How to download and install Windows 8.1 for free

Windows 8.1 has been released. If you’re using Windows 8, upgrading to Windows 8.1 is both easy and free. If you’re using another operating system (Windows 7, Windows XP, OS X), you can either buy a boxed version ($120 for normal, $200 for Windows 8.1 Pro), or opt for one of the free methods listed below. To download and install Windows 8.1 for free, follow the guide below.

How to download Windows 8.1 for free

If you don’t want to wait for October 17 or 18, there are two options for downloading Windows 8.1: You can obtain a copy (and a license key) from a friend/colleague with an MSDN, TechNet, or DreamSpark (student) subscription, or you can download a Windows 8.1 RTM ISO from your favorite file-sharing website (The Pirate Bay, Mega, etc.)

While we’re not going to write a guide on how to obtain Windows 8.1 RTM from non-official sources, we will at least tell you to check the SHA-1 hash of the ISO that you download to make sure that it’s legitimate. If you hit up the MSDN Subscriber Downloads page, and then click Details under the version that you’ve obtained from elsewhere, you’ll find the SHA-1 hash. If you then use File Checksum Integrity Verifier (FCIV) on the ISO, the hash should match. If it doesn’t, assume the ISO has been compromised and download another. (But do make sure that you’re checking the right SHA-1 hash on the MSDN website; your ISO might be mislabeled).

The other easier, and completely legal, option is to download the Windows 8.1 Preview from Microsoft. It’s not as snappy as the final (RTM/GA) build, though, and has quite a few bugs/missing features. Bear in mind that if you go down this road, upgrading to a real version of Windows 8.1 will require a few more steps (discussed in the next section).

How to install Windows 8.1 for free

Once you have the Windows 8.1 ISO on your hard drive, the installation process is painless. Before you begin, you should consider backing up your important files and documents, but it’s not really necessary. You should also ensure that you have plenty of free hard drive space (20GB+).

If you’re already running Windows 8 and you downloaded the RTM ISO from somewhere other than the Windows Store, you can install Windows 8.1 by mounting the downloaded ISO in Explorer by double-clicking it, and then running the installer. If you’re on Windows 7, XP, or (bless your soul) Vista, you’ll need to burn the ISO to a USB thumb drive or DVD, or mount the ISO using a third-party virtual drive tool, like Magic ISO.

If you already have Windows 8, and you waited for the official release date, installing Windows 8.1 is as simple as visiting the Windows Store and downloading the free update.

In both these cases, the upgrade process should be very smooth, with your apps and settings fully preserved. If you upgrade from Windows 8.1 Preview, however, you will lose your installed apps, unless you first run a cversion.ini removal utility.

How to bring back the Start menu and button to Windows 8

You’ve just installed Windows 8.1 for the first time, or perhaps bought your first Windows 8 PC. After poking around for a bit you’ve finally found your way to the Desktop. What’s that in the bottom left corner? It sure looks like the Start button… but click it, and you’ll be rewarded with a hideous new Start screen, not the Start menu that you know and love from Windows 7 and Vista. For some reason, despite a series of updates over the last two years that are meant to make Windows 8 more user friendly for mouse-and-keyboard users, Microsoft is still forcing us to use the Metro interface instead of a real Start menu.

The good news is, despite Microsoft’s best efforts to ensure that the Start button and menu remain banished from its new OS, there are a bunch of third-party Windows 8 Start menu replacement apps that you can download today. Really, it just goes to show how devoted the Desktop Windows userbase is: Microsoft completely stripped out the underlying Start menu code to quash potential Luddite revolutionaries, and yet months after the release ofWindows 8 there were dozens of Start menu and Start button replacements — some of which are far superior to Microsoft’s own Windows 7 Start menu.

For what it’s worth, Microsoft has finally kowtowed to user demand and will bring back the official Start menu in a future update to Windows 8 — but there’s still no word on when that might be. For now, if you want the Start menu on Windows 8, take a look at our list of the best, cheapest, and most authentic Windows 8 Start menu replacements.

Windows 8 Start button and menu replacements

StartIsBack

If you want a Windows 8 Start menu replacement that looks exactly like Windows 7,StartIsBack is for you. You get the same Start button orb icon, the same Start menu search box, the same jump lists, and — for better or worse — even the same Aero transparency! As you can see in the screenshot above, StartIsBack even detects if your system needs to restart to apply some patches; it really is just like the Windows 7 Start menu.

