Windows 8 Pro

Windows 8 Pro

Photo from Amazon.com 

I am going to get the new Windows operating system Windows 8 Pro. Naturally, the Pro stands for Professional and that is just what it looks like it is--very Professional. The new Windows is a far cry from its predecessors Windows 7, Windows XP, and especially the regretable Windows Vista. For one thing there is not start button. The start button has been a prominent feature of all Windows versions since, Windows 95. That too was a revolutionalry new Windows system--the first Windows operating system that did not operate with a DOS platform working in the background.

Now that seems to be old hat since all Windows versions since then have been self supporting without using DOS. For those who may not know, DOS stands for Disk Operating System and it was the only way PCs were able to operate before Windows came along. You had to be pretty computer savvy in those days. Now all you really need to know is how to turn on your computer and how to "point and click" with the mouse.

What I hope to accomplish with this lens is to tell of my experiences with the new Windows 8 Pro system. But first, I have to purchase it and install it. I will be making periodic updates to this lens as time progresses to let readers know just what is going on with my new Windows operating system.

Microsoft's Windows 8 Professional

So what is this lens about? I plan to purchase MS Windows 8 Pro in the next couple of days. When it comes in, probably four to five days after I order it, I will install it and start running it. I will then come back to this lens to update it as to my thoughts about the ordering process, the installation of Windows 8 Pro on my computer (which by the way, is currently running Windows 7 Home Premium), and any problems or surprises that I might have run into during this process.

I have only had this computer a little longer than a year. So, you may wonder why I am upgrading the operating system so soon. Like maybe I'm having problems with Windows 7? No, not really. About a month after I bought the computer, I began having problems with it. Some of the tests I ran on it convinced me that it was either the hard drive or the RAM that was deterioting and causing the problem. I went to Lenovo's tech support for help since it is their name on the computer. I had always thought Lenovo to be a good quality brand for computers even though they sound kind of Russian like. The truth is that the computer was good, it just had some faulty RAM modules installed.

To shorten up a long long story, Lenovo's tech services are really not up to giving out help. And I am being kind, because I have very strong feelings about what they did. First they had me try several crazy things that had nothing to do with the problem I was having. When I protested, I was informed that the warranty might become voided if I did not follow their recommendations. OK, so no matter how silly, I went along with them. They finally determined that it might be the 1 TB hard drive. I had told them about what I had done at the very beginning and this was four hours later.

Their solution was to send a new hard drive to a technician in my area who was to then come out and install the new hard drive in my computer and send the old one back to them. The technician arrived and changed out the hard drives, but I would not let him take it away before I had transferred the data on the old hard drive onto my new one so I would not have to start over from scratch. He agreed to this and left the packaging and shipping labels with me. I transferred the data and sent the hard drive back to Lenovo.

As it turned out, this did not fix the problem. So I ran the tests again and got the same results--either the hard drive or the RAM was deterioting. Since I had a brand new hard drive installed, I figured there wouldn't be two bad hard drives in a row. I then ordered 8 GB of RAM and upgraded my computer from 6GB to 8GB and also fixed the original problem with the computer. I did not even want to go through Lenovo, that's how bad my first experience with them was.

What does this have to do with upgrading Windows? Well, any problems that I may have with Windows will have to be handled by Lenovo or Microsoft will charge me exorbitant fees to consult with me about my problems. Since I do not think this is right, I am going to change out a perfectly good operating system just to get rid of Lenovo and their sucky tech services.

I will be doing the updates in separate new text modules as I progress though ordering, installation and running the new operating system. I will keep you informed about my progress, so check back to see what is going on with me and my new Windows OS.

Windows Products On Amazon

Microsoft Windows 8 Pro - Upgrade

Amazon Price: $66.99 (as of 11/29/2012) 

Windows 8 Professional System Builder DVD 64-Bit

Amazon Price: $125.00 (as of 11/29/2012) 

Microsoft Windows 8 Pro Pack (Win 8 to Win 8 Pro Upgrade)

Amazon Price: $66.99 (as of 11/29/2012) 

Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

Amazon Price: $91.99 (as of 11/29/2012) 

Microsoft Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade (Home Premium to Professional) [Online Code]

Amazon Price: $82.13 (as of 11/29/2012) 

MS Windows 8 Professional

Updates On My Progress

Update: 11/18/2012

I received the Windows 8 Pro from Amazon.com on Wednesday, Nov 14, 2012. It arrived three days ahead of schedule. That impressed me. What didn't impress me was that my first attempt to install the program on my computer failed. I had an old DVD recorder/player installed in my computer as a second DVD drive, and it was failing. At least I am pretty sure that is the reason for the failure to install Win 8 Pro. I have since removed the DVD drive and am waiting to install Win8Pro. Waiting for what? I'm not sure, I'll will probably try again tomorrow when I know I'll have plenty of time since I found out installation does take a while. Cross my fingers.

Update: 11/20/2012

Last night I tried to install Win8Pro for the second time. Again, there was a failure after 28% of the installation was completed. I was away from my computer during the installation after 16% had been completed and when I returned there was that failure notice. I am going to try it one more time and stay at my computer screen no matter how bored I get and if it fails again, I am going to have to check with Microsoft and see what the problem might be. I will keep y'all informed.

Not Since Windows 95

has there been a Windows operating system that has caused such a drastic change in MS Windows products.

One change is that Win95 introduced the start button to Windows users. Windows 8 does away with that same start button.

It may sound minor, but it can be traumatic to veteran Windows users.

Windows 8 Pro Package From The Back