I will be helping with the HP Windows 8 Day and I though a couple of articles would help.
Upgrading to Windows 8
Before upgrading to Windows 8, I recommend that you run the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant. It scans your current PC to see if it is ready for Windows 8 and then provides a compatibility report and optional steps for you to buy, download, and install Windows 8.
Download Upgrade Assistant
If your PC is currently running Windows 7, your files, apps, and settings will easily transfer to Windows 8. If your PC is running Windows XP or Windows Vista, you’ll need to reinstall your apps after you upgrade.
You can run Upgrade Assistant without purchasing or installing Windows 8.
To check if your peripheral devices like printers or monitors will work with Windows 8 is sure they’re plugged in and connected to your PC before you run Upgrade Assistant.
What does Upgrade Assistant do?
There are four main things that Upgrade Assistant does:
It scans your hardware, apps, and connected devices to see if they’ll work with Windows 8. Make sure all the peripheral devices that you need to work with your PC, like printers and monitors, are connected to your PC and turned on before you run Upgrade Assistant.
Upgrade Assistant checks your PC hardware to see if it meets the Windows 8 system requirements to install on your PC, including features of the processor such as CPU speed, PAE, NX, and SSE2, as well as RAM size and hard disk capacity. It also checks for compatibility of your currently installed apps and devices.
It provides a compatibility report. Windows 8 generally works with the same apps and devices that work with Windows 7, but in some cases, a product might need an update, or you might need to uninstall and reinstall it after you upgrade. The compatibility report lists your apps and devices that will work in Windows 8, those that might not work, and what you can do to get them working again after you upgrade. If some of your apps and devices aren’t listed, it might be because we don’t have compatibility info for that product yet. For more info on specific products, check the Windows Compatibility Center, or contact the product manufacturer.
You can save or print the compatibility report to use later. Unless you choose the option to “keep nothing” during the upgrade, you’ll be able to find the report on your desktop after the upgrade. For more info, see get your apps and devices working in Windows 8.
It checks your PC for support of certain Windows 8 features. Specifically: the Windows Store, snap, secure boot, and multitouch. If your PC doesn’t support one or more of these features you’ll see a warning. You’ll still be able to install Windows 8, but specific features won’t be available to you.
It provides the option to buy, download, and install Windows 8. If your PC is ready to go, Upgrade Assistant provides a recommendation on which edition to buy, and walks you through the steps to upgrade.
Is my PC ready to upgrade?
The best way to tell if your hardware, apps, and connected devices are ready to upgrade is to download and run Upgrade Assistant, which scans them and tells you if there is anything you’ll need to do before or after upgrading.
General System requirements Link
HP Specific Link Information
Windows 8 works great on most of the same hardware that runs Windows 7. To automatically check your PC, apps, and connected devices to see if they’ll work with Windows 8, download and run Upgrade Assistant.
If I run Upgrade Assistant and it doesn’t mention a particular app or device, does that mean the app or device will work in Windows 8?
Not necessarily. When you run Upgrade Assistant, it scans your apps and connected devices, and provides a compatibility report about the products that we know will or won’t work in Windows 8. If you have a product that worked in Windows 7, then most likely, it will work in Windows 8, too. But there might be apps or devices on your PC that we have no info for.
The compatibility info we provide is based on these sources:
Independent software and hardware vendors test and officially certify some apps and devices for Windows 8.
Microsoft tests the most popular apps and devices on the market, and provides compatibility info based on this testing.
If we didn’t test a product on Windows 8, we might base its compatibility status on whether it worked on Windows 7.
We also base some compatibility info on reports from the manufacturer. This info hasn’t been tested or confirmed by Microsoft.
Check for more compatibility info for a specific app or device (including info from community forums) in the Windows Compatibility Center, or contact the app or device manufacturer.
Can I upgrade a Windows 7 touch-enabled PC to Windows 8?
If you have touch input hardware that isn’t specifically designed for Windows 8, but is compliant with the Windows Certification Program for Windows 7, you can upgrade to Windows 8 and will experience touch responsiveness at least as good as it was on Windows 7. Because Windows 8 touch requires a higher degree of responsiveness and precision, Windows 8 touch PCs that qualify for the Windows Certification Program provide a much better experience typing on the touch keyboard and using certain features than on Windows 7 PCs. For example, certain Windows 8 features and apps won’t work on touchscreens that support fewer than five simultaneous touch points.
Can I upgrade from a 32-bit version of Windows to a 64-bit version of Windows 8?
Yes, but you can’t do this using Upgrade Assistant. If your PC has a 64-bit capable processor (CPU) but is currently running a 32-bit version of Windows, you can install a 64-bit version of Windows 8 Pro, but you’ll need to buy it as a DVD and perform a custom installation You won’t be able to keep any files, settings, or apps when you upgrade from a 32-bit to a 64-bit version.
For HP devices Specific Devices go to these links