How to Upgrade Windows 7 To Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Introduction

Windows 8 Consumer Preview is a prerelease version of Windows 8 that focuses on people and apps and gives you powerful new ways to use social technologies to connect with the people who are important to you. It's Windows reimagined. Windows 8 Consumer Preview is built on the rock-solid foundation of Windows 7 and has the security and reliability features you expect from Windows. It's fast, and it's made to work on a variety of form factors—especially the new generation of touch devices. And you can download Window 8 Release Previews Here for a full version here. But I recommend you some Product from Microsoft here.  

Here are some products from Microsoft Official Website 

• Download Internet Explorer 9

• Download Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1

• Windows 7 SP1 Released to Manufacturing

• Office 2010 Reaches RTM!

• The wait is over, windows 7 is here

• Download Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7

Note : This article was written when Windows 8 was still in Consumer Preview build, changes might occur later to the product once it is RTM.
Windows 8 Consumer Preview is one of the biggest changes that Microsoft has made to Windows, moving it from an operating system aimed at a single class of hardware (PCs and laptops) to one that spans a wide range of devices, including desktops.Windows 8 Consumer Preview works great on the same hardware that powers Windows 7:

• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
• RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
• Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• Graphics card: MicrosoftDirectX 9 graphics device or higher

Additional requirements to use certain features:
• To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch.
• To access the Windows Store, download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768.
• To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768.
In the below steps I will show you how to download and install Windows 8 Consumer Preview, so lets start.

1. Windows 8 Consumer Preview Setup will check to see if your PC can run Windows 8 Consumer Preview and select the right download.
   
   
   Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview Compatability checking tool: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download
2. Run the Windows 8 Consumer Preview Setup 
   
3. If you have User Account Control (UAC) enabled, then you will recieve a message if you want to allow the program to run, click on Yes 
   
   
4. The tool will launch and start checking compatability issues with your installed applications and drivers.
   
   
   
   
5. Review the Compatability Report and check if any application needs to be addressed ( updated or uninstalled )
   
   
   
   
6. Its better after you fix the addressed applications to run the compatability tool again and check one last time the compatability report to see if anything wrong was left over. Click Next when done
   
   
   
   
7. You will recieve the Product Key, write this aside and keep it with you so that when you are asked for it in the future you can type it. Click Nextto start Downloading Windows 8
   
   
8. Windows 8 will start to download
   
   
9. Once the download is completed, you are ready now to install Windows 8. You are presented with three options, either to Install Now, Install Windows 8 on another partition, or postpone the installation and install it later. I want to upgrade my Windows 7 now, so I will choose Install Now.
   
   
10. The setup will check if everything is ready and then will display the license terms
    
    
    
    Accept the licnese terms, by selecting I accept the license terms and then click on Accept
    
    
11. Next page will ask you if you want to keep your own settings and data or would like to wipe your data and install a clean copy of Windows 8. What you can keep depends on the current version of Windows running on your PC. These options only show up if the current version of Windows supports them. 
    
    
    Here are the options you might see:
     Windows settings. Windows settings like Ease of Access, your desktop background, or Internet favorites and history will be kept. Not all settings will be moved.
     Personal files. Anything saved in the User folder is considered a personal file, like the Documents and Desktop folders.
     Apps. Some apps are compatible with Windows 8 Consumer Preview and will just work after Windows 8 Consumer Preview is installed. Some apps might have to be reinstalled after Windows 8 Consumer Preview finishes installing, so be sure to find the installation discs and installers for apps you want to keep.
     Nothing. Delete everything and replace your current version with a copy of Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Your personal files will be moved to a windows.old folder.
    If you choose Nothing, make sure to do the following before you continue:
     Back up your files to an external hard disk, DVD or CD, USB flash drive, or network folder.
     Find the installation discs and installers for the apps you know will work in Windows 8 Consumer Preview and need to reinstall.
     If you use a fingerprint reader or other biometric device to sign in to your computer, make sure you write down your password. You'll have to sign in by typing your user name and password the first time you use Windows 8 Consumer Preview.
12. The installer will check if anything else is needed before starting the installation of Windows 8, and then will ask you to restart the PC
    
    
    
    Click Restart PC
    
    
13. After your system reboots, logon to your account and accept UAC to resume setup
    
    
    
    Choose Continue from where I left off to resume setup and click Next
    
    
14. Now you are ready to install, click Install
    
    
15. Installation will start and your machine will be rebooted several times
    
    
    
    
16. Once installation is completed, Windows 8 will startup and will ask you few questions to setup your account. In the Personalize page, select the background color and then click Next
    
    
17. In the Settings page, select either to choose the Express Settings or to Customize it. The description of the Express Settings is listed below, I will select Use Express Settings 
    
    
18. In the Sign in page, enter your local username's password. This is your password that was used with Windows 7
    
    
19. If you have a Microsoft account, then you can use it to sign into your PC, this will make you able to :
    
    - Download apps from Windows Store
    - Access your files and photos anywhere
    - Sync settings online
    
    
    
    Enter your email account password, and then click Next
    
    
    
    You will be asked to enter security verification info. These info will be used when you want to recover your password in the future, in case it was lost of forgotten. Then click Next
    
    
20. The sign in process will start into your machine using your Microsoft account and password
    
    
21. When you see the below screen, this means you are in Windows 8 . In future articles, I will be showing you how to work with Windows 8 and discussing new features introduced with Windows 8.
    
