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Preparing your PC for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview

By | February 24, 2012, 9:52am PST

Summary: Tips for pain-free Windows 8 Consumer Preview testing.

It now seems likely that the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 will make an appearance on February 29. The company is holding an event at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on that same date, and Microsoft said that the Consumer Preview (aka Beta) would be out by the end of the month.

So, with that in mind it’s time to start thinking about getting a system ready to install the Windows 8 Consumer Preview on to.

Let’s take a look at your options.

Image credit: Microsoft

Installation onto a physical machine

Let’s kick off with the route that most people want to take - installing the Windows 8 Consumer Preview onto a physical system.

This route can be dead easy or impossibly hard depending on your hardware. If you have a PC that’s happy running Windows 7 (or Windows Vista) then the system’s hardware should be up top the job of running Windows 8. If you’re system is running Windows XP then things could be trickier and you could run into problems.

At minimum you’ll need:

  • 1GHz processor
  • 1GB RAM for 32-bit OS, 2GB RAM for 64-bit OS
  • DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
  • 16 GB HDD free space for 32-bit, 20GB HDD free space for 64-bit

Also, a few points about installing Windows 8:

  • Don’t go installing the Windows 8 Consumer Preview onto a mission-critical system (or at least if you do that, don’t come crying to me if something breaks!).
  • Your primary test platform should be a desktop, because these systems are likely to have the most generic of drivers. While you might be able to get Windows 8 loaded onto a notebook, netbook, ultrabook, tablet or whatever, problem getting a single driver installed could sink your plans to test Windows 8.
  • The Windows 8 Developer Preview seemed to work the hard drive much harder than I’d seen previous operating systems do, so I’d recommend that you have a reasonably fast SATA drive installed. Older IDE hard drives will work, but system performance might take a hit (assuming that the Consumer Preview works the system just as hard).
  • I would recommend that you don’t try installing the Consumer Preview over the top of a Windows 7 installation. It might be supported, but at this stage it could give you more troubles that it’s worth and leave you with an unworkable system and a lot recovery road ahead of you.
  • The easiest way to install Windows 8 onto a new PC is to swap out your primary drive (the one that Windows is currently installed on) and replace it with a blank one. This leaves your existing system untouched.
  • Alternatively, back up your current system and then to a ‘wipe and install’.
  • Remember that Windows 8 is a touch-based operating system, and you’re not going to get the best out of it on a system kitted out with just a keyboard and mouse. To get the full effect you might want to consider fitting a multi-touch enabled LCD monitor to your system, something like the 21.5-inch Planar PX2230MW which you can pick up for $260.
  • Expect stuff to go wrong - it might not say ‘beta’ on the tin, but trust me, this is a beta.

Virtualizing Windows 8

While there’s nothing like installing a new operating system onto bare-metal hardware, sometimes it’s easier and less stressful to virtualize the operating system. I’ve done this a lot with the Windows 8 Developer Preview and will undoubtedly do it a lot with the Consumer Preview.

I managed to get the Windows 8 Developer Preview to work with the following virtualization platforms:

While I’ve not had time to test them yet, I’m confident that these tools should work fine for the Consumer Preview when it’s released.

Installing a beta into a virtualized PC is a great way to safely test a new OS without putting a complete system at risk of being hosed.

Whichever option you choose, happy testing!

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Topics

PC, Microsoft Windows 8, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Desktops, Software, Hardware, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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Top Rated

If you're currently running Win7 you could install to VHD
bitcrazed 24th Feb
If your laptop/desktop is already running Win7, you could create a VHD and boot into that VHD rather than partition your HDD:

http://www.hanselman.com/blog/GuideToInstallingAndBootingWindows8DeveloperPreviewOffAVHDVirtualHardDisk.aspx

Multi-booting to VHD is an extremely useful feature as it prevents the need to re-partition your HDD every time you want to build a new OS image. It also means that you can sysprep and move your VHD's to a virtualization platform later if you want!
View in thread