Where StartIsBack diverges from the Windows 7 Start menu, though, is configurability: StartIsBack is fully customizable, and includes a handful of useful Windows 8-specific features, too. You can configure which hot corners are enabled, make your PC jump straight to the Desktop when it first boots up, and configure a key combo to show the Windows 8 Start screen (Win+Ctrl by default). If Start menu and taskbar transparency aren’t your thing, StartIsBack lets you disable it — and you can change the Start button orb icon, too. If you want a Windows 8 Start menu replacement that feels just like Windows 7, StartIsBack is for you.

Download StartIsBack ($3, free 30-day trial)

Pokki

Where StartIsBack tries to replicate the Windows of yesteryear, Pokki (free) is very much its own beast — and as much as I love the Windows 7 Start menu, I have to admit that Pokki is probably even better. It utilizes a neat “pinning” system that isn’t unlike the home screen of your smartphone or tablet (though I would argue that the Windows taskbar/superbar still does a better job). You can also add widgets to Pokki, such as Gmail or Facebook, which display your latest email or status updates.

By default, Pokki will configure your Windows 8 system to boot straight to the Desktop — and there is an option that will just completely disable the hot corners, if you so desire. (Remember, Win+C pops open the Charms menu, if you need.) If you’re looking for a Windows 8 Start menu/button replacement that isn’t reminiscent of Windows Vista/7, Pokki is for you.

Download Pokki (free)

StartMenu 8

If you want the Windows 7 Start menu look-and-feel, but you’re not prepared to fork out a few dollars for StartIsBack or Start8, StartMenu8 is a solid alternative. While the interface won’t win any prizes — it feels a lot like the early Linux apps that ruthlessly ripped off Windows — you get a fair amount of configurability, and a handful of Windows 8-specific toggles that are very useful.

By default, StartMenu8 will skip the Windows 8 Start screen and go straight to the Desktop, and disable Windows 8′s hot corners. There’s also the option to disable the sidebar, if you really don’t ever want to see Windows 8 ever again. The StartMenu8 button icon can be altered, and you can add and remove which links appear up the right side of the Start menu. Overall, StartMenu8 looks and feels a bit clunky — and, incidentally, watch out for some delicious bundleware during the installation process.

Download StartMenu8 (free)

Modifying the General Startup Process

The first step in tracking down any startup problems in Windows is to modify the options on the General tab of the System Configuration dialog box. You display this dialog box by displaying the Start menu and, in the Search Programs and Files box (at the bottom of the menu) type msconfig.exe, then press Enter. The program is executed, and very shortly you see the System Configuration program window. The General tab should be displayed, by default. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The System Configuration dialog box.

The controls on the General tab allow you to specify, in the most general way, how your system starts up. Three options are available on the tab.

The default setting is Normal Startup. With this radio button selected, Windows goes blithely on its way, loading all the programs, drivers, and services it was instructed to load.

Diagnostic Startup is, in some respects, similar to starting your computer in safe mode. (If that comment went right over your head, don't worry—you didn't miss anything critical. Consider it an "insider's comment.") When you choose this radio button, Windows only loads the most basic of its many potential services and drivers.

Normally, you only choose Diagnostic Startup so you can get rid of all the potential problem areas in one move. If your system starts problem-free with Diagnostic Startup selected, you would then move on to Selective Startup in order to narrow down the problem even further.

The Selective Startup radio button allows you to make choices as to which startup files are processed. If you clear one of the check boxes under this option, then the corresponding group of startup files is skipped when Windows starts.

If you're experiencing startup problems, you should start by clearing all the check boxes under Selective Startup. When you restart Windows, you should have no problem. Then, come back to msconfig and select the first check box (Load System Services). Restart Windows again to see if your problems crop up again.

If your problems crop up, you know the problem is in the services that Windows loads when you start your system. If they don't crop up, then you know that the system services are working fine and you can select the next check box and restart.

Through this iterative process (selecting a check box and restarting) you can determine which general category of startup programs is causing you problems. You won't yet know which command in those categories is causing problems, but you'll know where to look closer.

Changing the Size of Start Screen Tiles

The Start screen is what you see when you first log into Windows. It is the place where your tiles are displayed and you can quickly start the apps associated with those tiles. Some of those tiles show information in real time, such as those for your e-mail, a social media application, or the weather. You'll quickly notice that some tiles are large and some are small.

Windows allows you to resize the tiles that appear on your Start screen. Doing so can make tiles easer (or harder) to find, easier to organize, and provide differing amounts of information for a particular application.

To resize a particular Start screen tile, you'll need to select it. You can select a tile in any of these ways:

• If using a mouse, right-click on the tile.
• If using a touch screen, perform a short, downward swipe on the tile.
• If using a keyboard, use the arrow keys to navigate to the tile and then press the spacebar.

