[deanhills]

I have a few questions for our experienced users.  I'm planning to install Windows 8.1 Professional and am doing my research first.

Question 1. Which installation disk is best - disk I already have but purchased in 2014 together with the OEM Product Key - or current ISO download from Microsoft Download Center burnt to DVD - without Product Key and Product Key still to be added?

I discovered that I'd purchased a copy of Windows 8.1 Professional many years ago - around 2014.  It is on a Microsoft disk with the Microsoft authentic label with the product key on it.

My question is, should I use the more up to date download from the Microsoft site instead?  I did download it and burnt the ISO file to DVD.  Logic being that it would be more up to date than the install disk version I purchased many years ago.  However, I was wondering after whether there may be an effect on the Product Key if I used the version from the Microsoft site instead of the disk that came with the Product Key?

Question 2. Clean install - set up of partitions

I'm planning to do a clean install which means I have to delete the partition on which Windows 7 is.  I currently have a setup with three partitions:

c://(Boot, page file, crash dump Primary Partition) (232.78 GB )
d:// (Primary Partition) (232.88 GB )
System Reserved (100MB )

I checked tutorials and them suggesting to delete all the partitions.  Question here is do I have to delete the partition with my personal files on d://? and the System Reserved partition as well? Or would it be OK to only delete one partition - the boot - partition - and recreate it again? If I have to delete all of the partitions, can I recreate the same partitions before I continue with the installation?  Like c:// and d:// and System Reserved again?  By just clicking on "new"?  

The size of partitions came with the computer.  I'm not a hardware expert.  Is there a more ideal partitioning than the one my computer comes with?  As this may be a chance to fix it.

Question 3. File Manager vs tap

One of the reasons I've stuck with Windows 7 so long (there are many), is I like the File Manager very much.  I've used Windows 8.1 temporarily on another computer, and found myself looking for the File Manager all of the time - clicking through all of the icons to find it.  I don't particularly like the icon layout either.  Is there a way one can set up the File Manager and Windows 7 lookalike from the start?

[Mashiro]

Question 1:

Don't use those installation disks! They are usually or almost always heavily outdated. Basically those disks are out of date the first day Windows gets some updates (usually the monthly patchday - 2nd Tuesday of the month). You can use the key to activate your Windows 8.1 installation later on though.

Get yourself a fresh ISO from Microsoft. That said even the ISO from Microsoft might be out of date and miss many updates because it hasn't been updated in a long time. As far as I know the last big ISO update for Windows 8.1 was when Windows 8.1 Update 2 was released (dubbed Blue or something like that). That was long ago. Getting it up to date might take some time but will work because Microsoft changed the way they release updates from several different update packages to a compilation of updates coming in a single update. So you might need one certain update and from that one it will download the latest.


Question 2:

Backup everything you need. Documents, pictures, bookmarks, application settings, installation files and so on!

I would suggest to delete all partitions and start fresh. When you have deleted the partitions you can create new one and there you can specify the size. When you create the new partitions there will be a point at which a popup will automatically appear and asking to create the necessary reserved space (which is a bit bigger than with Windows 7). There you click yes and it will create the partition automatically. After that you select on which partition you want to install Windows on.

Should the second partition be missing in Windows 8.1 after installation or have a different drive letter you can always fix it easily in Windows disk management. There you can create partitions, delete them, resize them and change drive letters, too. Windows automatically gets the C drive letter by the way. D is the next free drive letter but during installation that might be taken up by something like maybe your disk drive or the USB thumb drive you use to install Windows. That is why the second partition might have a different drive letter.

- https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-open-dis...nt-2626080
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows...management
- http://www.mustbegeek.com/creating-parti...n-windows/

Many more resources and guides available for free on Google.


If no part of the OS is on the D partition then you can actually keep it. You would only delete the reserved space partition and the old partition with Windows. Out of that free space you would create a new partition for Windows 8.1 which you would select for installation.

Make sure to have backups, always!


The size of the partitions is up to you. It depends a lot on how many programs you are going to have installed and have much personal data you have. Looks like you have a 500 GB drive in your computer. Not much for nowadays considered once can get a 512 GB SSD for quite a good price (would make your computer fly like a jet probably). Maybe take notes how much space is taken up now on your partitions and rethink the size when you create new partitions. You can always use the Windows disk management to shrink a partition to free up space to extend another partition by that free space.


Question 3:

The Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer) in Windows 8.1 in my opinion is not worse than the one in Windows 7. It is pretty much the same but just in the Windows 8.1 style with newer elements that now live on in Windows 10, too. Anyway.

You can't really replace it though. You have to live with it. What I do is that I pin the Explorer icon to the taskbar. This way it is literally only one click away and you no longer have to search for it or look for the icon somewhere.




