New PC, Windows 8, thoughts?

[can3gxw]

Hi everyone, I need a bit of advice as to my next step with this...

I'm retiring my old HTPC which has been running Sage and uTorrent faithfully for the past many years. I'm only using it as a playback device for audio and video (no recording) and I'd like to see what others think of my "unique" problem.

I just purchased a new Gateway/Acer PC (off the shelf because I liked the specs and price) - 1TB hard drive, 6 GB RAM, AMD E2-1800 CPU and Windows 8.

I don't specifically like Windows 8, but the biggest issue for me is that it is not PRO, so I can't remote desktop onto it to move files around while Sage is up and running. So, my thought was to wipe Win8 and put Win 7 on (my current setup is Windows 7).

Apparently, it's easier said than done. The PC will boot with my install disc, but hang at the first "loading windows" logo. It's unresponsive and I need to shut the whole PC off to get it back on.

I'm working with Acer support to try and get it to actually load Windows 7 for the install... it's only been 36 hours so I'm not giving up just yet.

My question at this point for the community is - Windows 8 "home" doesn't work for my needs - what about VirtualBox? I see that I can run it in Full Screen mode, and should be able to install Windows 7 inside of it. Then comes Sage, uTorrent, TVRename and the rest of my HTPC setup.

How well does it work? Will it work "seamlessly" with Sage, other apps, USB (remote) devices?

Is there anything that I should look out for? This is assuming that I don't decide to return the PC should I not be able to install Windows 7 as the host OS.

Thanks, and sorry for the long ramble...

[stanger89]

If remote desktop is your only issue, there are solutions like VNC and NX that you can install on Windows to get remote access going.

[UgaData]

This maybe a mute point if what you want is Windows 7, but you should be able to upgrade to Win8 Pro from within Win8.

I think it's called Windows Anytime Upgrade and it would be an additional cost. (FWIW: Media Center would be another additional cost after upgrading to Pro).

[can3gxw]

I already own a license of Windows 7, so why would I want to "waste money" upgrading again...? It is an option, but not one that I want to explore just yet...

As for remote desktop, I want to be able to use the *cough* concurrent connections patch in Win7 to remote in behind the scenes while Sage is up and playing without disturbing what's going on. VNC, TeamViewer and everything else lives in the foreground and that's not going to have a very big WAF.

[BobPhoenix]

Have you tried this?
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/thr...l=1#post691701

[UgaData]

Do you know if it has an AHCI option in BIOS for the HDD controller? If so and it is set to AHCI (which is what want) then it may need a special driver loaded during the install of the OS, sometimes called the F6 driver since it is loaded by pressing F6 during the OS install. You should be able to download the driver from Gateway/Acer.

I had problems with an HP machine and asked the tech if I needed to load a special driver during install, they wouldn't say anything about the driver only to go into the BIOS and set the controller to legacy (ran like cr@p) or I could send in to them and have HP reload everything.
I ended going to the website and was able to download the needed driver, press when prompted during the install and viola everything worked.

[can3gxw]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

Have you tried this?
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/thr...l=1#post691701

Thanks, Bob, but the problem is that Windows 8 "home edition" doesn't even HAVE remote desktop...

[can3gxw]

Originally Posted by UgaData

Do you know if it has an AHCI option in BIOS for the HDD controller? If so and it is set to AHCI (which is what want) then it may need a special driver loaded during the install of the OS, sometimes called the F6 driver since it is loaded by pressing F6 during the OS install. You should be able to download the driver from Gateway/Acer.

I had problems with an HP machine and asked the tech if I needed to load a special driver during install, they wouldn't say anything about the driver only to go into the BIOS and set the controller to legacy (ran like cr@p) or I could send in to them and have HP reload everything.
I ended going to the website and was able to download the needed driver, press when prompted during the install and viola everything worked.

Hmmm... that's exactly what Acer told me to do - change the BIOS to "legacy", but that's not even an option in my BIOS. As for the additional driver, I can't even GET to that point. My Windows media boots, goes through the two "windows is loading files", gets to the "starting windows" with the fancy, swirley windows logo and then hangs. Dead. I'm not even GETTING to the point in the install that it asks for additional drivers... can you PM me with any more details, since you've obviously gone through this?

I hate to keep on this path here though, because now we're getting away from Sage and more into hardware...

I may just end up taking the whole machine back to the seller.... things REALLY should not be this difficult....

