I spent several hours recently getting my primary computer upgraded in anticipation of the Windows 8.1 release. I decided to upgrade to Windows 8, which I had been putting off due to the fact that my Toshiba is very important to me and my work. When Windows 8.1 comes out, I will do that right away.
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First off, Windows 8 is a large operating system to upgrade to on an Ultrabook. I didn’t want to do a fresh install because I have many programs installed already. Yet the Toshiba Portege Z835-P372 (model PT224U) only has 128gigabytes of hard disk space, and only 102GB of that is really usable. After downloading the installer from Microsoft, I entered the Windows 8 product key and was able to create a USB drive on a 4GB flash drive. I am glad I did because having the new OS external was easier to manage considering I had to restart the computer so many times to 1) clear 20GB of hard disk space, 2) remove Toshiba software that was incompatible with Windows 8 during its installation and 3) remove Microsoft’s Security Essentials.
Freeing up enough space pretty much came down to me uninstalling Adobe Master Collection. First, I had to Deactivate the software. This is so that I can reinstall it again later. If I didn’t deactivate then I would not be able to use their software again. That freed up 15gigabytes, whoa!
The problem with removing the Toshiba software was that the normal uninstall through Programs and Features did not work for me. I had to uninstall it manually. One trick to avoid manipulating the registry was reinstalling the Toshiba software and then immediately deinstalling it and rebooting. I did this for TOSHIBA Disc Creator. For TOSHIBA PC Health Monitor and TOSHIBA Recovery Media Creator I went into the registry and deleted their entries in addition to deleting their folders in Program Files. I ran the Windows 8 software again and then it confirmed the software was removed.
The most difficult one to remove was actually the Microsoft Security Essentials. I use AVG Antivirus and Spybot Search and Destroy. Spybot works with Security Essentials. I had to go into services.msc and msconfig to make sure they they were stopped, that they were disabled and would not start automoatically upon reboot. To remove AVG, I ended up removing the folder from the Program Files folder and rebooting. From the AVG website, they have a DOS-based uninstaller. When it failed, I resorted to removing the folder myself.
The last piece of software I removed was Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software. I did this one last because once I did, I no longer had WiFi internet. ;-(
After rebooting and relaunching Windows 8 installer again, it performed its pre-install checks and then installed the software. Installing Windows 8 took over an hour from that point.
Lessons learned: check with the manufacturer website, in my case Toshiba (http://support.toshiba.com/sscontent?docId=98083978). Confirm your computer is Windows 8 ready. Toshiba has a webpage listing which of their computers are. Be prepared and take your time. This is not going to be fast and it’s most important to do it right.