How to Run a Portable Version of Windows from a USB Drive

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-run-a-portable-version-of-windows-from-a-usb-dri-1565509124

Mac users have had this ability for ages when you can boot from an external drive connected via the Firewire port with latter support for USB- or Thunderbolt-connected drives. The reason being the Mac computers are homogeneous being made by one and only one company -- Apple itself. Therefore, the operating system has all the drivers it needs to run on all Mac computers within a reasonable linage. I assume that it works with Window 8 now because of tighter control of the driver ecosystem that Microsoft forces hardware manufacturers to comply. Therefore, all newer PCs will be Windows 8 compatible and the drivers for the motherboard are already included in Windows 8 itself. No need to hunt for drivers. In effect, Windows has adopted the homogeneous nature of Apple.

Clearly the advantage of running Windows (or Mac OSX) from an external drive is mobility and security. Once the external drive is disconnected from the computer, there is no trace of it on the computer. This way, you can carry your Windows 8 without without having to carry the bulky computer. If your friend has a machine that supports Windows 8 and can boot from the USB port, then you just simply plug in the external drive with Windows 8 in it , and boot from it.

Given that there will be a lot of write operations happening while Windows 8 is being used, it's best to use USB3 and an SSD drive.

Download Windows 8 from Microsoft

In the "old" days when the average person's Internet connection speed was slow or virtually non-existent, people could only download small programs from the Internet. With bulky packages like Office and Photoshop, they had to get them through CDs and DVDs that were purchased in stores or over snail mail. Now, with this average speed much higher, there is no need to do this anymore. Almost all programs these days are purchased online as a download.

The biggest software of all is the operating systems. It started with Linux when you can download the ISOs of various distributions. This was possible because some distros are actually pretty small. Some are as small as a few megabytes. Apple started selling its MacOSX 10.7 (Lion) as a download only. Now, Microsoft has gotten into the act and sells its ubiquitous OS via downloads starting with Windows 8.

Below is a link to the Microsoft website that offers such a download. Windows 8 ISO is a hefty 8GB download. With a speedy Internet connection of 25mbps, it would take about 2 hours to download. No biggie.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only

The initial download is not the OS itself but a small initiator file from which you can download the full OS after you have verified that you have a legit serial number.

http://www.nirmaltv.com/2013/05/09/download-windows-8-iso-from-microsoft/

For those who want to download the ISO for Windows 8.1 but only have a serial for Windows 8, do this.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only

Go to the above link and download the initiator file installer for Windows 8. Save this file on the desktop. Keep in mind where it is and its name.

Now download the initiator file installer for Windows 8.1. Save this file on the desktop. Keep in mind where it is and its name.

Run the installer for the Windows 8. As expected, after you have a valid Windows 8 key, it will start to download. Let it download for about 1%. Then quit by hitting the red X. This will put the in progress downloaded file in a limbo state.

Then run the initiator file installer for Windows 8.1. Strangely to get itself out of the limbo, the download will overwrite the partial download and resumes to download the ISO of Windows 8.1. Once the download is finished, it will offer a few choices of what you can do with this download including installing Windows 8.1. But instead of installing, you select to create the installation media which is the ISO file.

Here is the video that provides essentially the same info.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TEu2VzqK7U

Now you have the ISO of Windows 8.1 and have created a bootable media to install it on a empty drive. But you only have the serial for Windows 8. It's ok, you can use the generic Windows 8.1 key initially to allow you to pass the challenge screen asking you for the key. Once the installation is finished, you can change this generic key with your legal Windows 8 key.

The generic Windows 8.1 key is this:
Windows 8.1 Pro Place-Holder Key: XHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKB

In all honesty, why would Microsoft put in all these seemingly arbitrary roadblocks to obtain a legal copy of Windows 8.1 ISO? It already offers Windows 8.1 as a legal free upgrade to Windows 8 via its Windows Store. Why not simply offer people a free and easy download of the Windows 8.1 ISO up front? Instead, it forces its customers to go through these loops to do a clean install of Windows 8.1 instead of having basically to do the installation of Windows 8.1 twice. It took me an extra 2 hours for the installation of Windows 8 first, download its updates, then upgrade to Windows 8.1 via another massive download.

Keep in mind here folks, the steps described here take advantage of a bug in the download, mid download halt, and resumption of the "same" download created by Microsoft. Since the ISO comes from Microsoft and the keys used are legit, there is nothing illegal about this. There is no hacked Windows here, just some clever workaround to an arbitrary roadblock.

By the way, the ISO is of a 64bit Windows 8 Pro retail version. This is the version that you purchase from Microsoft or retail stores. It comes as a DVD in a paper box. Some stores actually sell the OEM version of Windows 8.1. If you can get a hand on these OEM DVD, then that negates having to do all this download trick. 

Sheesh!

Java Versions

When you access some websites that require Java to run, you may discover either your computer does not have Java installed or the installed version is too old or too new. Although websites should keep up with the latest technology by upgrading their contents to match up with the mainstream technology, there are circumstances when they cannot do so. Therefore, in order to use their content, you have to use an older version of Java for example. below is a link to download older versions of Java.

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/archive-139210.html

I personally find Java to be confusing to use because Oracle, the maker of Java, has so many variations of this technology.