The Official Windows 8 Repository - 1

MySense

5. Frequently Asked Questions

A. Which is the final version of Windows 8? I want the latest version!
During its development, Windows 8 has gone through different stages. The current stage is RTM (August 15, 2012) which is the final version. Microsoft's policy is to not touch this version until a Service Pack is released, which usually comes one year after the RTM was released.
The release dates are/were as follows:
August 15th: MSDN and TechNet
August 16th: Microsoft Software Assurance and Microsoft Partner Network Members
August 20th: Microsoft Action Pack Providers (MAPS)
August 25th - 30th: Microsoft Dreamspark Premium
September 1st: Volume License customers without Software Assurance
October 26th: Consumer general availability for upgrade downloads and new PC sales

B. Can I upgrade from Windows 7 RTM or previous Windows 8 Builds?
Yes you can upgrade following the chart below.




C. How to switch my Windows to another language?
Windows 8 includes a simple option to choose the display language. This will allow you to change the language of your Windows installation easily, without having to restart your computer!
There is a total of 35 languages available. You can download them as language packs via Windows Update or you can download and install them individually via Microsoft.

To Download Via Microsoft:

• Download the desired language pack. - Download Language Packs
• Once the language pack you want is installed, press Ctrl + R then type "change display language" or "LPKSetup.exe" and press ENTER.
• Click "Install display languages", select the desired language folder, then the lp.cab file inside it.
• Accept the license agreement and the language pack will install.
  

Here is a video by BAV0 about how to install LPs.


To Download Via Windows Update:  

• Once you have downloaded and installed Windows 8, go to Windows Update (type "wup" in Start menu).
• Check for updates and show the optional updates.
• Download and install any language that you would like.
• Once the language pack you want is installed, type "change display language" in Start menu and press ENTER.
• Select your language and click OK!
  

This was only for your User Account. If you also want to apply your language to the Welcome Screen, and make it the default language for other accounts, continue with the steps below:

• Type "change display language" in Start menu and press ENTER.
• Select the "Administrative" tab, and click the "Copy settings..." button.
• Select and tick the 2 check-boxes and click OK!
  

D. Should I install the 32 bits or the 64 bits version?
If you have 3 GB of RAM or more, install the 64 bits version. If you have 2 GB of RAM or less, install the 32 bits version. If you have between 2 GB and 3 GB of RAM, both versions are OK, and it's up to you to decide. — Before making any decision, make sure that your processor supports 64 bits instructions. Find your processor on Intel's website or AMD's website and check if it supports either "EM64T" or "AMD64".

E. What are the System Requirements for Windows 8?
Windows 8 works great on the same hardware that powers Windows Vista and Windows 7:

• 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor with PAE, NX and SSE2 support
• 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
• 20 GB available hard disk space
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
• To use touch, you need a tablet or monitor that supports multitouch
• To access 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
  

F. How to remove "Activate Windows Now" watermark?
Click here for a tutorial.

G. How to turn on Aero? I can't find it?
Aero is removed from Windows 8. Click here for a tutorial to turn it back on!

H. How Do I Edit The Win+X Menu?
Check This Thread Here.

I. How Do I Get The Start Menu Back?
Option 1:
Download Vistart Here.
Then Follow This Guide Here.
Option 2:
Download Classic Shell Here.
Then Follow This Guide Here.

J. How to boot into Safe Mode?

• From the Home screen just type “CMD” and Right click on it then on the bottom of the screen you’ll see advance click on it and click on “Run as administrator
• Then type "bcdedit /enum /v"
• Now you’ll see two descriptions, look under “Windows Boot Loader” and copy the Identifier entry.
• Now type "bcdedit /copy {72b4a7cd-e189-11e0-af56-eb8118bcf02b}  /d “Windows 8 (Safe Mode)”"
• Replace the GUID with the one you copied.
• Now from the same command prompt type in “MSCONFIG”. Then go to the Boot Tab and check on the box where it says “Make all boot settings permanent” click on Apply and click OK.
• Reboot your System you now when you press F8. Click on “Use another operating system” then select Safe Mode then you system will restart and login to Safe Mode.
  

