The good news is that not only can
you upgrade to Windows 8 from Windows 7, Windows Vista, and even
Windows XP, but that upgrade will only set you back $40 for the online
download (it’s $70 at retail). The bad news is that upgrading isn’t
straightforward, not even close. For starters, if you’re thinking of
making the move from a 32-bit version of Windows 7, Vista, or XP to
64-bit Windows 8, you can’t do it as an upgrade. Instead, you need to
install the full version of Windows 8 and then restore your personal
files from a backup, reinstall your applications, and reconfigure your
Windows settings.
Also, each earlier version of Windows has its own upgrade quirks, as the next few sections show.
Upgrading from Windows 7
You can upgrade to Windows 8 from any version
of Windows 7, but there are a few things to keep in mind for each
version of Windows 8:
• Windows 8—You can
only upgrade to Windows 8 (the basic version of Windows 8) from the
Starter, Home Basic, or Home Premium version of Windows 7.
• Windows 8 Pro—You can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro from any version of Windows 7 except Enterprise.
• Windows 8 Enterprise—You can only upgrade to Windows 8 Enterprise from Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Enterprise.
In all cases, the Windows 8 installer enables
you to transfer your current Windows 7 settings, your Windows 7 user
accounts and personal data, as well as any applications that are
compatible with Windows 8. When you run the install from within Windows
7, you eventually see a dialog box that asks what you want to preserve
during the upgrade, as shown in Figure 1.
Note that in this case you can preserve just your personal data (user
accounts and personal files), everything (your personal data, your
Windows settings, and your apps), or nothing.
Figure 1.
When upgrading from any edition of Windows 7, you can preserve your
Windows 7 user accounts, your personal files, your Windows settings,
and your apps.
Upgrading from Windows Vista
You can upgrade to Windows 8 from any version
of Windows Vista, but the data that gets preserved depends on what
Service Pack you have installed:
• Windows Vista with no Service Pack installed—If
you’re still running the original version of Windows Vista, you’ll only
be able to transfer your user accounts and their associated files.
• Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 or later—If
you’ve installed at least one Vista Service Pack, then you’ll be able
to transfer not only your user accounts and personal files, but also
your current Windows settings.
When you run the install
from within Vista, you eventually see a dialog box that asks what you
want to preserve during the upgrade. Figure 2
shows the dialog box that appears if you’re running Windows Vista with
Service Pack 1 or later. Note that in this case you can preserve just
your personal data (user accounts and personal files) or both your
personal data and your Windows settings.
Figure 2.
When upgrading from Windows Vista Service Pack 1 or later, you can
preserve your Vista user accounts, your personal files, and your
Windows settings.
Upgrading from Windows XP
Not surprisingly for an operating system that
first saw the light of day more than 11 years before Windows 8, Windows
XP offers the least attractive upgrade path to Windows 8.
For starters, you must have Service Pack 3
installed, or it’s no upgrade for you! Also, even with Service Pack 3
installed, when you run the install, you eventually see the dialog box
shown in Figure 3.
This dialog box means that the only thing that Windows 8 can preserve
for you is your XP user accounts and personal files. To preserve even
that pittance, be sure to leave the Keep Personal Files option
activated.
Figure 3.
When upgrading from Windows XP Service Pack 3, all you can preserve is
your XP user accounts and the files associated with each account.
Running the Upgrade
To preserve your data (whether it’s apps,
settings, or user profile data), you need to launch the Windows 8 Setup
program from within your current version of Windows. (In other words,
don’t boot to the install media and then run Setup.)
When you launch the installer, you usually see the Get the Latest dialog box, shown in Figure 4.
For the best chance of a successful upgrade, we recommend installing
the latest updates. The installer then asks what you want to transfer
to Windows 8 (as we described in the previous three sections). From
there, the installer checks your system to see if you need to make any
adjustments before proceeding. (For example, if your notebook PC is
running on batteries, the installer will prompt you to switch to AC
power before it will let you continue the install.)
Figure 4.
When you launch the Windows 8 Setup program from within a previous
version of Windows, the program asks if you want the latest updates.
