How to download and install Windows 8. Updated 491. 5 This article is out of date for the latest information with active links, heres how to download and install the latest version of Windows 8. Update for free. Or go here to find out how to download Windows 1. Technical Preview. The original story from October 2. Windows 8. 1 has been released. If youre using Windows 8, upgrading to Windows 8. If youre using another operating system Windows 7, Windows XP, OS X, you can either buy a boxed version 1. Windows 8. 1 Pro, or opt for one of the free methods listed below. To download and install Windows 8. How to download Windows 8. Get help, support, and tutorials for Windows productsWindows 10, Windows 8. Windows 7, and Windows 10 Mobile. After a disastrous experience trying to perform clean installs of Windows 7 with Upgrade media, its time to look at how this process works in Windows 8. Once upon a time, if you wanted a Windows ISO file, you had just two options. Rip a CD you already had, or head to your friendly local torrent site. Now, theres an. If you dont want to wait for October 1. Windows 8. 1 You can obtain a copy and a license key from a friendcolleague with an MSDN, Tech. To download Windows 8. The US Department of Defense is struggling to get its arms around all of the new security issues that have come with our current technological explosion. One. Season 7 of HBOs Game of Thrones premieres this Sunday, giving you just enough time to figure out where to place your bets in your death pool and how to watch the. Net, or Dream. Spark student subscription, or you can download a Windows 8. RTM ISO from your favorite file sharing website The Pirate Bay, Mega, etc. While were not going to write a guide on how to obtain Windows 8. RTM from non official sources, we will at least tell you to check the SHA 1 hash of the ISO that you download to make sure that its legitimate. If you hit up the MSDN Subscriber Downloads page, and then click Details under the version that youve obtained from elsewhere, youll find the SHA 1 hash. If you then use File Checksum Integrity Verifier FCIV on the ISO, the hash should match. If it doesnt, assume the ISO has been compromised and download another. But do make sure that youre checking the right SHA 1 hash on the MSDN website your ISO might be mislabeled. The other easier, and completely legal, option is to download the Windows 8. Preview from Microsoft. Its not as snappy as the final RTMGA build, though, and has quite a few bugsmissing features. Bear in mind that if you go down this road, upgrading to a real version of Windows 8. How to install Windows 8. Once you have the Windows 8. ISO on your hard drive, the installation process is painless. Before you begin, you should consider backing up your important files and documents, but its not really necessary. You should also ensure that you have plenty of free hard drive space 2. GB. If youre already running Windows 8 and you downloaded the RTM ISO from somewhere other than the Windows Store, you can install Windows 8. ISO in Explorer by double clicking it, and then running the installer. If youre on Windows 7, XP, or bless your soul Vista, youll need to burn the ISO to a USB thumb drive or DVD, or mount the ISO using a third party virtual drive tool, like Magic ISO. If you already have Windows 8, and you waited for the official release date, installing Windows 8. Windows Store and downloading the free update. In both these cases, the upgrade process should be very smooth, with your apps and settings fully preserved. If you upgrade from Windows 8. Preview, however, you will lose your installed apps, unless you first run a cversion. Once youve installed Windows 8. Windows 8. 1 tips and tricks, and be sure to check our Windows 8. Codewright Software Download. Sebastian Anthony wrote the original version of this article. It has since been updated with new information. UpdateStar is compatible with Windows platforms. UpdateStar has been tested to meet all of the technical requirements to be compatible with Windows 10, 8.