Just In

Its all Scheisse
guitarest 9th Mar
Stragglers my arz, everything since Win Vista has been Scheisse software. Win7 is nothing except fluff and no real substance; nothing is as stable or uses less VM than XP Pro from those versions of OS. All you guys love that bling, many of us actually use PC's for something other than play games. I will stay with XP until a better MS OS comes out; which will be never.....
View in thread
0 Votes
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Multi-boot
johnfenjackson@... 24th Feb
I have 3 disk partitions at present: main Windows 7; test Windows 7 ... and Windows 8 Developer Preview.
I'll just install the Consumer Preview OVER the Developer.
Changes the boot menu slightly ... but worked fine.

That is unless M$ have done something naughty with the boot process wink
0 Votes
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I think you've got it backwards.
ye 24th Feb
I'd recommend virtualization over bare metal install.
5 Votes
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I disagree (for a change ;))
bitcrazed 24th Feb
You're not going to get the smooth, crisp animation and graphical effects if you're running Win8 in a virtualized environment because, no matter how good your virtualization platform of choice (VMWare, Parallels, Hyper-V, etc.), their graphics performance just isn't going to deliver the level of quality you get on bare metal.
0 Votes
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Virtualized
mylo@... 24th Feb
Suggest you try a bare-metal hypervisor such as XENClient.. you may change your mind then.
1 Vote
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I have to disagree.
ye 24th Feb
Virtualization won't provide the absolute best performance compared to bare metal but it will provide sufficient performance necessary to evaluate the software.

Given the purpose is to test the software it I think virtualization makes more sense than bare metal. Absolute best performance isn't why I'd be running Windows 8.
0 Votes
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VM Good for servier side apps. Worthless on Client side
SylvainT 25th Feb
Something is sure you wont be able to test the real user experience on VM.
Beside that no matter what people say about any VM, they crash often, drain you resources and slow down you computer.
0 Votes
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How so?
ye 27th Feb
@SylvainT: Something is sure you wont be able to test the real user experience on VM.

Can you expand upon this? I'm sure there are a few things (such as hardware support) but for the vast majority of users a VM shouldn't interfere with their evaluation. But I may be missing something.

Beside that no matter what people say about any VM, they crash often, drain you resources and slow down you computer.

This has not been my experience at all. While I'm sure performance is not at the peak which could be achieved with bare metal installs I haven't had any problems with performance. Stability has been equally as good. I can't recall a single crash of a VM.

IMO virtualization is a great way to evaluate software. No need to reconfigure an entire system. A few clicks as you're done.
2 Votes
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I disagree too.
Cylon Centurion 24th Feb
For those looking for a more thorough test and trial of the beta, virtualization is the last thing anyone should do.

If all you want to do is quickly browse through it, then that is the direction you want. But otherwise, either throw it onto an extra machine or use the VHD option Bit Crazed listed above.
0 Votes
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Can you expand upon this?
ye Updated - 25th Feb
Aside from performance testing, which I wouldn't do with pre-release software, what can you do on bare metal that you cannot do in virtualization?
0 Votes
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At this point I'd have to agree
rbethell 24th Feb
my main interest is development, not torching my computer. While there's a penalty for it, I've found most of the virtualization apps (even Virtual PC) can deliver a fairly solid performance. Good enough, anyway.
2 Votes
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What I am going to do...
CPPCrispy Updated - 24th Feb
What I am going to do is wipe Developer Preview off the current hard drive and install the Consumer Preview. Its going to be on a Dell Inspiron 1501, so it does not have touch. I am sure that it would work best with a touch screen but my main concern is its usability with a normal keyboard and mouse. Touch is nice for phones and tablets but I cannot see how I personally would use it on a desktop computer efficiently.
5 Votes
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Challenge!
Cylon Centurion Updated - 24th Feb
I again, would like to challenge "Remember that Windows 8 is a touch-based operating system, and youre not going to get the best out of it on a system kitted out with just a keyboard and mouse."

