How To Install OS On Secondary Hard Drive

H2L1

Beta member
Messages
5
Location
United States
Alright, first off I feel like I should just let eveyone know I'm not that computer literate, so if you are going to help me out with my issue by posting, please do so as simply as possible.

I've noticed for the past 6 months or so that my laptop's HDD has been making a crap load of noise and clicks. Even longer than that I had noticed my computer running slower. I'm talking about click through long strings of folders, loading a saved image, and a decrease in the quality video game experience (such as lags due to wonky FPS). I did some surfing and came to realize that I needed a new hard drive. So I decided to get a 5.5 GB SSD. I've already installed it in the secondary hard drive slot, worked through a minor issue once I did, and the SSD is good to go, as far as I can tell. I've already installed a game on it and the game is running much better on the SSD than it was when I had the game installed on the HDD.

Now I need to get the SSD to fully take the place of my dying HDD before it's too late! I want to upgrade my OS to Windows 8.0 from my current OS of Vista. I have a copy of Windows 8 Pro that I was told would upgrade me from Vista and that I could install this on the almost entirely blank SSD. Exactly what I want.

When I put the cd in the laptop it goes through the set up wizard and will eventually begin upgrading my hard drive from Vista to 8.0 without asking me to determine which hard drive I want 8.0 to be installed on. How to I actually get the OS 8.0 Pro install disk to let me determine the destination for the install?
 
You don't see a message like this before the actual upgrade can happen?

4a600c0d-e4e4-4bad-aed8-d3e0721a993e_68.jpg



Btw. you say 5,5 gb SSD. I take it that it's a typo. am i right?
 
That had to be a typo. But yeah, I was wondering the same thing about the install.
Also, I would like to ask where you got the disk from? It does not make sense for someone to hand you an auto installing version, unless you where told to burn an upgrade ISO from a source that... well, all I need to know is if you downloaded it or not. Remember, do not post any links to torrent sites. If you got it from one, then all you have to do is let us know. That could be the source of the problem if it is the case.
 
Hey,

If it is an "upgrade edition," it needs to install on top of the current OS, which would be based on the old drive. There are ways of cheating the Windows installation into thinking that it is the standard, not the upgrade version though...

Disconnect your old hard drive if you're concerned that you'll accidentally install to that (optional if you know this won't be an issue). Put your upgrade copy of Windows 8 into the PC and boot from the disc. As above, when you get given the option, click "Custom." At some point you'll get a list of partitions it offers the chance to install onto. Install onto the unpartitioned space on the SSD.

If it's a normal copy of 8.1 pro, the licence key you enter will work. If the disc was an upgrade copy, it won't, in which case, follow the below guide (quoted from lifehacker):


  1. Press the Windows key and type regedit. Press enter to open the Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/ and double-click on the MediabootInstall key in the right pane.
  3. Change the key's value from 1 to 0.
  4. Exit the Registry Editor, press the Windows key again, and type cmd. Right-click on the Command Prompt icon and run it as an administrator.
  5. Type slmgr /rearm and press Enter.
  6. Reboot Windows.
When you get back into Windows, you should be able to run the Activation utility and activate Windows as normal, without getting an error. Obviously, you could use this trick for evil, but it has its legitimate place too—if, say, you're upgrading your hard drive and want to do a fresh install on it, or if you formatted your drive before upgrading.
 
Alright, thanks for the responses folks! I would respond to them all, but I think that might be redundant since, as I made a mention of in my OP, it is now "too late". I tried to start my computer up today to respond to your posts and to try and follow through with your advice, but my computer won't allow me access once I type in my password. It isn't that I'm typing in the password differently or that my password has been changed. I type in the correct password and I get this message " The User Profile Service service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded." So....my HDD is literally on it's last leg and that leg is a shorn off stub of a nub.

I might be posting this question in the wrong tread, but considering that my problem is changing real-time, then I think my thread can as well. If I can not actually access my HDD how am I supposed to get my Windows 8 on the SSD? To me this seems like quite the cluster so I don't even know where to begin. Any hep or suggestions would be appreciated. I'm currently talking with you using my housemate's computer so my responses will more than likely be sporadic. Any and all advice is appreciated.

And just to address your questions thus far, I have a 512 GB SSD. No I did not pirate this upgrade. I bought it directly from the Windows Store. When I mentioned being told by someone that I would be able to use the Windows 8 Pro disk in my possession as a clean install on the SSD, I was referring to someone from the Microsoft Store help desk. I can't tell if the copy I have is the upgrade edition or not. The disk itself just says "Windows 8.0 Pro", and as I mentioned just now, I was told it would let me do a "clean install". I made it very clear to the help desk that I needed to install the OS on a SSD which had no existing OS installed on it, so this disk should be the full OS. Lastly, two nights ago when I first got the install disk I tried to boot from the disk, but when I did I was taken to a screen which was black with white letters (very basic and crude looking). I can't remember too much about the screen but it did have two options I could choose from, the first was an option titled something like "Boot from Windows Vista" or maybe "Boot Windows Vista", and the second option.....I can't remember what it said. But now that I'm having this current issue where I can't get beyond the password login, I will try loading from the disk again and see what happens.
 
Last edited:
This is what you have to do.

1. Disconnect the old hard drive (just unplug it)
2. Turn the PC on, put the Windows 8 disc in the drive. As there is no operating system available to boot from on the hard drive, the system should now default to booting from the disc. Tap any key when (if prompted) to boot up from the disc.
3. The PC should now boot up into the Windows 8 installation, when prompted, select "Custom," not "Upgrade." Select the hard drive you want to install to. (Should only be the SSD as the old drive is disconnected)
 
Nice! That last suggestion worked! So, I've got my SSD working as my main hard drive with Windows 8. I've got a few more upgrade/install questions, but I will post those in the appropriate threads. Thanks for the help everyone!
 
Back
Top Bottom