In most cases, the latest updates will be installed automatically using Windows Update. Temporarily turn off your antivirus program. Some antivirus software might interfere with the installation. After you install Windows 8. The Store is no longer open for Windows 8, so you'll need to download Windows 8. Go to the Windows 8. Select Confirm and follow the remaining prompts to begin the download. The update will download and install in the background while you use your PC to do other things.
The installer will check to make sure you have enough disk space, that your apps and devices will work with Windows 8. In some cases, the installer might find something you need to take care of before you can continue installing the update. If so, you'll see a message telling you what you need to do.
After the update is downloaded and the first phase of the installation is complete which could take between 15 minutes and a few hours, depending on your system and your connection speed , you'll see a message telling you that your PC needs to restart. Or you can restart it yourself. Important: If you leave your PC before it's ready to restart, be sure to save your work and close any desktop apps you're using to make sure you don't lose anything when it restarts automatically.
Restarting will take longer than usual—from 20 minutes to about an hour—while the update is applied. During this time, you won't be able to use your PC.
You'll see a list of recommended settings called Express settings. To accept these settings and continue, select Use express settings. You can change any of these settings later, after you finish setting up. If you'd like to change some of these settings now, select Customize. For more info, select Learn more about express settings. To learn about how these settings affect your privacy, select Privacy statement.
Next, you'll be asked to sign in. If you already use a Microsoft account to sign in to Windows 8 or Windows RT, your account name will be filled in for you.
If you previously used a local account, you can still use it to sign in. We'll send a security code to the alternate email address or phone number you've set up for this account, and you'll need to enter that code to verify that you're the owner of the account. This helps us protect your account and devices when you access sensitive info. If you don't have alternate contact info set up for the account yet, you'll be asked to provide it now.
To sign in with your local account, enter your password. You can always connect to a Microsoft account later, and we recommend giving it a try. Simply put, your Microsoft account is the glue that holds together so many useful features of the new Windows. With an account, you'll be able to get apps from the Windows Store, automatically sync your settings and documents between PCs, back up your photos to the cloud so you can get to them from anywhere, and see all your contacts from multiple email and social networking accounts together in the People and Mail apps.
If this is your first time setting up a PC with Windows 8. If you already have another PC running Windows 8.
Photos you take with this PC are saved to your camera roll folder on this PC, and a smaller copy of each photo is automatically backed up to your OneDrive. When you create a new document, the default save location is OneDrive.
But you can always choose to save individual documents locally or on another drive. Windows will save a backup copy of your PC settings to OneDrive. If something ever happens to your PC and you need to replace it, your settings are saved in the cloud and you can transfer them to a new PC instantly.
You can change any of these settings later in PC settings. If you'd prefer to turn off all of these settings now, select Turn off these OneDrive settings not recommended.
Windows checks for these critical updates when you finish setting up Windows 8. Downloading and installing these updates might take a few minutes, depending on the updates you need. Your PC might also need to restart one or more times to complete the updates. Your desktop apps come with you when you update to Windows 8. You can see all of the Windows Store apps you own in the Your apps section of the Store.
From here, you can choose the ones you want to install on your updated PC and install them all at once. Select Account , and then select My apps. Note: You don't need to wait for the apps to finish installing. They'll keep installing in the background while you do other things. Additionally, Windows 10 has the same system requirements as Windows 8. Even though Windows 11 has been announced, upgrading to Windows 10 has several advantages. Windows 10, on the other hand, was compatible with virtually everything Windows 8.
Windows 10 will also be supported through , which gives you an extra two full years of support before needing to figure out an alternative solution. If you are somehow still stuck on Windows 8. If you want to download just the Windows 8. Windows 8. To download and install Windows 8.
The other easier, and completely legal, option is to download the Windows 8. Bear in mind that if you go down this road, upgrading to a real version of Windows 8. Once you have the Windows 8. If you already have Windows 8, and you waited for the official release date, installing Windows 8.