It has been said over and over, that Metro is more than a touch UI. It plays well with the keyboard and mouse, accepting a wide range of mouse movements, wheel scrolling, and keyboard shortcuts.

People need to get over this "touch only" crap. Don't let the wholly incomplete *Developers* Preview cloud your judgements.
1 Vote
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Metro UI is Touch First
smulji 24th Feb
You're right in saying that Metro is touch only, but MS has been marketing it as "touch first", meaning that touch is a first-class citizen on Windows 8. You can use the keyboard & mouse but it won't be elegant as using the touch UI.
1 Vote
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Did they say mouse and keyboard had become 2nd class?
Patanjali 24th Feb
Making touch 1st class does not mean everything else goes down a notch.
Multiple 1st class methods ARE allowed.
1 Vote
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Remote control?
kris_stapley@... 24th Feb
I plan to swap out my hard drive and load this on my media centre PC. I'm hoping that I'll easily be able to use my media centre remote to browse around the tiles. I'm glad the new UI is designed with such large tiles/fonts. It should be perfect on a 55" screen with me 15' away.
0 Votes
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Use a little caution!
bitcrazed 24th Feb
I'm a Media Center addict too but am still awaiting some information on the Win8 plans for Media Center.

The Win8 developer preview doesn't include ANY Media Center whatsoever and the Windows team have yet to discuss whether Media Center will be included in Win8, whether it'll ship as an optional download, what features it'll support, etc.

I would be VERY surprised if Microsoft haven't invested heavily in Media Center - after all, Google and Apple are both trying to force their way into the living room and I'd be astonished if Microsoft drops the ball in this space.

Fingers crossed.
0 Votes
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WMC will be included
Cylon Centurion 24th Feb
@bitcrazed

Microsoft has at least confirmed that WMC will be a part of Windows 8, however, we have yet to learn what at all (if any) changes are being made to it. The screenshot Sinofsky listed on Twitter was nothing more than Windows 7's version running on Windows 8.

Personally, I'm not expecting anything to really change, but it is nice since I use WMC for DVD playback on my machines.
-1 Votes
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@bitcrazed
Joe_Raby 24th Feb
Why do you want WMC? The only reason I could see is for using your PC as a DVR, but there are so few reasonable options available for getting HD broadcast recordings onto a PC besides ATSC. CableLabs support is pretty much dead in the water, and I have yet to see a feasible way in getting satellite recorded without at least first switching out to analog component (YUV) using one of those expensive Hauppauge HD PVR boxes. Most people just rent (or buy) their PVR from their TV provider nowadays. I honestly could never figure out why people ever bought TiVo's too, since the monthly fee is just to pay for their recommendations. Here's my recommendation: buy a box from your TV provider instead and quit wasting your money!

Yes, there are downsides to the TV provider's box, but they are far outweighed by the relative cost and complexity of a PC DVR setup.

Otherwise, the media handling for video, photos, music, etc., is all so similar to WMC/Zune now that we have the pure Metro UI doing the work, that I don't see why we need to have a duplicate UI in WMC just for basic media playback.
3 Votes
+ -
I use Media Center for more then just a DVR
John Zern 24th Feb
Joe_Raby. I cannot speak for bitcrazed, but for myself I have used it with a WMC remote for recording television, FM Radio (Hauppauge HTV 1600, though My surround sound system includes FM radio), but also all of my movies, Netflix, and Music in one interface, all accessable via the remote control, and all the files residing on a Windows Home Server

Yes I could just use the Zune software and interface, but having it attached to a 42" flat panel TV, I need not worry about touch, instead using the remote, while sitting back on the couch.
2 Votes
+ -
MediaCenter is an overlooked gem
bitcrazed 24th Feb
@Joe: FWIW, we have our media center hooked up to our cable box' analog out via a Hauppage TV capture card. While its not 100% digital quality, the capture card's filtering and image processing results in quite acceptable quality TV. We have one box on which we can play TV, streamed programming via Netflix & Hulu etc., DVD, BluRay, AudioCD, streamed audio via Zune, etc., photos and video, etc. Oh, and content can be streamed to any of our XBoxes.