K. How do I change the lock-screen language/time format?

Open the following in a text editor: C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Wind  ows\Logon\UserSetti  ngs.ini

For example, the settings below changed the clock to 24 hour format and show month/day in Dutch.
            Code:
        [GlobalizationPreferences]    TimeFormat=HH:mm tt    LocaleName=en-US    GeographicRegion=US    Calendar=GregorianCalendar    Clock=24HourClock    Languages=nl-NL
L. How Do I Install Media Center In Windows 8?
NOTE: There is no way to reverse this once done!

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Go to System and Security
3. Click Add Windows Features
4. In the popup enter the Media Pack product key.
5. Click Continue, When finished click Done and Windows will restart.
6. Done! Go and open Media Center and enjoy

MySense

M. What are some Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows 8?
Win+C : Opens Charms Bar
Win+D : Show Desktop
Win+E : Opens Windows Explorer
Win+F : Opens File Search App
Win+H : Opens Share charm
Win+I  : Opens Settings charm
Win+K : Opens Connect charm
Win+L : Lock computer
Win+O : Locks device orientation
Win+Q : Opens Search pane
Win+R : Opens Run
Win+V : Cycles through toasts
Win+Shift+V : Cycles through toasts in reverse order
Win+W : Opens Settings Search app
Win+Y : Temporarily peek at the desktop
Win+Z : Opens App Bar
Win+Tab : Cycles through Metro Applications
Win+Ctrl+Tab : Cycles through Metro Applications in Snap
Win+Shift+Ctrl+Tab : Cycles through Metro Applications in Snap (Backwards)
Win+. : Moves the Snap view to the right
Win+Shift+. : Moves the Snap view to the left
Win+Spacebar : Switch input language and keyboard layout
Win+Enter : Launches Narrator
Home : Jumps to the first Tile
End : Jumps to the last Tile
PgUp : Moves Startscreen to the left
PgDown : Moves Startscreen to the right
Ctrl+Scrollwheel : Semantic Zoom

In explorer windows:
ALT + A : Open Easy access
ALT + CO : Copy selected items
ALT + CP : Copy Path of the selected item
ALT + CF : Copy to folder, using the drop-down menu
ALT + D : Delete selected items
ALT + E : Edit selected item
ALT + H : Show History of the document revisions
ALT + M : Move files to location using the drop-down menu
ALT + N : Create New Folder
ALT + PS : Paste Shortcut in the location
ALT + PR : Open Properties box
ALT + PE : Open new document, choose from drop-down menu
ALT + SA : Select All items
ALT + SN : Select None
ALT + SI : Invert Selection
ALT + R : Rename selected items
ALT + T : Cut selected items.
ALT + V : Paste copied items
ALT + W : Create New Item

O. Windows Release Preview and Consumer Preview
If You Would Still Like The Consumer Preview or Release Preview Here Are The Links:
WRP English, 32-bit (x86) - Windows8-ReleasePreview-32bit-English.iso - Magnet Link
WRP English, 64-bit (x64) - Windows8-ReleasePreview-64bit-English.iso - Magnet Link
WRP English, Online Setup -  Windows8-ReleasePreview-UpgradeAssistant.exe
WRP Server English, 32-bit (x86) - 8400.0.WINMAIN_WIN8RC.120518-1423_X64FRE_SERVER_EN-US-HRC_SSS_X64FRE_EN-US_DV5.ISO
WRP Server English, 64-bit (x64) - 8400.0.amd64fre.winmain_win8rc.120518-1423_server_serverdatacenter_en-us.exe
WCP English, 32-bit (x86) - WindowsDeveloperPreview-32bit-English.iso, Magnet Link
WCP English, 64-bit (x64) - Windows8-ConsumerPreview-64bit-English.iso, Magnet Link
WCP English Server, 64-bit (x64) - 8250.0.WINMAIN_WIN8BETA.120217-1520_X64FRE_SERVER_EN-US-HB1_SSS_X64FRE_EN-US_DV5.ISO
WCP English Server VHD, 64-bit (x64) - 8250.0.amd64fre.winmain_win8beta.120217-1520_server_serverdatacenter_en-us.exe

