Windows 8 Upgrade - Clean install on Thinkpads?

I have a Windows 8 PRO Upgrade Registration Key and DVD, I was wondering is it possible to do a totally clean install without first having Windows 7 installed on the system?

I know in the past if you used an upgrade version of Windows it would simply ask you to insert a previous version of windows cd or key to verify, then let you get on with the process, can you still do this?

I don't want to have to first install Win7 before I can install Win8.

I have a spare win 7 pro key I can use, however can I use the Lenovo OEM key I was able to pull from my system using Magic Jelly Bean Keyfinder? or under the battery.

Thank you.

 

You must purchase a "full version" license to avoid upgrading from an existing Windows 7 installation. Note that when "upgrading," you are allowed to format your drive, i.e. start from scratch. But it's still a pain that an existing Windows 7 is required.

 

Thanks Kaso,

Told this trick works, you clean install with your clean version of windows 8 upgrade and then do this:

Windows 8 users who noticed that the operating system can’t be activated after the installation may want to try the following workaround that worked to activate when installing Windows 8 using an upgrade on a clean PC.

Open regedit by pressing Windows-q, entering regedit and selecting the result from the list of hits.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/
Change MediaBootInstall from 1 to 0
Go back to the start screen and enter cmd there.
Right-click Command Prompt and select to run it as administrator.
Type slmgr /rearm on the command line and hit enter.
Reboot Windows now.
Run the activation utility afterwards, enter your product key to activate Windows.

- Optional to running the activation utility after doing the /rearm is entering your key via cli by:

then install your key

slmgr -ipk XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX
slmgr -ato

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I haven't tried it yet but it's working for many. Think i'll try on a VM.

 

Do let us know how it turns out for you.

 

Well I just installed Windows 8 Pro Upgrade edition on a totally clean Virtual Machine and it didn't give me any activation issue nor did it ask me for a Windows 7 CD or Key.

I simply installed from CD iso and it worked a charm. Based on that it looks like you can install Win8 Pro Upgrade on a clean PC without a previous Windows OS and if you do run into any troubles you can try the trick I mentioned above but so far I haven't run into any issues.

 

I was able to do a clean install on my T520 using the Win8 Pro upgrade disk. I ran into zero issues during activation. I didn't care for Win8 and the missing Lenovo drivers (didn't feel right) so I wiped again with the Win7 Pro recovery DVDs. Feels like home again.

Maybe one day, but Win8 wasn't right for me.

 

Agreed Hotsauce, that is why I tried it first on a new work VM. Still don't like the feel of Window 8, I am sure in time I will get used to it but for me it's important to have good driver support etc and the Lenovo factory Win7 Pro image works well performance wise and feels like the good old Windows I am used to.

I think driver support for Windows 8 is still to immature for me. I will wait for application and driver support to mature a fair bit before I give it a try on my W530. I just wanted the cheap copy for $14.95 and to test if I could do a totally clean install with it which seems to be no problem.

For now I am staying with Win7 Pro.