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by can3gxw

Thanks, Bob, but the problem is that Windows 8 "home edition" doesn't even HAVE remote desktop...

You are correct. When I posted this I saw a post that talked about other versions of Windows and I thought they mentioned Windows 8 Home. But I can't find that now. On Windows 7 home it was simply to copy the files from a Windows 7 Pro to the same directories and run the concurrent RDP patcher but from reading to end of thread that doesn't appear to work.

[UgaData]

Are you familiar with the F6 process for loading additional drivers?

I think you have already bypassed point for pressing F6. If you don't catch it when it's asking for it it continues on and they don't make a big deal about it.

Below is a wiki link about it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F6_disk

I Googled "F6 Windows Install" for the above link as well as others.

My apologies if I am explaining things you already know or understand however it is very easy to miss the F6 prompting if you are not aware or looking for it.

Although the F6 prompt has been around since NT, the process has changed a bit recently. It use to be the drivers had to be loaded on a floppy disk but starting with Vista they can be loaded on a USB key. The driver your looking for is AHCI/RAID driver.

[can3gxw]

No, that's fine... I don't mind people mentioning things that I already know. It's hard to keep track of when to do what...

I know that in my multitude of WinXP installs, it specifically shows the "press f6 to load drivers", but I have never seen that AFAIK on a Windows 7 install... maybe just try pressing the F6 key during the "loading windows" bars that run across the screen?

[can3gxw]

Well, it seems that the Gateway site for my PC does not have any drivers that would make a difference anyway... there are only LAN, video, audio, card reader and chipset drivers available for download. Nothing to do with HDD.

I found another article, though, about disabling the secure boot (which I did), but there is a step that I did NOT do... so I'll give that a shot tonight and report back. I'm not really that optimistic at this point though....

[JerryB]

One other thought - How is your boot drive partitioned? I believe a UEFI secure boot, which should be the default on a new computer with Windows 8, requires that the boot drive be a GPT Drive, not a MBR Drive. In contrast, I don't think Windows 7 will boot from anything but a MBR drive. Could it be that your setup is freezing at the point where shifts to booting from your internal drive to finish setup and doesn't find the expected MBR drive?

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by can3gxw

Well, it seems that the Gateway site for my PC does not have any drivers that would make a difference anyway... there are only LAN, video, audio, card reader and chipset drivers available for download. Nothing to do with HDD.

I found another article, though, about disabling the secure boot (which I did), but there is a step that I did NOT do... so I'll give that a shot tonight and report back. I'm not really that optimistic at this point though....

I think this is the most likely culprit. From everything I have read, new PC's that ship with Win8 are supposed to be configured to use UEFI and secure boot. This makes it very difficult to install a different operating system unless you first take steps to disable secure boot (and it's possible for manufacturers to configure their PC's so you can't disable it).

Win8 doesn't require UEFI or secure boot to operate (you can install it on older hardware with plain old BIOS), but I think they require it as part of the licensing terms if the manufacturer wants to put a Win8 certified sticker on the PC. Also, Win7 can run on new machines with UEFI, it's just the secure boot feature (which is intended to protect against root-kits and similar malware) doesn't like you changing the boot OS.

[UgaData]

Yeah, the Load Third Party Driver option shows up a lot early on an XP install compared to Vista. Win7 or 8.

Reading over what you see, while the OS install is booting, it is likely your not getting to the screen with the option to press F6. I think it is around the time you can choose the drive you want to load Windows on, along with the option to format etc.

AHCI may not be the issue anyway if there isn't an option for it in the BIOS. On the machines I've run in to like this, had options for Legacy, AHCI,or RAID in the BIOS (Yeah, they were all raid capable controllers). It can be set to AHCI or RAID (even if your not using raid) and things will work well.

[can3gxw]

Got it beat, guys! Thanks for all the notes and advice.... it's basically everything that I've tried, but after starting "over" I found a setting in the "disable secure boot" that I missed. Found the corresponding faq on Gateway's site about installing a different OS.

Disabled secure boot and changed the setting that goes with it (can't remember now what the heck it was), loaded my bootable USB key and boom. Windows 7 install booted and took a total of about 10 minutes from start to finish. Win 7 is now up and running, RDP has been patched, and now the fun starts. Reinstalling all my apps and, most of all, Sage!

Thanks to everyone who chimed in on this one, and thanks for the mods for moving it here... (sorry guys... Sage install turned into HTPC help.)

Now time to start Windows Update and enjoy my coffee.