Zune is very much a desktop experience and is not well suited to the 12' "from the couch" experience. The Zune client's future is also questionable. I wouldn't be surprised to see it and media player being replaced with a decent replacement.
0 Votes
+ -
@bitcrazed, John Zern
Joe_Raby 25th Feb
I know Zune is going to be deprecated in Windows 8. I wasn't suggesting to use it in place of WMC, but instead just to use the Metro media controls in Windows 8's Start Screen.

I would also imagine that media streaming from the Windows 8 media apps to devices will be included.

You do know that a Media Center Remote will also function the same as arrow keys for cursor navigation outside of WMC too, right? Instead of Kinect for Windows 8, if you prefer a tactile feel, I would imagine that a Media Center Remote is going to be a feasible input option for the Metro Start Screen too. With Microsoft's plans for Xbox to replace Zune, it's pretty easy to see that media streaming from connected partner services will also likely fit into a singular launch space.

I'm not sure I get the quip about recording FM radio stations though. I don't think I've even heard of a radio station in the last 5 years that didn't offer CD-quality streaming online.
2 Votes
+ -
you are right
Emi Cyberschreiber 24th Feb
People who think its "touch only" its just an excuse for their "i dont want it on my desktop" it was a developer preview anyway what we could use, obviously some stuff would not work perfectly for mouse and keyboard. but its not like it was imposible to work since i worked like i do on Win7.

If people havent tried consumer preview i dont know why they think its touch only or critize windows 8.... even Canouna complained about mousea and keyboard on developer preview but he has said in Consumer Preview mouse and keyboard feels good. so I will believe him and think Consumer Preview will really work so much better than developer preview (which is expected) and not people who hasn't used CP not even once.
7 Votes
+ -
Top Rated
If you're currently running Win7 you could install to VHD
bitcrazed 24th Feb Top Rated
If your laptop/desktop is already running Win7, you could create a VHD and boot into that VHD rather than partition your HDD:

http://www.hanselman.com/blog/GuideToInstallingAndBootingWindows8DeveloperPreviewOffAVHDVirtualHardDisk.aspx

Multi-booting to VHD is an extremely useful feature as it prevents the need to re-partition your HDD every time you want to build a new OS image. It also means that you can sysprep and move your VHD's to a virtualization platform later if you want!
1 Vote
+ -
This should have been the 3rd option in this post
Samic 24th Feb
I'm using exactly the same setup for my Win8 Dev preview laptop. It's faster to setup too since everything already on the HDD.
0 Votes
+ -
A possible problem
Joe_Raby 24th Feb
We don't exactly know how the Consumer Preview is going to handle this. If it's the "consumer" preview, will it even include support for Boot-to-VHD? That feature was only ever offered in the Enterprise & Ultimate versions before.

BTW: Is the Boot-to-VHD handled in the actual bootloader (active boot partition) or is it in the hand-off to the kernel and runtime (ie. kernel driver support)? Is the bootloader any different between SKU's?
1 Vote
+ -
Boot from VHD...
bitcrazed 24th Feb
... Is a boot loader feature.

There's no reason why it can't now be pushed into every edition of Windows, now that it's been well proven in Win7. Whether it WILL or not is a valid question.
0 Votes
+ -
I already use this but their is 2 % to 3 % loss in disk performance
PratikRawankar_Unleashed 24th Feb
VHD is always been a best choice for laptop user

but for desktop and High end users ---we have lots of high end disks
0 Votes
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Preparing your PC for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview
Loverock Davidson- 24th Feb
Got an empty partition just waiting to get filled with Microsoft Windows 8 goodness. I'd prefer to run it on the hardware instead of virtualizing it.
-11 Votes
+ -
Windows 7 with a shiny wrapper.....
SamWilkinson 24th Feb Below threshold | Show anyway
The only reason 7 was a success was Vista's failure..now that 7 is a success the only real sales will come from new PC purchases with Windows 8 on it..

