Windows 8.1 upgrade or clean install.

I have the Windows 8.1 Pro via DreamSpark and I was wondering if I still need to do a clean install of 8.1 onto my PC. Thanks.

 

If you have Windows 7, it will more or less end up being a clean install. If you have Windows 8, there is the option to upgrade.

 

I currently have Windows 8 on my laptop, therefore I was wondering if it's still worth it to just clean install 8.1 or just go the upgrade path,

 

I thought the final Windows 8.1 didn't come out until mid October. Are you sure it isn't a pre-release version?

 

Windows 8.1 Professional now available on DreamSpark [Update] - Neowin

 

Thanks Subzero. As to the orginal question, just use the Windows 8 image function to run it from within Windows. Then it should let you upgrade your Windows and keep everything.

(Too bad I am no longer a student, so no longer have Dreamspark access.)

 

W8.1 is easy to find, it's been available for about one month. I've been running it for the last week, it works great, but since I put the taskbar at the top I now have two start buttons.. I don't need any of them.

An upgrade would most likely make the install bigger, although there may be ways to reduce it afterwards. If your computer came preloaded with W8 you have yet another reason to do a clean install, just to get rid of the junk (if there is any).

I always go clean install.

 

" In an interview with TechTarget, Erwin Visser, general manager of the Windows commercial division, explained that users should install Windows 8.1 though the built-in update option and not necessarily by performing a clean install.

“One of the things we are advising with Windows 8.1 is for customers to update their OSes through upgrade bits instead of wipes and loads. This means that we are confident the upgrade process of the OS is created with Windows 8.1, and it will be much more lightweight for customers to deploy Windows 8.1 at least,” he was quoted as saying."

 

Sorry for the late reply guys, yeah the Windows 8.1 on DS is indeed the final version. I guess I will just go to the upgrade path not the clean install for I have many apps on my PC and I don't have the time to install them all over again.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but windows 8 drivers should work with the 8.1 right? I'm afraid that if I install 8.1 right away, I'll not be able to use the fingerprint scanner etc. on my X230.

 

I don't see the reason why they shouldn't. I mean, "0.1" is a sort of Service Pack and nothing else.

 

Generally things should work, but worst case, check with Lenovo. Some devices, like nVidia cards, have a specific driver version where 8.1 was officially supported. On my T520 I could use Win7/Win8 drivers for the devices Windows Update did not have drivers for.

 

I went ahead and installed W 8.1 as an upgrade on my M14xr1 everything went fine my apps and files were intact. However, I noticed that WD's smartware app was acting weird when backing up my PC; therefore, I just reinstalled that one and everything is fine again.

As for my x230, I'm just gonna wait till Lenovo updated all their drivers for Windows 8.1 as I just got my x230 like a week ago.