Slighty Annoying Issue With Windows 8

I was having some issues with space on my laptop and some programs not working as they should seems every instant messaging program I tried to use crashed. So I did the last resort option which is really a good thing usually. A complete system wipe after backing up my whole system onto a portable hard-drive. Well I thought every thing was going fine, backup was good, I had copies off my restore disks, a copy of Windows 7&8, and easy access to most everything I figured I would need in the event I would have to restore my system when away from home. I made sure I had my Windows Keys, and even a copy of Unbuntu just in case... Very glad I did and here's why! One off my system restore disks was cracked, so I attempted to do a fresh Windows 7 install but after the format it kept crashing early in the install process. So after getting a little annoyed that two off my options were a flop I tried the Windows 8 disk, the install went smoothly without a hitch until I tried to activate it. It told me that my key was an upgrade key and I had to have another version off Windows installed. So needless to say I was more than a little pissed and was not thinking clearly, I wiped everything again and installed Unbuntu which I was going to do anyway but after Windows. Anyway after messing around I noticed an issue without Wine when running World of Warcraft. It ran ok but the graphics sucked, and then it updated and I could not get it working again, so downloaded a fresh Windows 7 iso from Microsoft and a copy off Nuke and Boot. Now I'm crossing my fingers and toes hoping that everything works out when I attempt to do another install this afternoon after I get off watch, I will update within a couple hours with the results, unless I run into problems then it'll have to wait until I get home tomarrow night.