Instead, you must click the Store live tile and look for the Windows 8.1 upgrade option. Tony Leung, one of our testing analysts who downloaded and installed the Windows 8 preview, reported that the total time needed to download and install Windows 8.1 was about two hours on a fast system with a solid-state disk. Microsoft won’t alert you that Windows 8.1 is available, we’re told. Upgrading from vanilla Windows 8 should be relatively straightforward.
HOW TO DOWNLOAD CRITICAL OPS ON PC WINDOWS HOW TO
Microsoft provides some good advice on how to do just that, whether you’re upgrading from Windows XP, Vista, or 7. Like Google, Microsoft encourages you to use that ID as your focal point for interacting with Windows 8.1, as well as its apps and services.įinally, back up your data. At some point, you’ll need to sign in to Windows 8.1 using that username for example) and password. If you use a Hotmail (now ) email address, you already have one. You’ll have two Windows 8.1 options to choose from: Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Pro.Įnsure you have a Microsoft ID. Note that third-party video software, like VLC, offers DVD playback for free.) (The Pro version of Windows 8.1 offers Remote Desktop Connection, Bitlocker encryption, and Windows Media Center with DVD playback. You can download Windows 8.1 ($120) or Windows 8.1 Pro ($200) from Microsoft’s website. With that out of the way, make sure that you own a license key to download either Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. The page will detect your operating system and configure itself automatically to provide the most relevant information. We’ll help you sort through some of your OS-specific issues below, but Microsoft has also provided a handy cheat sheet. The first step is to identify your operating system.