Is windows 8 upgrade assistant wrong?

martin57

hi folks,

I have a computer 2 and a half years old, with 4gb ram 1 tb hard drive and a quad core cpu which is a AMD phenom (tm) 11 X4 945 (copied that from device manager) yet the upgrade assistant says my cpu is not compatable with windows 8.

I downloaded the upgrade assistant for windows 8 from

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download


Surely that can't be right with such a powerful processor?

Thanks a lot,
martin57

martin57

Forgot to add I am running windows 7 32 bit at the moment no problem came with pc.

martin57

jayme1

martin57 wrote: »

hi folks,

I have a computer 2 and a half years old, with 4gb ram 1 tb hard drive and a quad core cpu which is a AMD phenom (tm) 11 X4 945 (copied that from device manager) yet the upgrade assistant says my cpu is not compatable with windows 8.

I downloaded the upgrade assistant for windows 8 from

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download


Surely that can't be right with such a powerful processor?

Thanks a lot,
martin57

I am sure it will run windows 8 aOK, it probably only says not compatible because perhaps AMD hasn't told Microsoft it will yet, you will even be able to run the 64 bit version to make full use of your 4GB of RAM too.

paddyrg

It's a beta for feedback on usability, so they won't have rolled out the full release builds yet - those will contain more device support and remove debugging symbols etc. Unlike Google who seem to claim perpetual Beta for everything, at MS it really does mean something is still pre-RTM

martin57

Thanks for replies. The reason I was using the assistant was I had heard about this £26 offer to download windows 8 when it becomes available and wanted to see if my computer was up to spec.

Anyone else have the latest on this offer and if it will apply to OEM versions of windows 7 that came installed on computer?

Many thanks
martin57

robmar0se

Yes its wrong. There is a known bug here (the same happened to me), Don't go the upgrade route, just do a full install, it'll work (though you may not like it!!) Incidentally I also have a quad core processor, apparently the MS table of acceptable CPu's is incomplete.

see here http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/07/upgrading-to-windows-8-will-only-cost-you-26-quid/

jayme1

martin57 wrote: »

Thanks for replies. The reason I was using the assistant was I had heard about this £26 offer to download windows 8 when it becomes available and wanted to see if my computer was up to spec.

Anyone else have the latest on this offer and if it will apply to OEM versions of windows 7 that came installed on computer?

Many thanks
martin57

Yep you can upgrade using that offer using any activated genuine Windows 7, Vista or XP, the UK price will be £30 though because it will include VAT.
You can read this Windows Blog article for more information, personally I would download and burn the ISO for a clean install instead of going any upgrade route.

arrallas

The problem would also arise if you were trying to "in-place" upgrade a 32 bit version of Windows 7 with a 64 bit Windows 8 - you can't.
Contrary to all previous versions of Windows, where it was always preferable to do a custom or clean-install, the current advice is that an in-place upgrade works BETTER with W8 ( see http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-tip-upgrade-previous-windows-version-143574 )
Having said that, my own preference would always be for a clean install, as it clears out all the rubbish that has built up over the years!

martin57

Thanks for that.

According to one of the writers in pc pro to quote

"its time to call it, argues John Honeyball:
Windows 8 is a mess"

"He goes on to say that is the first version of windows in 20 years that has left him cold, that he wishes he could be more positive but he can't.
On the touch side its too little too late, on the desktop side its a car crash.To be blunt he hopes it bombs, microsoft deserves a bloody nose for this, and the lessons learned should make it redouble and refocus for Windows 9"

Strong words, as I haven't tried any of the beta versions I really don't know myself, maybe this is the reason Microsoft is trying to offload it at a bargain price.

If I do get it and I probably will at that price it will have to be an upgrade over MY OEM Windows 7 32 bit as I simply have too many programes installed to do a fresh install.

Martin57

arrallas

I've been using it for a few months now. It is very different in many ways from previous versions and it is quite frustrating until you get used to it. The Windows key on your keyboard certainly gets a lot more use, but you soon adapt and it works well. I read Honeyball's article too and don't agree with most of it. With regard to pricing, surely this is just a reaction to similar OS X upgrade prices from Apple?

tombruton87

windows 8 is pretty much the same under the hood as windows 7 few tweaks here and there. is it runs 7 it will almost definitely run 8