How to Upgrade from Windows 7, Vista, or XP to Windows 8

Special Thanks to http://www.eightforums.com/ for this Article

Upgrade from:	To: Windows 8 RTM (32-bit or 64-bit)
Windows 8 Release Preview	Nothing (your files will be saved in the Windows.old folder)
Windows 8 Consumer Preview	Nothing (your files will be saved in the Windows.old folder)
Windows 8 Developer Preview	Nothing (your files will be saved in the Windows.old folder)
Windows 7	You keep programs, Windows settings, user accounts and files
Vista	You keep Windows settings, user accounts and files
XP	You only keep user accounts and files

Windows 8 System Requirements
Windows 8 works great on the same hardware that powers Windows 7.

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster

RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)

Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

Graphics card: MicrosoftDirectX 9 graphics device or higher

Additional requirements to use certain features:

• To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch.
• To access the Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768.
• To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768.

Here's How:

1. If you have not already, you will need to either disable or uninstall any AV or security program to prevent it from interfering with the upgrade to Windows 8.

2. If you have not already, you will need to either create a bootable USB or DVD with the Windows 8 RTM ISO file OR extract the contents in the Windows 8 ISO file with a free program like 7-Zip to a separate partition than the one Windows 7, Vista or XP is currently on.

3. From within Windows 8 Release Preview, Windows 7, Vista, or XP, open either the Windows 8 USB/DVD or partition, run the setup.exe file, and close the Windows Explorer window. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: For example, I did this from within Windows 7.

4. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes (Windows 7) or Continue (Vista).

5. Select (dot) Go online to install updates now, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: If you would like to help with Windows 8, then you could also check the box at the bottom as well.

6. When it's finished checking your computer for any updates, enter your Windows 8 RTM product key number, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: Windows 8 Release Preview product key number: TK8TP-9JN6P-7X7WW-RFFTV-B7QPF

7. Check the I agree to the license agreement box, and click/tap on Accept. (see screenshot below)

8. Select (dot) what you would like to keep in Windows 8 from your Windows 8 Release Preview, Windows 7, Vista, or XP, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: The options you have available here will vary.

9. Windows 8 will now check for compatibility issues to see if you'll need to do anything to get your PC ready for Windows 8. If anything is found, you will need to take care of it being continuing. (see screenshot below)

10. If no issues were found from step 9 above, then click/tap on the Install button. (see screenshot below)

11. Windows 8 will now start to install. The computer will restart a few times during this. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: This will take a while to finish.

12. When it's finished, select a color you like, and click/tap Next. (see screenshot below)

13. Select either the Use express settings or Customize button depending on how you want to set these settings. (see screenshot below)

A) If you select Use express settings, then go to step 18 below.

B) If you select Customize, then continue on to step 14 below.

14. Select the share settings you would like. (see screenshot below)

15. Select the Windows Update and IE security settings that you want, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

16. Select the settings that you want, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

17. Select the settings that you want, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

18. Sign in by typing in your user password from your Windows 8 Release Preview, Windows 7, Vista, or XP that you are upgrading from, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

19. Do either step 20, or 21 below depending on if your would like to log on to Windows 8 with either your current local user account from step 18 above, or a Microsoft account using your Windows Live ID. (see screenshot below)

20. If you want to Sign in to Windows 8 with your Current Local Account

Local account:

• You use a user name (and password if you want one) to sign in to Windows 8 just like it was in Vista and Windows 7.
• A local user account gives you access to only the PC it's on. You will need a separate user account created on each PC you use.
• None of your settings will be synced between the PCs you use, and you won't get the benefits of connecting your PC to the cloud.

A) Click/tap on the Skip button, and go to step 22 below. (see screenshot below step 19)

OR

A) Click/tap on the Sign in without a Microsoft account link. (see screenshot below step 19)

B) Click/tap on the Use my current local account button, and go to step 22 below. (see screenshot below)

21. If you want to Sign in to Windows 8 with a Microsoft Account

Microsoft account:

• You use your Windows Live ID email address and password to sign in to Windows 8.
• When you sign in with a Microsoft account, your PC is connected to the cloud.
• Your friends’ contact info and statuses are automatically up to date from your Hotmail, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other accounts.
• You can get to and share your photos, documents, and other files from SkyDrive, Facebook, Flickr, and other accounts without signing in to each one.
• Your personal settings are synced to any PC running Windows 8 that you sign in to, including your themes, language preferences, browser favorites, and apps.
• You can get apps in the Windows Store and use them on any PC running Windows 8 that you sign in to.
• Easily reacquire your Metro style apps on multiple Windows 8 PCs. The app’s settings and last-used state persist across all your Windows 8 PCs.
• You can associate the most commonly used Windows settings to your user account. In this way, the saved settings are available when you sign in to your account on any Windows 8 PC. So your PC will be set up just the way you are used to.
• You can also save time with sign-in credentials, because now the same credentials are available for the different apps and websites you use and you can easily get back into them without having to enter credentials every time.
• You can automatically sign in to apps and services that use Windows Live ID for authentication.

A) Type in your Windows Live ID email address, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below step 19)
NOTE: If you do not have a Windows Live ID email address, then click on Sign up for a new email address link to get one.

B) Enter the password for the email address, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: If you do not have a Windows Live ID email address, then click on Sign up for a Microsoft account link to get one.

C) Enter security verification info if you like, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

D) Go to step 22 below.

22. Windows 8 will now prepare your PC for your user account.

23. Congratulations, you have finished upgrading your Windows 8 Release Preview, Windows 7, Vista, or XP to Windows 8. (see screenshot below)

24. You will notice that you will have a C:\$Windows.~BT and a C:\Windows.old folder that contains copies of files from the previous Windows installation. (see screenshot below)

25. If there's nothing in them that you would like to copy back into Windows 8, then you could use Disk Cleanup to delete the Previous Windows installation(s), Temporary Windows installation files, and Windows upgrade log files items to free up the large amount HDD space that they take. (see screenshots below)

26. It is highly recommened that you create a password reset disk for your user account just in case you forget it later. You will be able to use it to reset your user account password.

27. Install any needed drivers for your devices, and update your WEI score.

That's it