How to install Windows 8 Developer Preview

Step 1: Download Windows 8 The developer preview is available for download at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516. Microsoft has released three editions of Windows 8 Developer Preview.

• Windows 8 Developer Preview with developer tools x64 (English)
• Windows 8 Developer Preview x64 (English)
• Windows 8 Developer Preview x86 (English)

You will need a minimum of 2.8GB-4.8GB of space depending on what version of Windows 8, you choose to install. To install Windows 8 on a laptop or computer, burn an ISO image file.  If you are using Windows XP or Vista, you will need an image-burning tool like ImgBurn. You can take advantage of virtual architecture by installing Windows 8 in Virtual Box or VMware. Step 2: Install Windows 8 Actual Machine You install Windows 8 on an actual machine or virtual machine. For installing Windows 8 on actual machine, just mount the image file from a disc and boot your computer. [caption id="attachment_64097" align="alignnone" width="512"] Figure 2 Configure regional settings[/caption]

• Set the regional settings with the attributes Language, Time and Currency format and Keyboard format.

• If this is a fresh installation, there is no need to repair anything and as such, you can proceed directly with the installation.

[caption id="attachment_64098" align="alignnone" width="512"] Figure 4 License agreement[/caption]

• It is strongly recommended that you read the terms and conditions imposed by Microsoft and agree to comply with them by clicking on “I accept the license terms”.

[caption id="attachment_64099" align="alignnone" width="512"] Figure 5 Type of install[/caption]

• The custom install option is to be selected since you will be installing a fresh copy of Windows.

[caption id="attachment_64100" align="alignnone" width="512"] Figure 6 Select primary partition[/caption]

• Select the disk or primary partition where you want to install Windows 8 and the installation begins on a screen that resembles Windows 7.

[caption id="attachment_64101" align="alignnone" width="512"] Figure 7 Copying files[/caption]

• Enter a name for your computer and click Next.

[caption id="attachment_64102" align="alignnone" width="512"] Figure 8 Enter user name[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_64103" align="alignnone" width="512"] Figure 9 Choose settings[/caption]

• Windows update, Firewall, Defender and Microsoft’s Customer Improvement Program request permission to send/receive data over the internet. Use express settings if you want to enable them or you can Customize them.

[caption id="attachment_64104" align="alignnone" width="512"] Figure 10 Windows Live[/caption]

• Windows 8 is integrated with Windows Live and as such, you can login any computer with your Windows Live ID and your settings will be retained across computers. If internet is currently unavailable, you can choose to create a local Windows Live account.

[caption id="attachment_64105" align="alignnone" width="512"] Figure 11 Finalize[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_64106" align="alignnone" width="512"] Figure 12 Windows 8 Start Menu[/caption]

• Finally, all your settings have been saved and you will be redirected to the Start screen in Windows 8.

The PC will boot once installation is successful and ensure that you do not “Press any key” when the boot screen loads again. Otherwise, it will restart the installation of Windows 8. Virtual Machine You can try installing Windows 8 on a virtual machine for experimenting with its various features. Virtual Box, VMWare, Parallels Desktop are some virtual applications on which you can install Windows 8 although we would cover installation on Virtual Box in this article

• Create a new virtual machine by clicking on New and enter its name.
• Select “Other Windows” to specify the operating system.
• Enter at least 2GB for memory since 64-bit version requires that much space.
• Create a virtual hard drive file with .VDI extension to select the disk on which Windows 8 will be installed.
• For a 64-bit version, Microsoft recommends 20 GB as the minimal hard disk capacity.
• Create the virtual disk by clicking on create.

Finally, open the virtual machine created by you and enable IO APIC under system, enable PAE/NX under processor and enable VT-X/AMD-v and Nested Paging under acceleration. Mount the ISO file on the virtual disc and the installation proceeds in the same manner as mentioned in “Actual machine installation”.]]>