Windows 10: After W10 upgrade revert to W8.1 on UEFI machine

Assume a computer with the UEFI firmware interface.

Assume that during or after a user has upgraded a W8.1 machine to W10 things go horribly wrong - Black screen, Blue screen, No screen. The user now tries to Boot from a USB Emergency Boot Disk that they previously created using the W8.1 utility and then they try to restore W8.1 from a System Image Backup (the one in File History) that they previously created.

Will this be possible and will the Product Key in the UEFI firmware allow a reinstall of W8.1 after a W10 upgrade...?

T.

:)

 

How to Recover W10 after Forced Restore to W8.1

I had to have my machine wiped and restored due to malware problems. I didn't remember that the machine was originally W8.1 with a W10 free upgrade, which I took advantage of after purchasing the machine.

Unfortunately, I'm now looking at a machine that is W8.1, even though I was entitled to, and obtained, a free W10 upgrade.

I don't know how to get my machine back to a W10 environment without paying for a license.

This doesn't make any sense to me and I'd appreciate information on how to achieve this most appropriate outcome.

 

No Windows 10 TP Start Menu interface

Original title: No menu after upgrade W8.1 => W10 Preview

After updating W8.1 to W10 Preview on my Acer Iconia 700, most of the parts seem to work bu I do not get the new Interface completely.

when i push or mouseklick the 'window' in the left corner, I get the normal w8 interface and not the new W10 menu.

A complete clean install failed while my Iconia works with UEFI Bios and the GPT system.

 

I don't think anybody knows the answer to that question, here anyway. Somebody at Microsoft likely knows but I haven't seen anything official that answers that. I'm thinking you will be able to do that. Just because of the scenario you stated. Or you do the free upgrade but don't like Windows 10 and want to go back to 8.1. If they locked that option out I think it would get a lot of complaints and just generate negative press that Microsoft wouldn't want to have to deal with.

 

Alphanumeric, thanks for your reply. Your guess that "....somebody at Microsoft likely knows...." is just a little scary..*Shock

Under the UEFI specification and the requirement by Microsoft that users are able to restore their systems to a "factory state" has resulted in OEM manufacturers creating their own bespoke disk partioning layouts. For example, a typical disk layout at the time of leaving the manufacturer may look something like the following: -

1. Recovery partition #1 (usually quite small around 100MB)
2. EFI System partition (also quite small, around 250MB)
3. OEM partition (less than 1GB)
4. Recovery partition #2 (large, up to 50GB)
5. Windows OS partition - C: drive
6. Optional Data partition - typically E: drive

The above layout is representative and is not necessarily identical for all manufacturers.

After upgrading a W8.1 machine to W10, what changes (if any) will be made to this partition layout and what changes (if any) will be made to the contents of these partitions..?

For example, will the upgrade make changes only to the Windows OS partition..? And the other partitions, will they remain as is..? Assume 6 months after the W10 upgrade a user has a terminal problem with their system and they decide to revert to the "factory state", what do they get - a W8.1 system as it left the factory, or something else..?

It is going to be really tough for IT technicians if these questions are only answered when we have a crisis to resolve.

T.

 

They can't stop you from reinstalling windows 8.1, it will still read the Product code in the firmware. They aren't going to do anything to your firmware if that's what your wondering. They aren't going to flash your bios when your not looking etc. What they could do is block your product code from activation if it was used to upgrade to Windows 10. I don't think they will ever do that. Some PC's do not have UEFI BIOS, my desktop PC's for example, and I can run Windows 10 on those.

As far as what happens to your hard drive. Your recovery feature likely won't work. Make your recovery disk set now. In the past the upgrade from 8 to 8.1 broke some factory recovery function on some PC's. The partition was still there it just didn't work from the hot key on boot up. If it does still work, using it will restore Windows 8.1 not Windows 10. I've ditched the factory install on my laptops long ago for clean installs. You can download install media from here, http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...-refresh-media that will let you clean install Windows 8.1. That media will accept Windows 8.0 keys and Windows 8.1, and will read OEM embedded codes from your BIOS automatically. You don't even need to know what your OEM key is.

 

If the 8.1 computer came with 'Windows 8.1 with Bing' then I'm not sure the above would work?

 

No it won't, The With Bing edition is not listed for download. But who said anything about 8.1 with Bing? You can't download Enterprise or VL editions from there either.

 

True , but the Enterprise or VL folks should have an IT department who should support them.

8.1 with Bing is the one sold to the public - I saw the 'with Bing' versions advertised for several cheap computers and laptops (perhaps still are for all I know) and I bet most of the people who bought them wouldn't know whether it was 8.1 Core or 8.1 Bing which they'd got - it would just be '8.1' (if they even registered that much).

Of course as it seems 8.1 Bing upgrades to Windows 10 Home which it seems will be clean-installable later, then 8.1 with Bing now looks like a better option.

 

Alphanumeric and DavidY, thanks for your replies.

I support computers that run a number of flavours of both W7 and W8.1, including some with "with Bing". I have never given "with Bing" much thought as there does not seem to be any discernable difference between the "with Bing" or the "without Bing" flavours. Many very capable business desktop PC's run the "with Bing" OS and I am almost certain that (except for the default browser) that the code is identical to the core.

What I will need to understand before August is whether there will be any practical "hands-on" difference when upgrading a W8.1 and a W8.1 with Bing. Prior to starting this Thread I had not given that any thought - so the point raised by David is a valid one, something that I at least need to be aware of even if I don't quite grasp the implications.

Referring back to Post #4 by Alphanumeric. Personally I hate the "factory reinstall" idea and have never used it on my personal computers - I have always used a System Image, either using the Windows utility (the one available from File History) or a 3rd-party, such as Seagate Disk Wizard (Acronis). However, you can never persuade everyone to do this and I know that many users will do a factory reinstall every time Windows is feeling a little unwell - this is especially the case with users who use NAT or the Cloud for data storage.

After the W10 upgrade it is going to be interesting to see what happens the first time a user hits that little "Factory Refresh" button on the keyboard..... *cry

T.

 

One thing to keep in mind is 8.1 with Bing has its own set of keys and its own ISO. Core and Core SL will not accept With Bing keys.

 

Thanks for the reminder - that makes sense considering that the "with Bing" was a no charge option to the OEM.

The following is compliments of Softpedia.... not sure if Gabe has made it more clear or muddied the waters....

And Gabe didn't address the question of whether the user will be able to revert to W7/W8.1 with that key.

T.

 

Like Tabvla I also throughly dislike the one click reinstall and I am reasonably dilgent in making system backups / images. My laptops have a similiar partitioning to that shown by you above and as result I have about 16.5 GB of space used up for something I never use. Is it possible either before / after installing W10 to reformat / reallocate this space to my other partitions? I have Windows, Data 1 and Data 2 partions that I have set-up using Paragon Hard Disk Manager. If so are there certain files that must be copied to Windows partition first? I am an experienced "computer user" but I am reluctant to interfer with operating system as I gave up on systems after Windows replaced Dos / CPM.

 

I raised this question with a major OEM manufacturer and their answer was not very reassuring.

According to them, they have asked Microsoft a very similar question to the one that I asked in Post #1 of this Thread. After repeated requests to MS, they have still not had an answer.

Surely when coding the W10 installer Microsoft must have asked the question "What if it goes wrong and the User needs to reinstall the previous OS - W7 or W8/8.1 on a system that uses the UEFI firmware interface...?

If a major OEM manufacturer cannot get an answer from Microsoft then the only conclusion that one can make is that MS don't have an answer as yet...... with 6 weeks to go that is not very reassuring...*Confused

T.