Alienware Windows 8 Installation Guide

For those struggling or thinking about taking the plunge, here's how I got Windows 8 Pro working flawlessly on my M18x R1. This makes Windows 8 work the way I want it to work, which might not line up with Microsoft's idea on how they want me to use it.

OK, here is my "down and dirty" tutorial. Nothing out of the ordinary, extra fancy or materially different from a basic Windows 7 setup, except for a couple of bullet points, which made it work the way I want it to work.

• Clean install! Avoid upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8. (You *might* need to upgrade to activate your Windows 8 Upgrade key for the first time. I was able to do a clean install using the upgrade media.)
• Set the BIOS for RAID (not AHCI) even if you do not use RAID
• Install Windows to UNALLOCATED DRIVE SPACE (delete any old partitions)

• See this thread for more tips: Windows Installation Guide

  Windows 8 has native driver support for almost everything (including Intel Chipset and Management Engine). Windows 8 set up everything automatically in the M18x R1 except for the following installations:

  • Installed Intel RST so I could have the RST Control Panel [Download RST 11.6.0.1030]
  • Installed M18x R1 Windows 7 version of Alienware OSD and Alienware Control Center
  • Installed M18x R1 Windows 7 Freefall Sensor 
  • Installed M18x R1 Windows 7 Card Reader 
  • Installed NVIDIA GTX 680M Drivers (modded because of the M18x R1 hardware ID, same as Windows 7 - see this post) 
  • Installed AlienAutopsy: Download AlienAutopsy 
  • Installed AlienRespawn: Download AlienRespawn 
  • Installed Windows 8 Media Center (free for a limited time): Add Features | Microsoft Windows 
  • Installed this for Start Menu: Start8 for Windows® 8 - Bringing back the Windows Start menu 
  • Installed this for Sidebar Gadget support: 8GadgetPack - Gadgets for Windows 8

    Note: Security software is not needed with Windows 8. It has built-in antivirus/malware/firewall protection. I only installed Vipre Internet Security because I already owned a lifetime subscription, but it needed an update to work correctly with Windows 8. If you are experiencing dropped or blocked network connections under Windows 8 with an aftermarket security software package, consider uninstalling it and using the native protection. It may be your software not functioning properly with Windows 8.