Windows 8 Developer Preview on DVD?

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Is there any way to obtain a DVD of Windows 8 Developer Preview suitable for installation into a Virtual Machine, without having to download the ISO from Microsoft or anywhere else? What I am looking for is an arrangement similar to ordering a Service Pack on DVD. The download would take 21 hours to complete over my slow DSL Internet Connection.

-- rc primak

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I have not seen this offered anywhere. I suspect it is not available in this manner, sorry.

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NO. The developer preview is only offered to the public via download.

Do you have a friend with a speedier connection that would download it for you?

Joe

--Joe

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Do you have a friend with a speedier connection that would download it for you?

Or a trusted colleague here in the Lounge that could mail you a dvd?

Unfortunately, Scotland to Illinois is not so fast by surface post, but maybe somebody closer to home might oblige?

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Or a trusted colleague here in the Lounge that could mail you a dvd?

Unfortunately, Scotland to Illinois is not so fast by surface post, but maybe somebody closer to home might oblige?

Apparently, yes. Thanks to Ted Meyers, I may be able to arrange something via PM or email. (Utimately, the actual DVD would be sent via prepaid US Postal Mail).

Thanks, Ted! :clapping::clapping::clapping:

And yes, the postage to and from Scotland would be a wee bit more! 😉

-- rc primak

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Glad I can help. My email to you is already on the way. Be advised however that this is a one time only thing for a trusted Lounge member. I do not wish to be inundated with requests. Thanks.
Ted

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The Windows 8 Preview is also available on many torrent sites, so a torrent client should suffice to get it downloaded. Once you have the ISO, if you really want a DVD, you can burn it yourself (which I did for installing on an older laptop), but for a virtual machine install I just mounted the ISO into VirtualBox.

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For only $100, I’ll send a DVD of windows 8, 64 bit, anywhere in the world.
Watta deal, Eh?

But, it sounds like Ted beat me to it. Thanks Ted! :): 🙂

😎

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I would have allowed my thanks to Ted to be redacted, if the publicity was not desired. Got the DVD, and please, folks, do not inundate Ted (or anyone else here in The Lounge, myself included) with requests. When we get closer to a Release Candidate next year, I’m sure Microsoft will begin offering the DVD directly, as they have for the recent Windows 7 SP1 DVD. The Windows 8 Developer Preview is not aimed at the general public.

Torrents are not much help for those of us whose ISPs regularly cut off Torrent traffic in mid-stream. Net Neutrality is not a reality in the world of US DSL ISPs.

FWIW, one of the benefits of joining a local face-to-face Computer Users Group is that there may be a local person who can help out in these sorts of situations. Had I waited a bit longer before posting in The Lounge, I would have had about three offers from one of my local Computer User Groups, as it turns out. I should have taken that into consideration.

I realize that to a professional technician, time is a valuable resource. So, DrWho, I respect how you evaluate your time. 😉

One more thing — I think I’ll forego the performance hit of running a Virtual Machine, and go for a Dual-Boot installation. That way, if anything really goes wrong, or if I just don’t like Windows 8 DP, I can just reformat the partition and be done with it. And if I like it, my Acronis Backups can be separated between Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Now if only I could buy some spare time to install and set up the Windows 8 DP partition… 😉 It WILL happen; just a matter of WHEN.

-- rc primak

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Bob,another possible installation possibility is discussed in this thread at Windows7Forum. Look at the later posts.

I would also recommend the Windows8Forum as another good source for info on Win 8 DP.

I would be happy to “sell” you some spare time. How much would you like to spend??? :rolleyes:

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Bob,another possible installation possibility is discussed in this thread at Windows7Forum. Look at the later posts.

I would also recommend the Windows8Forum as another good source for info on Win 8 DP.

I would be happy to “sell” you some spare time. How much would you like to spend??? :rolleyes:

Actually, Ted, the Dual-Boot alternative is exactly what my current planning involves. I probably will use a Boot Manager, just to make things a bit easier for me. I have used boot managers since DOS and Windows 98 using System Commander, then Boot Magic until Norton discontinued it. Now, it’s Acronis OS Selector, part of Disk Director. These boot managers give great control, can hide and thereby better isolate one OS from the other(s), and can manage multiple and disparate OSes in a single boot menu. Unlike the older boot managers, I don’t think OS Sector relies on a DOS pre-boot environment, which may improve performance. The one thing which may be an issue is that if the boot manager resides in or alters the MBR or Track 0, (which GRUB for example does) some virus scanners may be triggered to quarantine the boot manager, which disables it. Not scanning the Boot Track is not an option. We shall see if OS Selector can play nicely with Microsoft Security Essentials and Super Antispyware. I hope it will.

To spend time with you working with technology, Ted, would be worth a million dollars! 🙂 Joining a face-to-face Computer User Group — PRICELESS!

-- rc primak

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Should I send the bill for “one million dollars” directly to you with the DVD or separately? :rolleyes: 😀

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Should I send the bill for “one million dollars” directly to you with the DVD or separately? :rolleyes: 😀

Put it on my Tab. The Lounge Admins will bill me later. 🙂

-- rc primak

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If I were to set some kind of hourly rate, based on my vast experience, no single person or small country could afford me.:rolleyes:
So I just ‘flat rate’ everything I do, as reasonable as possible.

Be careful if you’ve never installed Win-8 before. If it sees another OS, it will try to overwrite it, as an upgrade. 🙁
So to be 100% safe I suggest installing it to a blank HD that is the only one connected to the motherboard.
Some have reported installing the W8DP version and found out that it overwrote their main OS, effectively wiping it out.

From a lot of experience, some good and a lot bad, I won’t do anything experimental on my PC without first unplugging my main drive.
Safe……..not sorry!

But having said all that. . . I found that W8 did install rather quickly and came up running with a minimum of tweaking.
It also boots up and shuts down faster than an un-tweaked Win-7.
Now, I’m anxious to see what the Beta version will look and act like. Eh?

😎

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