For whatever reason, I want to update to Windows 8, but.. I'm not entirely sure if I should. I have a lot of stuff downloaded on my computer, and I saw something that said I'd lose all of the things on my computer, and I really don't want that to happen, and if I want to switch back, then I'd need some disk, but... When I bought my laptop, it didn't come with one.. There is a 'Repair' option on my start menu.. But, if I do it, will I lose all of it? And if I were to switch back, could the 'Repair' button do it?

Nothing?..

dont do it, all im gunna say

You might want to check with your machine's documentation, but a lot of the makers now put the boot disk onto a partition of the hard drive. But, seriously, I would highly recommend that you stick with Windows 7. If you have a laptop, you will probably hate using 8 with a track pad (Haven't actually tried it but based on my experience with it, I know I wouldn't enjoy it). I also hate Windows 8 because it renders the corners of each of my displays useless, your mouse can not move across the top of your display because of all the stupid toggle areas they put up there. And don't even get me started on the start menu.

tl;dr

Windows 8 isn't worth the disk they burn it onto.

IF you want to upgrade, there is probably software from the manufacturer to burn recovery cd's from the recovery partition... I'd do that just to make sure, and I'm not much for 8... Tried it on my old Latitude D620 and as Yield predicted, it isn't all that great. I'll probably go ahead and buy an upgrade when it's released (If you have 7, then the upgrade's only $40-$50), but wait until it's been out a little while... Hopefully it'll have updated drivers for touchpads too, cause I think it's what annoyed me most on the Release Preview.

i wouldn't i never made recoveries on my computer and lost ALL my data this is MONTHS of programming and gaming GONE... just like that there was nothing i could do i was dual booting Ubuntu for a while

Hello iPhone4S (Need to upgrade to iPhone 5 <object class="emojione" data="https://resources.enjin.com/1489581540/themes/core/images/emojione/svg/1f61b.svg?0" type="image/svg+xml" standby=":p">:p</object>)

In my personal opinion I would HIGHLY recommend that you don't upgrade to Windows 8 if you haven't used it before. I tried it for a week and hated it. The complexity of it is much greater then all the previous versions. Like taking out the start menu at the bottom left hand corner was the biggest mistake. EVERYONE knows where the windows start menu is. Its been the same since the making of Windows. Also there were other annoyances.

Now to answer your initial query. The disc that you are referring to is called a Recovery Disc. Most new computers do not come with one anymore. If you look at the "My Computer" window you should see a your main windows hard drive. But there maybe another one called "Recovery Disc" and it too looks like a hard drive. That drive is not really a separate physical drive, in fact it's called a Partition (A slice of the hard drive space sectioned off for something like a recovery disc <object class="emojione" data="https://resources.enjin.com/1489581540/themes/core/images/emojione/svg/1f600.svg?0" type="image/svg+xml" standby=":d">:d</object>) To access that drive you normally press a Function Key when the computer is starting to get into recovery mode.

Since you might be trying to downgrade from Windows 8 back to 7 (I assume) then yes something could go wrong and you loose everything. I have had issues where when I did a downgrade the computer froze in the middle of rolling back and I lost EVERYTHING on that computer including the Operating System (OS) If you have a physical Windows 7 install disc then I would backup all of my personal files on an external Hard Drive and go ahead with the Windows 8 update if you really want Windows 8.

Also that repair option doesn't work all the time. I have installed and screwed up my old computers Operating System (Windows Vista and Ubutntu) 30+ times. I have tried everything (I think).

Hope this was helpful and that if you do continue with the upgrade I hope it doesn't mess anything up <object class="emojione" data="https://resources.enjin.com/1489581540/themes/core/images/emojione/svg/1f600.svg?0" type="image/svg+xml" standby=":d">:d</object>

joeydev

my tech guy says "unless you feel like committing suicide and need that extra push, dont do it"

thats litteraly what he told me when i asked his opinion of windows 8...

Vista ALL the wayyy.......

well i could test it out on my old laptop all i would have to do is pirate it.....