You can replace the start menu with one that looks similar to Windows 7 or Windows 10. The software for that is called Windows Classi Shell but there are also others available such as "StartIsBack".

Windows Classic Shell: http://www.classicshell.net/
StartIsBack: http://www.startisback.com/

[deanhills]

Thanks VERY much for the comprehensive guidelines @"Hidden Refuge".  By the time of your suggestion I'd already seen the lifewire tutorials.  It's a very good Website.

I'm really glad I'm doing the research first, but so far things have gone OK.  I went to the Microsoft Windows 8.1 download page - as recommended by most - but it's as you said.  Windows 8.1 is no longer fully supported from January 2020, and just generally
"limited" supported until October 2023.  So the download from the Microsoft Download Page for Windows 8.1 must be dated as well.  I got the Microsoft Windows 8.1 ISO download from here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software...indows8ISO

It's easy in Windows 7 to just right click over the ISO downloaded file and burn it to a DVD disk.  But for my own learning experience I also did an image for USB.  You probably already know this - but for Windows 7 the ability to load the ISO image to a USB stick is not as intuitive as for the DVD disk.  One has to download software from Microsoft for doing this first - Windows USB/DVD Download Tool.

Guess I'm ready now to start the Windows 8.1 test.

[humanpuff69]

Windows 8.1 support end in 2023 if im not wrong . and it will become like windows 7 after that date

The only reason for installing windows 8.1 nowdays is for testing the operating system . Windows 10 have better support and have normal start menu (but with more telemetry)

the problem is the annoying full screen start menu that isnt optimized for mouse and keyboard . And the 2023 support

From performance it is almost same as windows 10 but with less telemetry and that probably the reason to use windows 8.1 but you can debloat windows 10 easily

From hardware support all hardware that compatible with windows 7 and 10 should work on windows 8.1 and vice versa except really old hardware before 2005

[ikk157]

I have a few questions for our experienced users.  I'm planning to install Windows 8.1 Professional and am doing my research first.

Question 1. Which installation disk is best - disk I already have but purchased in 2014 together with the OEM Product Key - or current ISO download from Microsoft Download Center burnt to DVD - without Product Key and Product Key still to be added?

I discovered that I'd purchased a copy of Windows 8.1 Professional many years ago - around 2014.  It is on a Microsoft disk with the Microsoft authentic label with the product key on it.

My question is, should I use the more up to date download from the Microsoft site instead?  I did download it and burnt the ISO file to DVD.  Logic being that it would be more up to date than the install disk version I purchased many years ago.  However, I was wondering after whether there may be an effect on the Product Key if I used the version from the Microsoft site instead of the disk that came with the Product Key?

Question 2. Clean install - set up of partitions

I'm planning to do a clean install which means I have to delete the partition on which Windows 7 is.  I currently have a setup with three partitions:

c://(Boot, page file, crash dump Primary Partition) (232.78 GB )
d:// (Primary Partition) (232.88 GB )
System Reserved (100MB )

I checked tutorials and them suggesting to delete all the partitions.  Question here is do I have to delete the partition with my personal files on d://? and the System Reserved partition as well? Or would it be OK to only delete one partition - the boot - partition - and recreate it again? If I have to delete all of the partitions, can I recreate the same partitions before I continue with the installation?  Like c:// and d:// and System Reserved again?  By just clicking on "new"?  

The size of partitions came with the computer.  I'm not a hardware expert.  Is there a more ideal partitioning than the one my computer comes with?  As this may be a chance to fix it.

Question 3. File Manager vs tap

One of the reasons I've stuck with Windows 7 so long (there are many), is I like the File Manager very much.  I've used Windows 8.1 temporarily on another computer, and found myself looking for the File Manager all of the time - clicking through all of the icons to find it.  I don't particularly like the icon layout either.  Is there a way one can set up the File Manager and Windows 7 lookalike from the start?

For Question 1:

Never ever ever install anything from a pre-burnt disk! The chances of it being outdated are insanely huge! And trust me, you would NOT want to install a billion windows updates due to the fact that you installed an old image. Go with the DVD you’ve burnt the latest iso on.

For Question 2:

I’ve noticed that the installation wizard only lets you install windows on a specific partition and won’t let you touch the rest. I also found several different partitions on my laptop, but it would only let me install on one. You can always create new partitions after the installation (it’s somewhere in control panel)

For Question 3:

The file manager on windows 8.1 is exactly the same as that of windows 7, just has a different “theme”. And it’s already pinned on the task bar by default. So I have no clue what you’re talking about here... could be that you’ve used windows 8 and not 8.1.



I have to say, I’m quite impressed by how much research and thought you’ve put into this. I usually go by the “install it without thinking it through, see if you like it. If not, go back.” approach. It works, but not everyone’s a fan of said approach haha.

