Windows 8 pro upgrade

have you use the Xbox music feature? I Love it!

 

Guys Intel finally released the Windows 8 drivers for the intel centrino 6300 card ......... here:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/confirm.aspx?httpDown=http://downloadmirror.intel.com/21999/eng/wireless_15.5.6_e64.exe&lang=eng&Dwnldid=21999&DownloadType=Software+Applications&ProductID=3408&ProductFamily=Wireless+Networking&ProductLine=Intel%C2%AE+Centrino%C2%AE+Wi-Fi+Products&ProductProduct=Intel%C2%AE+Centrino%C2%AE+Ultimate-N+6300

Also here is the link for the windows 8 WIDI drivers:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=3227&DwnldID=22016



:

 

Got working OSD?

 

OSD still is not working, but miraculously my FN+F7 option came back..........

 

Even though the driver I installed works perfectly fine with myfi, it's always nice to have the latest driver.

Not yet. Is it good?

I have no idea. I'm at work.

 

Mine still has an Unknown device and I have installed all the drivers? The OSD is loading (in task manager) but not working (no FN+F7) some of the OSD works (brightness,AlainFX).
The device is:
ACPI\VEN_CPL&DEV_0002
ACPI\CPL0002
*CPL0002

Just ordered some blank dvd’s so I will do a fresh install next week.

 

You have used the one for Win7 or downloaded a new for Win8? I think W8 version is not working right.

 

Got my copy and after reading the posts here you there are some problems but solved but comes back again or another one pops out. Would you recommend me upgrading to 8 now or later?
Thanks

 

hmmm....I think it's worth it because my system is faster on windows 8 free of issues. For someone who has issues I'm sure they'd say otherwise.

The windows 7 version.

 

Can you tell me an installation order? for example 1. osd 2. motherboard chipset. Thanks. Also what about NET framework, didn't updated it?

 

So upgrading is straight forward? I don't want to configure my computer again with drivers

 

Also found the problem: USB headsets razer megalodon is not recognized when i'm booting on windows 8, when i replug my headsets -> windows recognizes them... what the hell is that

 

Hello everybody,

After installing windows 8 Pro, I tested the games Battlefield 3 and Medal of Honor ™ Warfighter in both games Crossfire is not working.

Tests with two 7970m in croosfire

I'm using beta4 12:11

 

For myself it was easy peasy....lol. But for a few others, not so much. If I was you I would uninstall your virus protection and remove any USB devices before you start the upgrade process.

 

It's always a good idea to do a fresh OS installation. Turned out the upgrade key can be used to do a fresh installation too: Windows 8 Upgrade: clean install possible? (read the comments).

Just upgrade mine to Pro with Media Center: http://puu.sh/1jqdd
Also the 12.11 Beta4 is great, the cards can even reach higher clocks (compared to 12.10) with afterburner.

 

Totally agree fresh OS instal is the way to go!

 

ok so what are the pros and cons your having.. whats working and whats not..
if you upgrade does it wipe any of your files or cause any sort of conflicts?

7970s people are saying sli isnt working.. what about the 680s?

 

If you upgrade from 7, it don't work that good according to what I experience. I did a clean install from a flash drive and everything work perfect, you don't even need to install the killer driver.

 

My M18x-R1 has been working flawlessly on Win 8 since August. And I always say no to upgrading, clean installation is the way to go.

Don't install the HM67 chipset and dell bluetooth (those included in win 8 are newer).
All the others if there were no win 8 driver, you could install the win 7 version just fine. The drivers which got their win 8 version: Intel HD, Intel Rapid Storage, Intel Management Engine, Synaptics (you can find this on dell driver page for M18x-R2), Bigfoot Killer, AMD, nVIDIA, Qualcomm Atheros, Free fall (you can find this on dell driver page for M18x-R2).

 

OK so I figured out how to install with SecureBoot working if anyone out there is interested. It's a fairly interesting technology and from what I understand it's going to be a useful defence against rootkits and malware.

First of all you need to get the installer onto DVD or a USB stick formatted to FAT32. It cannot be NTFS. Luckily the software that downloads Windows 8 does all this for you.

You then need to boot into the BIOS and go to the Boot menu. Once in there you need to ensure you are set to UEFI boot and not Legacy Boot. Mine was already set to UEFI but selecting it again opened up all the options that were previously greyed out.

I have my drives set to AHCI so have disabled displaying the legacy option ROM you will require if you are using RAID and have also enabled SecureBoot using the standard option.

You need to install windows using UEFI and not the Legacy BIOS for this to work and I don't think you can successfully change it if you installed windows using the legacy BIOS. If you are using the Legacy BIOS you will see the alien head when you boot your machine, if you're on UEFI you will simply see the large text ALIENWARE displayed instead.

Right at the beginning of the Windows install you need to hit Shift+F10 and type DiskPart. Select the disk you want to install to, clean the disk and convert it to GPT.

