the time to read through them, you will see that Microsoft has indeed radically overhauled EULA as Ed Bott over at ZDNet wrote about in a recent column.

Even if you don't take the time to read the license terms during the installation, once you have installed Windows 8, you can find the Microsoft Software License Agreement in the Windows Help and Support system - just search with the term License. Not only is the license shorter in length, but it is also much clearer and easier to read.

Figure E

The new EULA is much easier to read that previous versions.

When you are prompted to choose which type of installation you want to perform, as shown in Figure F, you'll choose Custom: Install Windows only (advanced) type in order to perform a clean install of Windows 8.

Figure F

In order to perform a clean install of Windows 8, you'll select the Custom option.

When you are prompted to choose where you want to install Windows, as shown in Figure G, you'll see a list of any partitions that are currently on your hard disk. As you can see in my example system there are actually four separate partitions. You may have a different combination depending on your system.

As I mentioned, performing a clean install means blowing away all existing partitions. The first partition in this list is labeled System Reserved and it was created automatically during the Windows 7 installation. A new System Reserved partition will be created by Windows 8, so you can remove existing one. The partition labeled Recovery contains the OEM recovery for Windows 7. I created the recovery DVDs soon after I got the new system. It won't do me any good going forward with Windows 8 anyway, so I will remove that partition too. The partition labeled WIN7 contains the Windows 7 installation that I am replacing, so it is definitely going. The partition labeled DATA contains all of my data that I copied to an external hard disk, so it is safe to blow that one away too.

Figure G

On you example system there are four partitions that I will be blowing away.

To begin blowing away partitions, you start by clicking Drive options (advanced). When you do so, you'll see a list of commands for managing partitions, as shown in Figure H.

Figure H

When you click Drive options (advanced), you'll see a list of commands for managing partitions.

Now, you'll select each of the partitions, one by one, and select the Delete command. When you do, you'll see a confirmation prompt like the one shown in Figure I. Just click OK to delete the partition.

Figure I

As you delete each partition, you'll be prompted to confirm the operation.

Once you delete each of the existing partitions, you'll see that all of the space will be combined together in one chunk labeled Unallocated Space, as shown in Figure J. While you could create a new partition and format it, you don't have to. Windows 8 will automatically take care of that in the next step. So just go ahead and click Next.

Figure J

All of the space will be combined together in one chunk labeled Unallocated Space.

Installing Windows

When you click Next, Setup creates the partition, formats it, and then instantly moves into the Installing Windows phase which begins with copying and getting files ready for the installation, as shown in Figure K. This process will take a while to progress though, so you can sit back and relax a bit.

Figure K

The Installing Windows stage begins with copying files from the DVD to the hard disk.

When this phase of the process is complete, Windows will alert you that it is going to restart in order to continue, as shown in Figure L. If you are really impatient and really quick, you can click the Restart now button.

Figure L

Windows will restart after the first part of the process is complete.

Upon restarting you'll see the black screen with the blue Windows logo and see that Setup is getting devices ready, as shown in Figure M. As soon as that part of the process is complete, Windows will alert you that it is going to restart again, as shown in Figure N.

Figure M

Windows Setup will get all installed devices ready to work with Windows 8.

Figure N

Windows will restart again.

Configuring Windows

When the system restarts, you'll be prompted to choose a color scheme for Windows 8 and a PC name, as shown in Figure O. I chose a light blue color scheme for now. I can change it later.

Figure O

You can choose a color schema and name your computer.

When the Settings screen appears, as shown in Figure P, you can choose to customize these settings or you can allow Windows to use the express settings. If you are unsure, you can click the Learn more link and get more details. I chose to use the express settings. I can change any or all of these setting later if I want.

Figure P

You can customize the settings or just go the express route.

On the next screen, you'll choose how you want to sign on to Windows 8, as shown in Figure Q. While you can choose to sign in with a local account, I would recommend that you use an existing Microsoft (email) account, such as a Hotmail.com or a Live.com account. If you don't have a Microsoft account, you can sign up for one or you can use any email address that you want and Windows 8 will create an account for you.

Figure Q

It will be to your advantage to use an existing Microsoft account or to create one.

The advantage of using an existing Microsoft account or creating one is that you will be able to instantly use the Windows Store, will be able to easily sync settings between multiple Windows 8 computers, and be able to easily take advantage of other Windows 8 features. I already have a Microsoft account, so I entered it here.

After filling the details of your account on the next couple of screens, you'll eventually see a screen that changes color as it alerts you the Setup is getting your PC ready. The green version of this screen is show in Figure R.

Figure R

While this screen changes color often, it will remain for a few minutes while Setup works in the background.

As you may know, Windows 8 comes with a host of native apps for the Start screen interface that replace and add to the group of applications that used to come with previous versions of Windows. The screen shown in Figure Sindicates that Setup is installing those apps.

Figure S

As the last step in the installation, Windows 8 installs its set of native apps.

Once the apps are installed, you'll see the Start screen, as shown in Figure T, and can begin using Windows 8.

Figure T

The Start screen appears when the installation procedure is complete.