Windows 8 build 8128

Windows 8 build 8128 is a post-Developer Preview build of Windows 8, which was uploaded to BetaArchive on 4 January 2019 as an x86/x64 checked/debug version. The Windows Driver Kit for this build was uploaded to the Internet Archive on 20 February 2023.

File Explorer
Games Explorer from Windows 7 is hidden.

Redpill removal
This build is notable for being the first available build not to use Redpill, thus all the Metro features (such as the start screen, the Metro login screen, and Immersive app execution) are now available out of the box, compared to previous builds which required the use of a Redpill utility (or, in the case of build 8102, be distributed with Redpill already applied) to use the features.

As such, the  library was removed, with its associated functionalities being moved over to other files such as. Additionally, any registry entries pertaining to Redpill (most notably, which was commonly used to restore the older Windows 7 shell in build 8102) no longer function.

The removal of Redpill also resulted in the aforementioned operating system's shell (and its associated components) being removed from the operating system entirely.

Placeholder sound
This is the first build to have the  sound. However, it is a placeholder and obviously recorded by an amateur, most probably a Microsoft employee, by shouting the word  gently close to the recorder. While it does not have a date of creation in its metadata, it has a date of 29 September 2011, a week prior to this build's compilation.

Miscellaneous

 * The On-Screen Keyboard has been updated with a darker interface, similar to the RTM.
 * Windows Explorer now has a ribbon option to connect to a media server.
 * Slight wording changes have been made during Windows Setup.
 * The "Add a user" button in Start has been removed.

Compatibility
To install or run this build in VMware Workstation, you must set the hardware compatibility to version 8.x; otherwise, a  bugcheck will occur.

Hyper-V launch failure message
If the VMX extensions (in the case of Intel processors) or the SVM extensions (in the case of AMD processors) are not present or enabled in the BIOS options, the boot screen will display a  message.

Windows Error Reporter
will encounter an exception loop; closing the message that the program was terminated will result in it coming back shortly.