Once you're in windows you can launch PowerShell and type 'confirm-SecureBootUEFI and you will see either True or False displaying its current status.

 

I think I may need to uninstall Windows 8, I have been getting a lot of disk errors and was unable to boot up my machine after several tries. Anyone else having issues?

 

Hey is anyone else having issues with AlienFX, i cannot make any changes the lights will not change or turn off/go dark, i uninstalled and reinstalled the latest version without any success, please share your thoughts or pm me if you have a solution.

 

Can you tell the commands to convert my disk 0 to GPT? So your secure boot is works now? My secure button option is greyed, cannot turn it on, what i am doing wrong?

 

what is the secure boot option for? can some one explain it to me in lay mans terms .

 

Hey Heihachi - having the exact same problem with the megalodon and win 8 - have to replug on every boot to get it working. Your post is the only one I've found mentioning it... did you come up with a solution or no luck still?

 

Here's a good description of secure boot and what it means: HTG Explains: How Windows 8′s Secure Boot Feature Works & What It Means for Linux - How-To Geek

 

Guys,

For those of you that are interested in performing a clean Windows 8 install, and you are upgrading via the Windows 8 Pro upgrade offer, I just found a great guide for doing so. It comes in 2 parts which consist of 31 steps. It covers virtually every conceivable screen you would see during Windows 8 installation and also explains fully how to go about performing a proper clean install to a blank drive (existing partitions manually deleted) using either a bootable flash drive (which the article suggest a 4gb one at some point) or from a .iso image on optical media.

I haven't got around to even purchasing the upgrade yet but I will be doing so shortly, hence my research into the "clean install from the upgrade version". I think it's a great guide and will probably use it myself when I upgrade. Hope some of you might find it useful....here it is below:

How To Clean Install Windows 8 (Part 1 of 2) - Part 1 (steps 1-20)

How TO Clean Install Windows 8 (Part 2 of 2) - Part 2 (steps 21-31)

Hope it's of some use to someone!

 

And if after that clean install you have troubles activating follow this.

I myself will not put this on my m18x, win 8 is a big miss for me.

 

Didn't found a solution yet, trying to reinstall windows with uplugged devices from USB, will report soon.

To BRICKTOP: How you activated Secure boot option under bios? I can't do that it's inactive.

 

I'ts weird, the OSD driver for the quick access key installs correctly, the entry within the Device Manager disappears but nonetheless, the Eject Button, Mute, Increase and Decrease Sound don't seem to work. If I leave the driver and don't install it however all the keys work except for the Eject Button. Tried this over 3 new installations of the OS, it worked once before, but I was using Windows 7 drivers back then.

I also noticed that the Alienware Command Center Driver does not respond after the start-up, takes around 30 seconds to work, I noticed this because the macro key section of my keyboard wouldn't turn to the corresponding light as it was assigned to.

Everything else is working ^^

 

Bluetooth DOES NOT work properly(A2DP) with Windows 8 on a M18x R1. To get it fully working read this http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/683830-m17xr4-windows-8-rtm-2.html#post8798086 and don't forget to rep the member. Once you install the BT 375 M6600 64bit driver from Dell, you can control it from the BT icon in the taskbar or from the "Devices App".

I also have a M18x R2. The M18x R2 works w/o error straight from W7 to W8.


I Love W8 Pro:thumbsup:

 

on clean install W8 - OSD DOES NOT WORK! Tried 2 different M18x R2's (windows8) OSD is not working on both.

PS. Apps system in W8 is just useless, full screen application mode is just a piece of crap (windows phone style). Can't make work Secure boot, so i can't notice any difference in terms of speed with W7.

 

It's too bad you are having problems with W8. I promise you, OSD is fully operational and working on our M18x R1(0.31.0.15C) & M18x R2(0.32.0.6). On the R1 I didn't change a thing and on the R2 I installed the new OSD over the old OSD.

For the Start Menu/Charms Menu, I HIGHLY suggest purchasing a Logitech W8 T650 Touch Pad so that you can take full advantage(gestures etc...) of W8. It's like a really sweet Windows RT/Desktop touch controller. Some reviews out there say that you can not click and drag with it. That is not true. To click and drag all you have to do is press down anywhere on the pad and drag.

<iframe width='560' height="315" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/_CrKTiGj5ac" frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>











Dell also makes a W8 touch pad but it's crap in comparison to the Logitech T650 touch pad. It's probably just a Logi rebrand. Dell is known for Logi rebrands. Dell TP713 Wireless Touchpad : Desktop Accessories | Dell

They also sell both at the Dell site Touch Accessories | Dell

One thing lame about Logi software is that the Set Point software and Tactx software can NOT be installed at the same time. Even though both are made by Logi. So if you like to use the Tactx macros for the external Tactx Mouse and Tactx Keyboard you are out of luck, because you have to uninstall the Tactx software before you install the Set Point. Luckily W8 can control both devices and the Alienware Command Center still supports AlienFX for both devices w/o the Tactx driver.