    

Summary

Windows 8 Consumer Preview is one of the biggest changes that Microsoft has made to Windows, moving it from an operating system aimed at a single class of hardware (PCs and laptops) to one that spans a wide range of devices, including desktops. Windows 8 Consumer Preview build is available for download and you can try it now. In this article I have shown you how it is easy to do an in place upgrade from Windows 7 to a Windows 8 Consumer Preview build.

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How to Install Failover Clustering With Windows Server 2008 R2

Introduction

Creating a Cluster with Windows Server 2003 was a little bit confusing for administrators. Now with Windows Server 2008, its much easier. In this article I will be showing you how to setup a cluster with two nodes using Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Clustering feature.

Creating a failover clustering means you have at least two servers connected to a shared storage. 

Failover Clustering System Requirement:

• Windows Server 2008/R2 : Failover Clustering feature is available with Windows Server 2008/R2 Enterprise/Data Center editions. You don't have this feature with the Standard edition of Windows Server 2008/R2.
• Domain role: All servers in the cluster must be in the same Active Directory domain.
• DNS: The servers in the cluster must be using Domain Name System (DNS) for name resolution.
• Account for administering the cluster : When you create a cluster or add servers to it, you must be logged on to the domain with an account that has administrator rights on all servers in that cluster ( if the account is not a Domain Admins account, the account must be given the Create Computer Objects and Read All Properties permissions in the domain ).
• Servers : Two identical servers in brand, model and configurations.
• Device Controllers ( HBA ) : i/SCSI or Fiber , both also to be the identical.
• Storage : You must use shared storage that is compatible with Windows Server 2008 R2.

Now that you know the requirement for Failover Clustering, lets start:

Configuration on Server A

1. To install Failover feature, open Server Manager, click on Start > Administrative Tools > Server Manager
   
   
   
   
   
2. Expand Features, and then click on Add Feature.
   
   
   
   
   
   The list of available features will be listed, select the Failover Clustering and click on Next
   
   
   
   
   
   Click Install
   
   
   
   
   
3. The Failover Clustering feature will be installed. Click Close
   
   
   
   
   

Configuration on Server B

1. Again on Server B, we will need to install Failover Clustering feature as well, so click on Start > All Programs > Administrative Tools > Server Manager
   
   
   
   
   
   Click on Features and then click on Add Features
   
   
   
   
   
2. Choose the Failover Clustering feature and click Next
   
   
   
   
   
3. Confirm installing Failover Clustering by clicking on Install
   
   
   
   
   
   Close the Add Features Wizard once installation is completed. 
   
   
   

Now that both servers have Failover Clustering feature installed on them, we can create the cluster on one of these server and join the other one to the cluster.

Now, we need to open and configure our cluster name, IP and nodes.

To open Failover Clustering, click on Start > Administrative Tools > Failover Cluster Manager

>> This needs to be done on a single server only <<

1. The first step in creating a successful failover clustering, is by validating the existing systems and shared storage. This is done by the optionValidate a Configuration
   
   
   
   
   
   When you click on Validate a Configuration, you will need to browse and add the Cluster nodes, these are the servers that will be part of the cluster, then click Next
   
   
   
   
   
   Choose to Run all tests and click Next
   
   
   
   
   
   The available tests will be displayed in the confirmation window, click Next to begin validating your cluster
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Review the validation report, as your configuration might have few issues with it and needs to be addresses before setting up your cluster.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Now that the configuration is validated and you are ready to setup your cluster. Click on the second option, Create a Cluster, the wizard will launch, read it and then click Next
   
   
   
   
   
3. You need to add the names of the servers you want to have in the cluster. You can start creating your cluster with a single server and then add other nodes in the future.
   
   
   Browse to your servers and then once all the servers ( nodes ) are listed, click Next
   
   
   
   
   
4. After the servers are selected, you need to type a name and IP for your Cluster
   
   
   
   
   
5. On the Confirmation window, review your settings. The following will be displayed in this window: cluster name and IP address, selected servers name. If all info is proper, then click Next. Else click Previous and correct which setting needs to be adjusted.
   
   
   
   
   
   After you click Next, creating the cluster will begin.
   
   
6. The summary windows will be displayed after a successful setup of the cluster. 
   
   
   
   
   
7. Open Failover Cluster Manager and you will see your nodes and setting inside the MMC. Here you can configure your cluster, add new nodes, remove nodes, add more disk storage and so on.
   
   
   
   
   

Summary

In this article, I have created a two node cluster using Failover Clustering feature which is available with Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise and Data Center editions.

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