How to Clean Install Windows 8 Pro Upgrade
This process should take around 30 to 90 minutes, depending on your internet connection speed (this time estimate does not include the actual clean install process in the last step).
Previously Valid Instructions
We’ve always recommended a clean installation over an upgrade installation for every version of Windows, and that’s no different with Windows 8. A clean install, or “custom” install, means an installation of Windows 8 from a formatted drive. Most things should be compatible but some may say that you need to reinstall it in Windows 8 or visit the provider’s website for more information. Since you’re doing a clean install and will be installing your software again from scratch anyway, most of that won’t matter to you. If you do see an issue, investigate it accordingly. Choosing any other option (e.g. Windows settings, personal files, and apps or Just personal files), if you get one, would begin some varying degree of upgrading, which you’re not doing. If you Install now, you’ll be upgrading your current operating system (e.g. Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP), but what you want to do is boot from some media, like a disc or a flash drive, so you can perform a clean installation of Windows 8. If your computer does not have an optical drive, or you’d prefer to install Windows 8 via a flash drive, choose USB flash drive, select Next, and follow those instructions. When that’s complete, skip to Step 15 below. If you plan on installing Windows 8 from a disc, choose ISO file, select Save, and continue on to Step 12. An ISO file is a perfect image of a disc, in this case, a Windows 8 installation disc. A Windows.iso file will be created on your Desktop, or wherever you decided to have it saved to in the last step. You can either select the Open DVD burner link and burn the ISO file to a disc that way, or you can just choose Finish and use whatever other disc burning program you’d like. See How to Burn an ISO Image File to a DVD if you don’t use the built-in tool. Now that you have the Windows installation files on a flash drive (from Step 11) or on a disc (from Step 14), you can now start the clean installation process. As cumbersome as backing up your data beforehand and then restoring it and reinstalling all of your software afterward may be, your new Windows 8 setup will likely be much more stable than it would have been had you performed an in-place upgrade.
