Testing Windows 8

[mitchell65]

Probably in the wrong place but I want to see what all the fuss is about with Windows 8 so have found an articl on "install the Windows 8 Developer Preview into a virtual machine on your PC."
I just want to see for myself the general layout etc. Is this a good route for me to take and will it be straightforward to remove the install later on?
Thanks for any opinions!

 

[Golden]

Hi,

Personally, I would follow one of these from our own Windows 8 forum:

VirtualBox - Install Windows 8
How to Install Windows 8 on VMware Player

Its easy to back-out if you want - just remove the VM.

Regards,
Golden

 

[mitchell65]

Many thanks. I thought Brinks tut looked good as usual so decided to go ahead with that. First problem. When I go to Download the ISO I get the message that is will take 7 hours and 26 minutes to download. Does this sound right.? If so i will leave it go over night but thought I would just check. thanks

 

[Golden]

will take 7 hours and 26 minutes to download. Does this sound right.?

Hi,

That seems a tad long - I guess it depends on the connection? What speed does it show its downloading at?

Regards,
Golden

 

[mitchell65]

Round about 180kb/sec. Range = Up to 200 and down to 140
No great worry as i will just let it go now. Out for most of the rst of the day so can leave it go!
Thanks
John

 

[whs]

I run it in Virtual Box. Gave it 2GB of RAM and 25GB of disk space. Runs perfectly side by side with the Win7 host and has no impact on Win7 - even not on my 'small' system where I have only 4GB of RAM.

 

[mitchell65]

I run it in Virtual Box. Gave it 2GB of RAM and 25GB of disk space. Runs perfectly side by side with the Win7 host and has no impact on Win7 - even not on my 'small' system where I have only 4GB of RAM.

Thanks for that, am just waiting for the ISO to finish downloading.

 

[mitchell65]

Update:
Although initially it showed download time of over 7 hours it did in fact only take 4 hrs and 10 mins so quite happy with that. Now to read the instructions twice before starting!

 

[mitchell65]

OK Have made a start. Everything going well until Item 14 on Guide "How to install Windows 8 in Virtual Box."
Instrution reads "Click Next" but there is no next button. I did scroll down to the botom of that Windows 13?

See here:


So am stuck at this point.

 

[z3r010]

Just double click there you have arrowed and then you should get the next box.

 

[mitchell65]

Just double click there you have arrowed and then you should get the next box.

Thanks> My silly fault, missed a bit out despite reading the Guide twice. Must be getting old. All's well now though. Thanks again

 

[mitchell65]

Really have checked this carefully. I can now get to No 16 of the Guide but when I select my 64bit ISO file I get the following error message:


Does this suggest there is something wrong with the downloaded file? It is this one causing the problem;
Windows8-ReleasePreview-64bit-English.iso


Many thanks for looking!

 

[z3r010]

Yeah that sounds to me like the iso is bad

 

[richnrockville]

FWIW: I have found that downloading via browser can corrupt a large file. I use microsoft's file download manager but then I have a Technet Plus subscription which helps..

Rich

 

[mitchell65]

Thanks gents, will download it again using the download manager which I have jusy installed!
Won't get thaat for a few hours so will try again to finish the Win 8 Install tomorrow

 

[mitchell65]

Can't for the life of me see how to select a file on the Web for the File Transfer Manager to download. As soon as i select the file on the website it automatically starts to download via the browser. Also all the info re the manager is specifically for Vista, not Win 7

 

[mitchell65]

FWIW: I have found that downloading via browser can corrupt a large file. I use microsoft's file download manager but then I have a Technet Plus subscription which helps..

Rich

Wow, just looked at Technet subscription rates. Can't justify that sort of money just to try out a Windows version that I may never use!
Thisnk I'll call it a day!

 

[mitchell65]

Decided to have another go. Successfully downloaded the ISO this time an carried out the whole procedure. All went well I even created a MS account at the end. Then I get this:


Shall I start again

 

[z3r010]

I dont see any other option.

 

[mitchell65]

OK Had another go and this time all went well. I now have a previe copy of Windows 8 up and running. Just need to see how to make it fit the whole screen. That's jut an adjustment somewhere so hopeully will find that later. Got worries that the Sa=tart button was missing but with a mouse hover I found it. Too early to make a judgement but early impressions are this will be fine on a touch screen hand held machine but that's not for me. Nothing against the idea but I just have no use for one. Difficult to see how it is going to serve both that market and the more traditional PC or laptop. Will try it a bit more over the next few days!
The installation is not for the faint hearted so thanks for all the help and encouragement!