[Mashiro]

[...]
For Question 2:

I’ve noticed that the installation wizard only lets you install windows on a specific partition and won’t let you touch the rest. I also found several different partitions on my laptop, but it would only let me install on one. [...]

Unfortunately, this statement is incorrect.

In the Windows setup, during the disk & installation partition setup, you have all options or rather said tools to delete partitions and create new ones. Once you are done with that you can select the partition you want and install Window on it by simply clicking on it to have it selected/highlighted and going to the next step of the setup. I can say this safely and with confidence as I have performed so many Windows installations from XP to 10 (excluding Vista) over all the years privately and also during my job.

Since I never really used or installed Windows Vista on a computer I can only say that since Windows 7 you always had the necessary tools during the setup of Windows to do the basics of disk and partition management and be able to select the partition/disk you want to setup Windows on. From XP to 7 (and probably Vista) the whole installation process has evolved by so much and it now stays the same with minor theme changes to the design of newer Windows versions like 10.

The current installation environment that Windows uses is basically a small live Windows with all necessary tools to do the installation or repairs (remember you can start cmd or do system restore / repair on existing installations). All that happens during the installation can be easily broken down into a few basic steps.

Anyway.

[ikk157]

Unfortunately, this statement is incorrect.

In the Windows setup, during the disk & installation partition setup, you have all options or rather said tools to delete partitions and create new ones. Once you are done with that you can select the partition you want and install Window on it by simply clicking on it to have it selected/highlighted and going to the next step of the setup. I can say this safely and with confidence as I have performed so many Windows installations from XP to 10 (excluding Vista) over all the years privately and also during my job.

Since I never really used or installed Windows Vista on a computer I can only say that since Windows 7 you always had the necessary tools during the setup of Windows to do the basics of disk and partition management and be able to select the partition/disk you want to setup Windows on. From XP to 7 (and probably Vista) the whole installation process has evolved by so much and it now stays the same with minor theme changes to the design of newer Windows versions like 10.

The current installation environment that Windows uses is basically a small live Windows with all necessary tools to do the installation or repairs (remember you can start cmd or do system restore / repair on existing installations). All that happens during the installation can be easily broken down into a few basic steps.

Anyway.

Thank you for the correction. This entire partitions thing always messes me up (I’ve screwed up many times trying to dual boot, which you’ll need to deal with partitions to achieve.)

And hence, I just chose whichever partition the windows installation allowed me to install windows onto. Which is a much better approach for myself so I don’t end up messing something up.

As for you mentioning that the installation is basically a minimal live Windows, I’ve always thought of that myself... but never knew for sure if I was correct. As that was the only way I could think of that they’re able to include command prompt within the installation media. Quite interesting to say the least!

[deanhills]

For Question 1:

Never ever ever install anything from a pre-burnt disk! The chances of it being outdated are insanely huge! And trust me, you would NOT want to install a billion windows updates due to the fact that you installed an old image. Go with the DVD you’ve burnt the latest iso on.

Good point and one I immediately considered.  Until I read somewhere during my research some having issues with product keys that didn't want to work with up to date downloads.  Hence why I asked, but I'd imagine you wouldn't have emphasized this as much if you hadn't come across the product key incompatibility, so maybe those who came across this problem are in the minority.

I've downloaded and burnt the latest version to disk.  Latest in inverted commas of course given that Windows 8.1 is not actively supported by Microsoft any longer.  Possibly the "latest" version on their download site is not as up to date as it used to be.

I have to say, I’m quite impressed by how much research and thought you’ve put into this. I usually go by the “install it without thinking it through, see if you like it. If not, go back.” approach. It works, but not everyone’s a fan of said approach haha.

Guess it's more a case of procrastination and dithering on my part to be honest.  I'm hesitating as I still love my Windows 7 and it hasn't given me any issues yet.  That I know off anyway.  

[tryp4vps]

Guess it's more a case of procrastination and dithering on my part to be honest.  I'm hesitating as I still love my Windows 7 and it hasn't given me any issues yet.  That I know off anyway.  

I am just wondering..... If I were you, I would go find a spare harddisk just for testing Windows 8.1 installation.

I guess a very tiny harddisk of ~30GB space should be enough.

So if you don't like Windows 8.1 after your trial, you will be able to quickly switch it back to use Windows 7.

[deanhills]

I am just wondering..... If I were you, I would go find a spare harddisk just for testing Windows 8.1 installation.

I guess a very tiny harddisk of ~30GB space should be enough.

So if you don't like Windows 8.1 after your trial, you will be able to quickly switch it back to use Windows 7.

I do have one. I just have to get on with the testing. Only problem is the Product Key I have is OEM. I possibly need to find another one for temporary use first.