Heck government is barely getting on with Windows 7...you think 8 is going to be in demand????

Think again. Vista 2.0 is coming and it's called Windows 8.
0 Votes
+ -
Yes
Cylon Centurion 24th Feb
"Heck government is barely getting on with Windows 7...you think 8 is going to be in demand????"

XP stragglers will either have to upgrade to 8 or upgrade to 8 and then downgrade to 7.
-5 Votes
+ -
It would actually be nice to see state organizations switch to Linux...
Socratesfoot Updated - 24th Feb
It sounds far fetched. But they are so far behind that at this point you would get better\faster support options for many XP-win3.1 apps in Wine with KUBUNTU, etc. then you would get in Windows 8. Less of a learning curve using the GUI. Plus a MUCH faster OS install. UBUNTU is at something like 15 minutes...Windows 7 after updating, installing apps, etc. can take hours.

I like trying the pre-releases, I've always tried them in the past...but Windows 8 is discouraging to me. Having a hard time getting excited about installing it.
2 Votes
+ -
@Socrates
Joe_Raby 24th Feb
How do you figure???

Better support for XP and 3.1?!? AND in a third-party environment?
Seriously?

Do you ever proof-read what you write?
0 Votes
+ -
Its all Scheisse
guitarest 9th Mar
Stragglers my arz, everything since Win Vista has been Scheisse software. Win7 is nothing except fluff and no real substance; nothing is as stable or uses less VM than XP Pro from those versions of OS. All you guys love that bling, many of us actually use PC's for something other than play games. I will stay with XP until a better MS OS comes out; which will be never.....
0 Votes
+ -
Partitioning the Drive
wango911 24th Feb
I prefer creating a secondary partition on my drive, since I don't like how Windows 8 run in VMs. If this would be your option, I'd create one at least 50GB just for the OS and any programs you be willing to install. Since Windows 8 has libraries, I would use Windows 8 libraries to share files from the Windows 7 partition. It would be as if you are using Windows 8 as your main OS. (Assuming you are testing for a long period.)
0 Votes
+ -
Preparing your computer for WIN 8 Customer Preview
edkollin 24th Feb
Somebody should review the Win 8 experience on a non touch screen
2 Votes
+ -
There will be quite a few, I'm sure
Cylon Centurion 24th Feb
I can just see it now...
2 Votes
+ -
I just don't agree.
VintageComputerGuy 24th Feb
"Remember that Windows 8 is a touch-based operating system, and you???re not going to get the best out of it on a system kitted out with just a keyboard and mouse."

Says who? The things that weren't mouse or keyboard enabled are supposedly going to be enabled in this version, the Consumer Preview. While I found a few instances where the mouse or keyboard couldn't activate a feature in the Developer Preview, I'm sure Microsoft has worked on that for the Consumer Preview and eventually the final product.
4 Votes
+ -
Hmmmm....
bsquarednc 24th Feb
So you're already blowing up the keyboard/mouse experience on Windows 8? Are you special and have seen how it looks in the CP? Yeah, that's what I thought....
-6 Votes
+ -
I saw the developer preview
SamWilkinson 24th Feb Below threshold | Show anyway
And the Metro UI on a desktop using a mouse/keyboard annoyed the crap out of me...I had to do the registry hack to get to the regular desktop.

If they don't allow a toggle you're going to tick a lot of people off.
6 Votes
+ -
DEVELOPER Preview
hafenbrack 24th Feb
Exactly, you were using the DEVELOPER Preview. As Microsoft has reterated time and again, much of the effort since the DP to the Consumer Preview has been on the interaction using mouse and keyboard. You don't know what that interaction really feels like until you try the final product or at least the CP.
0 Votes
+ -
based on your other comments...
kris_stapley@... 25th Feb
you don't really have much credibility to speak on Windows 8.
-1 Votes
+ -
Touch Windows-8
TsarNikky 24th Feb
The following statement, taken from the introductory analysis above, summarizes the problem facing Windows-8:

Remember that Windows 8 is a touch-based operating system, and you???re not going to get the best out of it on a system kitted out with just a keyboard and mouse.

