1. Upgrading to Windows 8
Operationally, a
Windows 8 upgrade installation is almost entirely the same as a clean
install. The difference is that in an upgrade you leave in place all of
your system data, the file system, and as many system settings as
Windows 8 can possibly retain. This will prove useful when you need to
do an in-place upgrade of a previous Windows 8 installation or when you
want to continue using what you’ve been working with in Windows 7.
Although many experts say that operating
system upgrades are less stable than clean installs, Microsoft usually
does a very good job of ensuring that compatible settings are retained
and that non-compatible settings are discarded.
Not all Windows 8 upgrades are allowed, however. Table 1 shows the kinds of upgrades from Windows 7 that Microsoft allows.
Table 1. Upgrades Allowed from Windows 7 to Windows 8
The upgrade install differs from a clean install in several ways:
• Your computer already has a name, so you won’t be prompted for a new one.
• The user accounts already exist, so you won’t be prompted to create new ones.
• Your applications should still be installed and should retain their settings.
• Many of your system settings remain intact.
• Your data should be intact in folders that you created.
You can upgrade Windows 7 and leave your
personal data, settings, and apps in place. The upgrade can be applied
to Windows XP and Vista, but with those operating systems you can only
retain your personal data; everything else is lost. Also, and most
importantly you can only upgrade a 32-bit OS to 32-bit Windows 8, and a
64-bit OS to 64-bit Windows 8.
To upgrade to Windows 8
1. Insert the Windows 8 installation disc into the optical drive of your computer and start up from your optical drive.
or
Double-tap or double-click the Windows 8 ISO file or use the Notification box to open the disk and launch the ISO file.
2. Follow steps 3–6 in the previous section. On the “Which type of installation do you want” screen, click the Upgrade button .
The upgrade installation option overwrites your system files and leaves your data and settings intact.
If you log in to Windows 8 and begin an
installation, the installer assumes you want to upgrade your
installation if it finds an existing Windows installation on your
system, and you will go directly to step 4.
3. Select the boot partition that contains your Windows 7 (or 8) operating system, and then tap or click Next.
4. On the screen titled Choose What to Keep, select one of the following three radio buttons:
• Keep Windows settings, personal files, and apps. This can be selected when upgrading Windows 7 to Windows 8.
• Keep personal files only. This option applies to any version of Windows from Windows XP on.
• Nothing. This option is available for any version of Windows from Windows XP on.
5. Tap or click the Next button.
6. Complete steps 10–12 from the previous section.
Tip
It is always a good
idea to back up your system before you upgrade to a new operating
system. To be really safe, many experts recommend that you back up your
system twice, to two different types of media. Things can go wrong
during an upgrade, so take some precautions.
2. Sleep, Shut Down, and Restart
One of the oddities of Windows 8 is that it is
missing the power down options that were so prominently displayed as
part of the Start menu in Windows 7. That menu is now on the Settings
bar, which is accessed from the Settings charm. You can also shut down
Windows from the Desktop by pressing Alt+F4, or from anywhere in the
operating system by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del.
Microsoft designed the tile-based apps so that
you don’t need to shut down Windows to save power, nor do you need to
close those apps when you switch away from them. On a tablet or phone,
the sleep function may be sufficient for most of your needs. To conserve
resources, the tile-based apps save themselves to disk and remove
themselves from memory when you switch away from them.
Each device that runs Windows 8 also comes
with a physical Power button, and some come with a physical Sleep button
as well. You also invoke the sleep function when you close the lid on a
laptop or tablet. The Power Options control panel in Windows 8 contains
a setting that allows you to modify the function of the Power and Sleep buttons.
The Power Options control panel lets you set the behavior of buttons on your Windows 8 device.
To access the Power Down menu from the Charms bar
1. To open the Charms bar, swipe from the right edge of your display or press 
+C.
2. Tap or click the Settings charm.
3. Tap or click the Power icon, and select Sleep, Shut down, or Restart from the pop-up menu .
The Power Down menu as accessed from the Settings Charm
If you access the Power Down menu by pressing
Ctrl+Alt+Del, you will see the same Power icon and menu in the
lower-right corner of the display.
To shut down Windows 8 from the Desktop
1. Tap or click the Desktop to make it active.
or
Click the Show Desktop button at the far right of the taskbar to minimize all windows and make the Desktop active.
2. Press Alt+F4 to open the Shut Down Windows dialog box .
From the Desktop, display the Shut Down Windows dialog box by pressing Alt+F4.
3. Select the action you wish to take from the drop-down list: Switch user, Sign out, Sleep, Shut down, or Restart.
4. Tap or click OK to complete the action.
Tip
Alt+F4 is the equivalent of the Exit command
that is commonly placed at the bottom of an application’s File menu. You
can use this keystroke to close out almost all Windows
applications—often, even troublesome ones that appear frozen.
Tip
The System Settings area of the Power Options
control panel contains settings that allow you to control when a device
automatically goes to sleep or shuts down.
