Windows 8 came out a few days ago and the doubt is still strong whether to proceed with the update or ignore the new Microsoft operating system. Personally I am a staunch supporter of the new Windows 8 and I believe that, if there are no problems of serious incompatibility with important programs, on all home PCs and laptops it would be appropriate to update to Windows 8 immediately and without waiting.
Today you can in fact download and install Windows 8 Pro with only 30 Euros while from January 2013 it will cost 200 Euros, a figure that could really be daunting.
The installation of Windows 8, as described, is simple and automatic.
Since this is an update, however, there are some important requirements to prepare the computer before installation and make the procedure cleaner safe and painless (refer to another article for the guide to clean installation from scratch of Windows 8).
Step 1) Find out if computers and programs are compatible with Windows 8 .
The minimum system requirements for Windows 8 and 8.1 are quite low. Microsoft says that if Windows 7 runs on the computer, Windows 8 can also be installed.
If you are using an old PC, you have to pay attention to the basic requirements:
- Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
- Memory: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit) of RAM
- Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
- Graphics Card: DirectX 9 video card with WDDM driver
To see what your computer is like, right click on My Computer in the Start menu and go to Properties (or Start> Programs> Accessories> System Tools> System Information).
- Special requirements and possible problems: Some reports say that PCs with Intel Atom Cedar Trail Windows 8 processor do not work.
In fact, Microsoft specifies that Windows 8 works on PCs with a processor that supports NX (No eXecute bit). In a comment, however, I was told that installing from DVD solves the problem. Be that as it may, if you are using a computer that does not have this requirement, it would probably be better to do some more checking.
- For some features, Windows 8 has additional requirements. To use the touchscreen, of course, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch, while on some laptops you can use the gestures from the trackpad (the mat). Windows Store applications require a minimum screen resolution of 1024x768 . This can be a problem for netbooks, which typically have a resolution of 1024x600 pixels. The solution to starting Metro applications in low resolution is to update the video card drivers and apply a change on the registry.
- Check if the programs and devices are compatible with Windows 8 .
All programs that run on Windows 7 should also go on 8. to be sure, you can use the Windows 8.1 compatibility checker which highlights any incompatibilities, programs to be updated and any problems with external devices such as the printer.
- Decide which version of Windows 8 to install
Windows 8, fortunately, doesn't have as much choice as it used to be for previous versions. Essentially, you have two choices: Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro. The Enterprise edition is for companies while the RT is for tablets. The only cost to see is therefore whether to take the Pro version or not by looking at the comparison table. If you want Windows Media Center, you have to buy it as a separate add-on (even if it is currently free for a limited time).
Step 2) After checking the computer, if you install Windows 8 by choosing the option to keep data and programs, it is better to clean up the hard disk .
Here are the operations to carry out:
- Remove programs you never use using software like Revo Uninstaller or other uninstallers,
- Clean up junk files using Ccleaner.
- Defragment the disk if necessary.
Note that on Vista and Windows 7 defragmentation should not be necessary and you should never defragment an SSD disk.
In the article on how to defragment and clean a hard disk to optimize the computer, free programs are reported to facilitate the task.
If you are doing a new installation or if you choose to delete all in the update, these steps are not needed.
Step 3) Update Windows and installed programs .
The installation of Windows 8 may cause problems if important patches are missing on the system. Then update the system with the latest patches using the Windows Update and also check that the programs are in their latest version. I recommend using Secunia PSI to get the most updated version of the programs.
Step 4) Back up your computer
Whether you do a fresh installation or an upgrade, there is absolutely no doubt that it is important to back up your data to another disk or to a different partition on the hard disk. Backing up your PC with Windows is really easy: connect an external drive and click the backup option.
On Windows 7 you can create a complete image of the system that can be restored at any time. However, the fact remains that the installation of Windows 8 can be configured to not delete any data or files. All the old files are collected, after installation, in a folder with the name Windows.old .
Step 5) Save the system drivers and licenses of the purchased programs . Windows 8 keeps system drivers or asks for updates if available. However, it would be better, for safety, to save them separately before updating. You can then make a backup of the installed drivers or just save the driver of the network card which is the most important (if the PC connects to the internet, you can then solve all the problems).
In another post, however, there is a free program to recover license keys and serial numbers of the programs installed on the PC.
This should be everything and with these steps you can properly prepare your computer to have no problems and enjoy Windows 8.