So, those of us with keyboard/mouse based systems will continue to enjoy Windows-7.
-5 Votes
+ -
he he he
guitarest 24th Feb
I am so glad I am still on XP
1 Vote
+ -
So it's your PC...
kris_stapley@... 25th Feb
that keeps sending me spam.
0 Votes
+ -
I bought a Samsung Series 7 Slate with exactly this in mind.
TheWerewolf 24th Feb
I'll back it up, play with 8 for a bit, and if I like it - either go with it - or split partition it and have both.

The Series 7 is the one they were giving out to everyone at //Build...
0 Votes
+ -
AFAIK the Series 7 does not support Connected Standby
Patanjali 24th Feb
In the Connected Standby video session, the presenter said that the handed our hardware did not support Connected Standby.

Connected Standby allows full Metro apps to stay 'live' (uo to date) even while the system was 'off', like on phones and current tablets.

It is a combination of special hardware that handles the communication notifications and wakes the main system as required to do the updates, AND a subsantial reduction in the number of services and the amount of time the update routunes run.

The standby target power usage is a maximum of 5% of battery use per 16 hours on standby. On my Win 7 Ultimate Sony P series laptop, I could run on sleep for a day before the battery ran out, so the new spec is quite an aggressive target for standby power savings.

I gained the impression from the presentation that all this standby stuff was still a work in progress, and coupled with the hardware support required, I would say that the Slate may be lacking in that.

Otherwise, I think that the Slate shows that a Win tablet (of the modern format) could relace all except the most powerful laptops, with much lower power, heat and more convenient form factor. I also found that touch was just as responsive as on any good phone. Win7 cannot use the native 10-point touch capability of the panel, but I don't know if the driver allos sppecially written apps to utilise it.

Would be interested to know how Win8 on it works out for you.
-10 Votes
+ -
??????????
einererne 24th Feb Below threshold | Show anyway
?????????? | ???????????? | ?????????? | ???????????? | ??????????

??????????

????????????

??????

??????????

??????????
0 Votes
+ -
Will virtual machines show the power management advantages?
Patanjali 24th Feb
Win8 has been designed to be more aggressive in its power management, by better scheduling of services and what they do in the background.

If it works well, it may be a huge power saver for desktop operation, but I don't know if virtualisation will enable the power savings to be measured, whereas bare metal will definitely do so.

It just depends how much of the normal OS is running in addition to the virtualised OS. But I am ignorant of such fine details.

Certainly, for enterprises to gauge possible power idling savings their current hardware would allow without creating problems for users, native mode testing would be a must. But a replacement drive would enable that.

Fully Win8 compliant desktop hardware would allow full blown standby and instant-on functionality, and thus allow even better power cycling, which can add up to a lot of saved aggregated power and cooling costs for any business.
-1 Votes
+ -
Getting Ready for Windows 8
fbarias89 24th Feb
"Don???t go installing the Windows 8 Consumer Preview onto a mission-critical system (or at least if you do that, don???t come crying to me if something breaks!)."

I've installed the developer preview on my laptop and damaged my filesystem, now I use Windows 7, so, I'm ready to install this one again and, fix my filesystem again if such bug is there.
2 Votes
+ -
Windows 8
jspen@... 24th Feb
I have been using the Developer's version on my Fujitsu T4410 laptop with touchscreen for a couple of months. The touchpad has been my only disappointment due to the lack of a driver that gives me control like Win 7. My screen uses a stylus, and it works well with the interface and Microsoft Office. I partitioned my HD for dual boot with Win 7 and have had no problems. Both Windows version are 64 bit and I have 3 Gb of ram. Looking forward to the latest version.

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