How To Install Windows 8 Developer Preview

Hey Guys,

Here is what you need to do to get Windows 8 Developer Preview up and running.

• First off, be sure to download a copy of Window 8 Developer Preview and Virtual Box.
• Once you've installed Virtual Box, it's time to setup your virtual machine. You should see the screenshot below when you start up Virtual Box. Click on the New icon (top left in blue) and this will begin the setup wizard.

• Hit Next and it'll then ask you what it is you want to install. Fill in the details as I have in the screenshot below. Note, select Windows 7 64-bit, not other Windows OS as this won't work. There will probably be an update for Windows 8 soon enough, but it's an option at the moment.

• After you've filled all this in, hit Next and you'll be asked how much RAM you want allocated to the Virtual Box. Depending on how much RAM you have, you might want to increase or decrease this.

• Next, you'll be allocating a virtual hard drive for Windows 8 to run on. The default is 20 GB and this should be plenty. Unless you already have prepared a partition or Virtual Drive, it's easier just to let Virtual Box do the work for you. I opted for a VHD in this case instead of the default Virtual Box Drive, but that shouldn't make a difference. 

• You'll also be asked if you want a Dynamic Drive or Fixed Drive. I'd leave it as a Dynamic Drive. This means that the drive will increase in size until it reaches the max size you allocated for it.

• After that, you'll be asked what size you want the drive to be. I left mine as the default, 20 GB.

• Once you click Next, you'll be asked to confirm that you want to create these virtual drives. Go ahead and confirm this and then we can get on to installing Windows 8.
• Once you get back to Virtual Box, you'll see a new Machine has been added. Highlight that machine and then click Start. This will boot up the machine and run the first boot setup wizard. It's now that you'll be asked where you would like to install and OS from. Select the Windows 8 Developer Preview ISO image from wherever you saved it.

• Click Next and the Windows 8 setup wizard will begin. Just simply follow the steps and then accept the license agreement.

• Windows will ask you if you want to upgrade or do a custom install. The answer here is to select a Custom Install as we are installing the OS from scratch.

• You'll then be asked to confirm where it is you want to install Windows 8. The Virtual hard drive you created earlier should be the default option.

• After this, Windows 8 will begin to install itself. All you have to do it wait and let it do it's thing and enter information asked. Congrats, you've now installed Windows 8 on your system. Enjoy!!