Windows 8?

Can we get an official response as to why Windows 8 will not work on our Aurora R3's, other than it's not on the supported system list?   Spending this kind of money on a system and finding out it isn't even future-ready is kind of a hit below the belt.  Aside from getting a new system, how can we ensure Windows 8 will work with our system?

I know a few people that had the install lock up( it's not just on Alienware ) but I know a few people that didn't have that issue. It could be some kind of driver issue or maybe the type of mouse/keyboard. It could also be something else plugged in when doing it. Microsoft said they are having some issues with older 64bit CPU. You may need to just wait for Microsoft to find the bug if it's on their end. If it was my system I would try playing with the BIOS settings or rolling back to an older BIOS.

Most likely it's the R3 BIOS version being used or BIOS setting. I asked a friend with the R3 if he had issues with W8 and he said no BUT he is running it in VirtualBox. Something else you can try is installing the Windows 8 32bit and se if that one hangs. Try some of the things people here did to get around the reboot hang. One guy found if he left the CD in the drive it would hang on the first install reboot. Another guy found that if the floppy drive setting was enabled in the BIOS it would hang. You should also Google this issue for some more things to tr if you haven't done so yet.

http://www.eightforums.com/installation-setup/4226-windows-8-customer-preview-stuck-black-screen-image-fish.html

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w8itproinstall/thread/f3846fb7-0db9-446d-bc8c-33d34ff47122

Don't worry about that list Chris posted because it's not for Alienware. I can run it just fine on my Area 51 and it says it's not supported on ay of the lists. I did have issues but it was with Windows 8 and not my Area 51. I can't stand the OS on a desktop ggrrrrrr. My point here is don't go by the Dell/Alienware list.

Like I said I have a friend that is able to run Windows 8 on his Aurora R3. Here is another user who has been running Windows 8 on his Aurora R3 for the past year: http://www.alienwarearena.com/forums/topic/21844/software/aurora-ssd-users-anyone-successfully-upgraded-to-win-8-rtm-/1/

Here is the Alienware Windows 8 list:
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?docid=575111#Alienware 

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&cs=555&docid=574281&doclang=en&l=en&s=biz 

For the R4 they listed this issue with the solution. Does your R3 have this?

Alienware
Aurora-R4 systems have been tested for support of Windows 8 upgrade. The
Aurora-R4 does support upgrade to Windows 8, with the following open issues
directly after upgrade:

---

Problem: System cannot detect graphic card if Secure
Boot is enabled.

Solution: Disable Secure Boot in the BIOS if you are
upgrading to Windows 8.
 
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Windows 8 Release 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: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver               

Additional requirements to use certain features:

• To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch.

•  To access the Windows Store and to 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.

            Internet access (ISP fees might apply)   




Going by MS specs it has to be able to run it. You just need to find the conflict.