garyloewenthal wrote: But also, unless I'm missing something, the article doesn't address the activation problem, which for me required a pass key from tech support to fix.
If one follows the directions in the the "Activate Windows 8 Pro Upgrade" section in Windows 8 Upgrade: clean install possible? when first installing there shouldn't be any activation problem. Obviously things don't always work, for one reason or another, however this is a know good workaround to clean building using upgrade media.
This is how I'd do it... Create a Windows 8 Virtual Machine with a Host Only Network Adapter to keep Windows from phoning home during the install.
Once installed perform the steps in the "Activate Windows 8 Pro Upgrade" section in Windows 8 Upgrade: clean install possible? up to "Reboot Windows now." and then upon reboot and before the last step "Run the activation utility afterwards, enter your product key to activate Windows." switch the Network Adapter to NAT or Bridged as applicable in order to allow Windows to phone home and activate itself.