Windows Tools, Help & Guides

Update: September 15th 2011 @ 11:11 ET: Added some more feedback from readers below.

Update: September 17th 2011 @ 7:44 ET: Added more feedback.

Yesterday, I put up four questions, which ask you about what you think about Windows 8. Quite promptly someone answered with the response:

“Less of this stupidity. I have not yet left BUILD and you lot seem to be lauding it”

[...]

“As it has not been released whats the point of this? How many beta testers are there?”

Just in case you’re also stuck at some unknown conference and didn’t know the Developer Preview is available, you can find out more about it here. Here’s what some of you said:
Read more…

So now you have the Windows 8 Developer Preview installed as a virtual machine using VirtualBox, but you found out that the guest addition of VirtualBox doesn’t work properly in Windows 8 Developer Preview, which means that it won’t auto-adjust the resolution when you resize the window, and have to stick with the resolution available by default.

No worry. There is an alternative solution to force the desired resolution to be available in the VirtualBox guest OS, so if you have done it correctly, you can now run Windows 8 Developer Preview in VirtualBox with your screen native resolution. Instructions after the jump.

Read more…

Windows 8 Developer Preview requires a clean install. If you don’t want to wipe your computer or install Windows 8 on a separate partition or drive, you should consider installing Windows 8 as a Virtual Machine (VM.)

To run Windows 8 Developer Preview as a virtual machine, I recommend using VirtualBox (review) as your host.

This guide will show you how to:

• Install Virtual Box & Set up Windows 8 VM
• Install Windows 8 in Virtual Box

Requirements

1. Oracle VM VirtualBox
2. Windows 8 Developer Preview ISO file (32-bit or 64-bit)
3. Windows Live ID (for best testing experience, sign up here if you don’t have one)
4. Internet Connection (for best testing experience)

Besides that, also make sure that your computer has the Virtualization Technology (VT-x/AMD-V) activated in the BIOS. Proceed to the installation if you are ready with everything. Read more…

The quickest way to get Windows 8 installed is to take a blank PC (or empty partition) and install Windows 8 from USB.

What You’ll Need

• Blank partition/hard drive
• 4 GB USB drive (32 bit/64 bit ISO), 8 GB USB drive (64 bit ISO with developer tools)

To install Windows 8 Developer Preview from a USB thumb drive, you’ll need to:

1. Format your thumb drive and copy the installation files
2. Boot from your thumb drive
3. Install Windows 8

Format Your Thumb Drive and Copy the Installation Files

You’ll need to format your thumb drive and copy over the Windows 8 installation files. There are a few methods to do this. I’ve included the easiest method below (or you can do it manually):

1. Download the Developer Preview ISO file

2. Download the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

3. Open the tool; browse to the Windows 8 ISO and click Next

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We love desktop wallpaper on Windows Guides. Here’s a collection of 50 hand-picked high-resolution wallpapers from various sources online. Know a good place for wallpaper or have some to share? Let us know about it in the comments.

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I’d like you to take a minute to answer 2-4 questions on what you think of Windows 8. The second and fourth questions are optional; however, I encourage you to answer them too.

If you don’t see the form below, please leave a comment.