 

Hi,
Just done a fresh install and OSD and everything seems to be working ok now.
For anyone that’s interested this is what I did:
Used ImgBurn to create an ISO of the c:\ESD\Windows\ contents, then used rufus_v1.2.0 to create a bootable USB pen drive from the ISO. I then booted to the USB drive and deleted the c: drive petitions and created a new one. Windows also creates a 350 MB one for itself. Then just install, it took about 25 minutes to install. I then ran windows update then installed Free Fall driver, Alienware Command Centre then the OSD and lastly the sound driver as the windows sounds drive dose not turn off the optical out so there was a red light coming out of it.

 

Just a thought here for those who are having OSD/Command Center problems. Have you made sure that windows update is "up to date" before installing Command Center and OSD?? - I'm not sure how up to date the .NET Framework is following on from a fresh Win 8 install but from previous Win 7 experience, CC and OSD are fairly reliant on having the latest version installed to function correctly. Maybe your .NET Framework versions aren't bang up to date and possibly a reason for the loss of functionality.

 

Yes i though so either. What's your .NET framework version 4.5?

 

I'm on 4 right now. No further update for me via Windows Update. I guess I could run 4.5 but I havent as yet. Still on Win 7 right now.....4.5 probably better for Win 8 I imagine.....

 

OK, OSD and AlienFX is working like a charm now Just used the Chipset Driver from Windows 7 @ Dell Homepage, the rest was used for Windows 8 (only exception AlienFX aka ACC). All the media buttons are working now

Edit:

To mention, I did a complete fresh installation of the OS

 

I CANNOT make my Command Center change my lights, i have tried different versions of Command Centre, and updated .NET framework, anyone else facing the same issue?

 

Tried windows 7 chipset driver - no luck.. wth

 

Figured out... download Razer firmware updater for razer megalodon and update! I don't have to unplug my headsets now.

 

Hmm, I used the following drivers:

Chipset - Windows 7 x64
OSD - Windows 7 x64 (I think, that's the point I've missed, sorry my bad)
ACC - Windows 7 x64 (I think that's also necessary)
CardReader - Windows 8 x64
WiFi - Windows 8 x64
Touchpad - Windows 8 x64
MEI - Windows 8 x64
Audio - Windows 8 64
LAN - Windows 7 x64 (no Windows 8 driver at the moment @ Dell HP)

That should be all!

 

Thanks, strange thing that skygunner got working OSD even with win8 version ... hm. When i press ALIENWARE COMMAN CENTER media button - it works, but other doesn't

 

Anyone get a chance to run Vantage or Mark11 on W8 yet?

 

I'm Back to windows7. I think windows8 is A Fail...

 

For both our M18x's I've noticed that Windows 8 manages resources better and is quicker to launch programs and boot from a cold start. Before in W7 I ran around 95 processes after boot. Now on W8 I run 65. Also after closing programs ram usage/allocation goes back to normal, something that usually didn't always happen with W7.

Windows 8 Start Menu/RT is sweet, if you have a method for touch gestures...

 

it has cool features, but for now 7 is way vetter and easy to use!

 

After a few minutes with touch gesters I know you'd change your tone. I thought W7 was easier at first, now W8 is all "child's play". I'm so glad Microsoft did away with games for windows. The new Xbox/Smart glass apps are awesome. Now all my XBL friends can keep in touch with me while I'm on W8.

I really like the touch gester and Start screen for when I'm lazy. I even pinned a control panel app to my start menu....that's how lazy W8 gets you...lol.

 

As was stated in an earlier post, the Logitech Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650 is the way to go and if you haven't bought one yet, staples has them on sale until 11/03/2012 for $59 saving you $20 Logitech Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650 | Staples®

I'm still negotiating a price with Dell on both a M18x for me and a Desktop for my aunt, until I get the price reasonable, I'm very patient and will keep negotiating. But until then I'm ordering one of these bad boys while they still on sale. using a calculator its a 26% savings

 

I just like Heihachi88 am having the same issues with the eject button on the media bar, its the only function on the entire PC that doesn't work.

It's an annoyance to be sure but not a true deal breaker. I figure since I have to support Windows 8 I might as well upgrade to Windows 8 Pro and get the feel of it. At this point I've reloaded the OS twice, used windows 7 and windows 8 drivers with the same result, perhaps its a bug in the OSD on the M18x R2? I know for a fact my button works since it does so in the bios / Windows 7 it's not a huge deal since I barely ever use the optical drive.

Anyone else have any tips on getting it to work?

Also is the OSD supposed to look very basic like the rest of Windows 8 or is it supposed to be like the old style OSD with the obviously 3rd party graphics (e.g. the speaker with the waves in windows 7 vs. the bar on windows 8)