The Product Key For WRP Is: TK8TP-9JN6P-7X7WW-RFFTV-B7QPF
The Product Key For WRP Server Is: D87P2-FNXP8-9CWH2-HGVG8-78KXV
The Media Center Key For Build WRP Is: MBFBV-W3DP2-2MVKN-PJCQD-KKTF7
The Product Keys For WCP Are:
DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J
RGMGV-NVC78-HVV8M-2H2Y8-PJ73W
TVK6N-GBBK4-M4KB4-PTQYG-HFMQW

These will be removed in September when Windows 8 is generally released.

6. Updating & Spreading the word!

A. Updating often is the secret for reliable information
Please help me keeping this post up-to-date by posting any new information that you've got. Also, please let me know if you've seen any mistake or any dead link so I can correct it as soon as possible — contact me.

B. Spread the word!
You can help a lot of people by simply adding a link to this thread in your signature.

Thanks!

From: My Digital Life Forum

MySense

a more detailed instruction for option 2 of installation, something like this (I copied/paste from the www):
Instructions (using the command line)

Step 1: Mount the Windows 8 Developer Preview ISO image on your computer

The first step is to mount the ISO image on your computer. Since Windows 7 doesn’t have the capability to mount an ISO image, you’ll have to use a 3rd party tool.

• Download the Windows Developer Preview ISO image (choose one of the three available)
• Using your favorite ISO image software, mount the ISO image on your computer
  

Step 2: Format a USB flash drive

In case you’re wondering how big of a USB flash drive you need, an 8GB drive is perfect since it can accommodate any of the three available ISO images. Here are the steps to format a USB flash drive.

• Insert a USB flash drive into your computer
• Start a Command Prompt as an Administrator and type diskpart. This starts the Disk Partition tool which you need to use to format the flash drive. Once you see the DISKPART command prompt, type in the following commands
• DISKPART> list disk                                 /* shows list of active disks */
• DISKPART> select disk #                         /* # is the number for your USB flash drive */
• DISKPART> clean                                     /* deletes any existing partitions on the USB flash drive */
• DISKPART> create partition primary     /* create a primary partition on the USB flash drive */
• DISKPART> select partition 1                 /* select the newly created partition */
• DISKPART> active                                    /* make the new partition active */
• DISKPART> format FS=NTFS quick /* format the USB drive with NTFS file system */
• DISKPART> assign                                   /* assign a volume and drive letter to the USB drive */
• DISKPART> exit                                        /* exit Disk Partition */
  

At this point, your USB flash drive should be showing up in Windows Explorer and have a drive letter assigned to it, e.g. F:\.

Step 3: Make the USB flash drive bootable

We just need to make the USB flash drive bootable before copying the files. To do this, you can use the Boot Sector Registration Tool (bootsect.exe) which is located in the boot folder of the Windows 8 ISO image.

• Start a Command Prompt as an Administrator and CHDIR into the boot folder of the Windows 8 ISO image, e.g. I:\boot where I:\ is the drive where the ISO image is mounted
• Type bootsect /nt60 E:                              /* where E: is the drive assigned to the USB flash drive */
  

Step 4: Copy the Windows 8 files onto the USB flash drive

From a command line, use XCOPY to copy the Windows 8 files to the USB flash drive . In the example below, I:\ is the drive where the ISO image is mounted. F:\ is the USB flash drive.
XCOPY I:\*.* F:\ /E /F /H