I'm planning on upgrading my Windows 7 laptop to Windows 8 this weekend. I've never upgraded a computer before, so I'm curious as to what precautions I need to take before I upgrade and what I might need to backup.
I started trying to backup stuff tonight, but I'm having problems making a backup. I'll look into it some more tomorrow.
I second that. Definitely backup all your personal files to an external HDD (movies, music, documents, etc). In fact, backing up personal files should be part of your daily routine.
Personally I always recommend a fresh install. The W8 upgrade assistance checks compatibility and usually it's not a problem unless your laptop is anciiiient. I did a fresh install on my PC and it worked without a hiccup.
But using the upgrade feature should work too.
How did you do your fresh installation? Mine just upgrades
It should give you the option when installing Windows 8. The software asks something along the lines of what you want to keep. If you choose "Nothing" it should do a clean install. That's if you use the installation assistant. I'm not sure if the process is different using a DVD.