Can I switch my Windows 8 upgrade to a new SSD?

[allamerican02]

Hi guys. I need help with something. I do not fully understand something about the Windows 8 upgrade installation.

I bought the Windows 8 upgrade and installed it on my old 250mb HD. At some point in the future I wanted to build my own computer with a SSD. I was wondering, when that time comes is there anyway I can use the Windows 8 upgrade to install Windows 8 on the blank SSD? Would I need to do anything to my old HD?

Thanks for any help.

 

[danny2000]

The best thing to do is to go into the bios and set your IDE mode to ACHI.
Install Windows 7 and activate it.
Do a Custom Install inside Windows 8 which will let you do a Clean Install of Windows 8.

 

[allamerican02]

I don't have any other copies of windows. I am upgraded my old HD from a factory installed Windows XP (which I don't have a CD for) to Windows 8.

What is ACHI?

 

[SkyWalker1726]

i didn't quite get what u wanna do but :

1- if you Did Install Windows 8 on ur old HDD , and plan on buying an SSD , then u need to make a backup of ur current windows 8 and restore it on the SSD
u can only use the windows 8 serial number ONCE

2- i you did not install windows 8 on ur old hdd , then proceed with the Upgrade asistant software , get ur windows 8 serial number , download the windows 8 iso ( still using the assistant ), burn it on a DVD , w8 until u get ur ssd and then do a Clean install of windows 8 on ur new ssd (ur old hdd won't be needed )

 

[danny2000]

I'm not certain, but you may be able to point to the old o/s on the HDD during setup.

Your current XP may have a way to make a set of recovery disks that would let you reinstall the o/s.

ACHI is the way the SATA hard drive controllers operate. IDE is the old tech and ACHI is the newer tech, and is especially useful for SSD(s) and how they operate with WIndows. You can find this setting in the BIOS; You would change the setting from IDE to ACHI, if it is not already checked (if you do it after the o/s is installed, your computer will blue screen).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Host_Controller_Interface

 

[allamerican02]

Best answer selected by allamerican02.

 

[allamerican02]

Thanks Dany.

I think the set of recovery disks I made should be able to install windows xp on the ssd, and then I can upgrade the ssd to Windows 8. (I think....)

Of course I would need to uninstall Windows 8 from the old HD. I wonder how I can use my product key on the SSD?

 

[danny2000]

Retail

This key allows multiple activations and is used for retail builds of the product. In many cases, 10 activations are allowed per key, though often more are allowed on the same machine.

 

[danny2000]

Why can't I activate Windows?

If you received a message saying that Windows couldn't be activated, here are a few reasons why it might not have worked, and some things you can try to fix the problem.

You upgraded to Windows 8, but didn't have a previous version of Windows installed (error 0xC004F061)

If you see error 0xC004F061 when you try to activate Windows 8, it means that you're using a product key for an upgrade version of Windows 8 and a previous version of Windows wasn't on your PC when Windows 8 was installed. To install an upgrade version of Windows 8, you must already have Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP installed on your PC.

If you formatted the drive before the upgrade version of Windows 8 was installed, you won't be able to use your upgrade product key to activate Windows 8. To activate Windows 8, you'll need to install your previous version of Windows, and then reinstall Windows 8. For help with the activation process, contact support.

Top of page

A different version of Windows or product key might have been used as part of a repair

If you took your PC to a repair shop or to a friend who builds and fixes PCs, it's possible that a different version of Windows was installed to complete a repair. Or if the repair shop or your friend used a different product key for your PC, that key might be blocked if it was used on more PCs than the Microsoft Software License Terms allow.

If Windows was activated before you took it to the repair shop or your friend, then re-entering the product key that came with your PC or original copy of Windows might solve the problem. You can also try reinstalling your original version of Windows.

Top of page

One copy of Windows might have been installed on multiple PCs

If you have one copy of Windows and installed it on more than one PC, activation might not work because the product key has already been used on another PC, or it's being used on more PCs than the Microsoft Software License Terms allow. Normally, the rule to follow for most copies of Windows is 1:1, meaning that one copy of Windows can be installed only on one PC.

If your product key is being used on more PCs than the Microsoft Software License Terms allow, you'll need to buy a product key for each one of your PCs in order to activate them.

Top of page

 

[danny2000]

One part there insinuates that you might be able to do a clean install on your new SSD (in your situation because you activated it once already) by tryping-in the product key when it asks for it, without installing your old Windows XP. If that doesn't work, that you know you'll have to reinstall XP with the recovery CD(s).