Need Help With Windows 8 and 2 HDD'S

Well technically 8.1 now but I think I still have the old install on my hdd so maybe I can therefrom from the hard drive first? I don't want 8.1 although the tech guy's at tigerdirect never gave me a 8.0 product key so if I go and reformat then install from the hdd will it go straight to 8.1? :/

I just got a Lenovo y500 and they put in a 120gb kingston ssd for me and took out the 1tb hdd and I got an external casing for it.

But I already have a 2tb western digital hdd and basically what I want to do is start my computer fresh but have it so windows 8 is on the 2tb harddrive and then I don't need to bother with the 1tb in external casing.

How would I go about safely doing that?

 

if i understand correctly, you'd like to install W8/8.1 on your external WD 2TB drive. you can't. you can only install W8/8.1 on an external drive with the enterprise version. W8/8.1 pro and less must be installed on an internal/nonremovable drive.

if you want to start fresh your best bet is to wipe the SSD and install windows there, caddy the 1TB drive in your optical bay rather than put it an external case and use it for storage (some programs, music, photos, videos, etc.), and backup to the external if you have no other use for it. note that you'll be removing your optical (i.e. DVD or blu-ray) drive this way.

i can say, having just installed a fresh copy of W8.1 on my 120GB SSD, that the entire install (drivers included) only takes up ~14GB--so there shouldn't be any concern with having just the 120GB SSD as your OS drive. the W8 key is stored in your machine's firmware (i.e. EFI) so you're able to install W8.1 from the MS store without it, but you should follow this guide to download the W8.1 ISO separately and boot from/install it fresh. however you'll need your product key to do this. i feel like there must be an easier way to do it, but here's a guide on how to find your product key from within windows.

 

Hmm okay so using Belarc I found my product key but the windows 8.1 installer from the ms site Upgrade Windows with only a product key - Microsoft Windows Help won't work with that key and the generic windows 8.1 core key (334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT) just brings up we cannot connect right now

It's activated already and I even went into pc settings change product key and that worked fine

At this point all's I want to do is make a bootdisc on a flashdrive then have all the window's file's on the ssd afterward's although neither my key or the generic work, online it seem's the generic key works for some and then they use a command prompt but im not at that stage yet until I can make a boot disc on a flashdrive I have.

 

did you follow Zymphad's guide as far as starting the W8 downloader, entering your product key, cancelling the download when it gets to 1%, then running the W8.1 downloader, get the error and close the downloader, and reopen the W8.1 downloader? it's some kind of strange glitch in the W8.1 downloader, but you have to start with the W8 downloader. then once you have the W8.1 ISO downloaded separately, you can create bootable media with it. the generic key is only used once you've created your bootable media and started the fresh W8.1 install.

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It doesn't start downloading anything? when I enter the product key it says cannot be used to install a retail version of windows 8

 

ooh. well that makes more sense. that method is supposed to be only for people who bought an upgrade key. on the other hand, i suggested it because i was able to download the W8.1 ISO using a MAPS key.

if you PM me, i'll send you a download link. you'll still need to use the generic key to install it fresh, but your key should be okay to activate it once installed.

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