Windows displays, at the bottom of the screen, some options for that tile. One of the options will be either Smaller (if the tile you right-clicked was large) or Larger (if the tile you right-clicked was small). Click the sizing option and Windows immediately changes the size of the tile.

You should note that if the tile you resize is a live tile, the specific information it displays after the resize depends on the app that drives the tile. The only way you can see what information is provided on large and small tiles is to make them large and small and do the comparison.

Changing the Start Screen's Theme

The Start screen is what you see when you first log into Windows. It is the place where your tiles are displayed and you can quickly start the apps associated with those tiles. By default the Start screen is shown in a shade of blue with some squiggly lines (a strange sort of design) visible at the bottom of the screen.

If you don't like the default squiggly lines, you can modify them by picking any of twenty themes that Microsoft has created for Windows. Further, you can modify the colors used in any theme you choose. Here's how to make your modifications:

1. Display the Charms bar at the right side of your screen. (Do this by swiping right-to-left or moving the mouse to the very upper-right or lower-right of the screen. You can also accomplish this step by pressingWin+C.)
2. Click Settings. Windows displays the Settings bar at the right side of the screen.
3. Choose the Change PC Settings option. Windows displays the PC Settings screen.
4. Choose Personalize at the left side of the screen.
5. Choose Start Screen at the right side of the screen. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The PC Settings screen.

At the top of the screen is an indication of what your Start screen looks like. Immediately under that you can see twenty different blocks, each with a different trendy design to display on the Start screen. Click on any of them and the sample screen is updated to show your choice.

When you find a design you like, you can then use the color slider, under the theme tiles, to customize the color of the theme. Each theme has 25 different color variations available. (The colors are the same for each theme; they don't vary by theme.)

In total, there are 20 themes and 25 color variations for the themes, so Windows offers a total of 500 possible combinations for your Start screen. What you can't do is modify the Start screen beyond the themes and colors offered. So, for instance, you can't change the Start screen background to your favorite photo or your own non-squiggly design.

If you tire of all of the trendy designs offered by Microsoft, consider picking the plainest theme of all—the tile at the bottom-right of the available themes. It gets rid of all the squiggly lines and uses plain colors on the Start screen.

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Understanding Data Execution Prevention

Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is a security feature built into the Windows operating system. It is designed to close programs that it detects as viruses or other security threats. Depending upon your CPU, DEP runs in either a hardware-enhanced mode or a software-enhanced mode.

By default, DEP works on certain Windows programs and services. You can, however, customize DEP to have it monitor other programs as well. To do this, click the Start button, then right-click Computer and select Properties. This brings up the following screen. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Computer Properties screen.

Click the Advanced System Settings link at the left of the screen, and Windows displays the Advanced tab of the System Properties dialog box. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. The Advanced tab of the System Properties dialog box.

In the Performance group, click Settings. Windows displays the Performance Options dialog box. Make sure the Data Execution Prevention tab is selected. (See Figure 3.)

Figure 3. The Data Execution Prevention tab of the Performance Options dialog box.

Note that this is showing the Data Execution Prevention tab, and as you can see, the default action is already selected. If you want to turn on DEP for all programs and services except those you specify, click the second radio button. This enables the Add button. When you click Add, a file browser opens to allow you to select which programs should not be checked by DEP. (You cannot add an essential Windows program or service to be precluded.) When you're satisfied when your selections, OK your way out.

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Encrypting a File Folder

Windows includes a feature that allows you to encrypt information stored on the hard drive. This security feature means that anything in the folder is "scrambled" in such a way that only you can access it. If someone other than you logs into your system (using a different user account), they won't be able to access the information in the folder.

The encryption feature is technically referred to as EFS, or Encrypting File System. It has been available since Windows 2000, but is not fully supported in all versions of Windows 7 and Windows 8. (It is only fully implemented in Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions. In Windows 8 it is only fully implemented in the Pro and Enterprise editions.)

To encrypt a file folder, follow these steps:

1. Use Windows Explorer to display the file folder you want to encrypt. (Display the actual file folder, not the file folder's contents.)
2. Right-click the file folder and choose Properties from the resulting Context menu. Windows displays the Properties dialog box for the folder.
3. On the General tab, click the Advanced button. Windows displays the Advanced Attributes dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Advanced Attributes dialog box for a folder.
4. Select the Encrypt Contents to Secure Data check box.
5. Click OK to close the Advanced Attributes dialog box.
6. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box for the folder.

The change is immediately applied and the folder contents are encrypted. You won't notice any difference in how you use the folder or its contents. The real difference is when others, using a different Windows user account, try to access the information in the folder. They will not be able to use it.

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