# How to Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro



## Jacob0101 (Nov 20, 2012)

Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro till 31st of January 2013 is available at very low price $39.99. You will have to pay more for this after this month.

*Follow the inline steps to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro:*

1. Go to Microsoft official website >> log in and click on Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro section to install Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant.

2. After Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant is installed, run it to purchase Windows 8 Pro.


3. Go through the on-screen instructions to check if it is possible to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro in your PC.

4. When it is finalized that your PC is capable of running Windows 8 Pro, follow the on-screen instructions to make payment and subsequently download and install your OS copy.

5. After the installation is complete, customize it as per your preferences. 

*Note:* You can only upgrade to Windows 8 Pro, if your PC has Windows XP SP3, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 Customer Preview or Windows 8 Release Preview. In case of XP SP3 & Vista, you may need to reinstall the apps.


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## OldGrayGary (Jun 29, 2006)

A few extra tips:

1) You can only download a version of Windows 8 Pro that matches the bit-depth of the PC that you are downloading from (64-bit or 32-bit). For example, if you are downloading from a 32-bit version of XP, Vista, or Win7, you will end up with the 32-bit version of Windows 8 Pro.

2) You can download Windows 8 Pro from a different computer than the one you wish to install it on. This gets around the problem of bit-depth match. You can download Windows 8 from an extra computer in your house (or borrowed from a friend), create a bootable DVD or USB stick from the download, and then install Windows 8 Pro from that media on whatever computer you wish, so long as it has a qualifying version of Windows XP, Vista, or Win7 on it.

3) You cannot use the downloaded upgrade version of Windows 8 Pro for a dual-boot setup, unless you already have two qualifying Windows licenses present on the target computer as an already existing dual-boot. The installation of the Windows 8 Pro upgrade invalidates the existing Windows license present on the partition it is installed on. If you already have a dual-boot with two qualifying licenses, you can choose which one to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro, and only that previous version will be invalidated, the other can remain to participate in a dual boot.

For a computer with only one qualifying previous-version Windows, to set up a dual-boot with Windows 8 Pro requires purchase of the System Builder edition, which is currently selling between $100 and $130 here in the US - and which is likely due to have its price rise after January 31, 2013.

4) Some features of Windows 8 Pro are not available to systems with motherboards that do not support some of its advanced features - such as 'Safe Boot' or 'Secure Boot' ... which depend on a motherboard that has the UEFI/Bios interface available. 
_______________

Lots more info is available over at Microsoft's Windows.com.

Best of luck,
. . . Gary


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## OldGrayGary (Jun 29, 2006)

P.S. .... if you happen to try to download the upgrade version of Windows 8 Pro from a computer that has any of the beta versions of Windows 8 installed (Customer Preview, Release Preview, etc.) be prepared to see the error: "Windows 8 is not available for download in the country/region you are in".

This is a known bug. The easiest solution is to download Windows 8 Pro upgrade from another computer that matches the bit-depth of the version you want.

Other solutions are possible (including uninstalling the beta versions), but they don't always work (I've seen a fair number of cases myself). 

Just a little heads up.
. . . Gary


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## dominikjames (Jan 28, 2013)

Good to know about the How to Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro.It is really useful


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