Windows 10: Downgrading to Win8 then upgrading to Win10 again questions

Discus and support Downgrading to Win8 then upgrading to Win10 again questions in Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade to solve the problem; Hi, I'm currently having a weird activation problem with Windows 10, and I was considering reverting to Windows 8 and start the process again to see... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade' started by Retro, Aug 6, 2015.

  1. Retro Win User

    Downgrading to Win8 then upgrading to Win10 again questions


    Hi,
    I'm currently having a weird activation problem with Windows 10, and I was considering reverting to Windows 8 and start the process again to see if that would fix things. I tried to use the 'revert to previous build' but it said it couldn't locate the required files or something and I hadn't deleted the windows.old folder or anything so it looks like I'll have to clean install Windows 8 from scratch again.

    A few questions:
    1) If I downgrade to Windows 8 will my original Windows 8 key still work?
    2) Within the Windows 10 free offer year, can you downgrade to Windows 8 then upgrade to Windows 10 as many times as you want (without changing any hardware to cause a reactivation)?
    3) If I decided to upgrade the hardware (new motherboard/cpu etc) within the Windows 10 free offer year will it still be possible to install Windows 8 then upgrade to Windows 10 again on a new setup or is this a one time only deal tied to the first hardware you installed Windows 10 on?

    Thanks.

    :)
     
    Retro, Aug 6, 2015
    #1

  2. I would like to know if I can easily revert to Windows 8 again?

    Original title: Win10 downgrade

    I didn't yet decide whether to install Win10. First need to know if I can easily revert to Win8 again?
     
    MatiMottus, Aug 6, 2015
    #2
  3. Upgrading from win 8

    I started with Win7 machine. I bought the 8.0 upgrade and upgraded to Win 8.1. I then participated in the Win10 Technical Preview. When I installed Win10 I had to do a clean install because the release I started with wouldn't allow an upgrade. So I did
    a clean install using the provided activation key. I used that until the public release which installed and I was able to activate with my Win8 upgrade key. The first big release crashed my computer and I had to reinstall. I used a Win10 ISO that MS support
    person gave me a link to. That version would not take my Win8 activation code, so now I am running Win10 which can't be activated.

    What I am looking for is the quickest way to reinstall to get an activated version of Win10. The only way I can see this happening is reinstalling Win7, which I don't have a key for, then upgrading to Win8, activating with my key and then upgrading to Win10.
    I am not looking forward to this so I am looking for suggestions. I don't even know if I can even download Win8 anymore. Also can I downgrade to Win8 from Win10, activate and then upgrade again?

    Any suggestions would be helpful.

    Thanks.
     
    Brian Byrnes Jr., Aug 6, 2015
    #3
  4. NavyLCDR New Member

    Downgrading to Win8 then upgrading to Win10 again questions

    1. Yes.

    2. Yes.

    3. Probably. Might have to call Microsoft and explain your upgrade to get an activated Windows 8 and upgrade to Windows 10.
     
    NavyLCDR, Aug 6, 2015
    #4
  5. Ztruker Win User
    No need to keep going back and forth. You can reinstall Windows 10 as often as you want, upgrade or clean, once you have completed an upgraded and activated it.

    SO right now, you could just clean install Windows 10: Windows 10 - Clean Install
     
    Ztruker, Aug 6, 2015
    #5
  6. Retro Win User
    That's the problem though I'm only considering this because Windows 10 hasn't activated properly for me. When I reboot my PC sometimes it says it's activated and sometimes it says it's not like it's stuck in a loop of some kind. I thought going back to Windows 8 and upgrading again would reset everything and activate properly next time.

    Oh well I'm still in two minds at the moment between going back to Windows 8 and starting over or clean installing Windows 10, hoping this route might reset and clear everything instead. *Smile
     
    Retro, Aug 6, 2015
    #6
  7. Ztruker Win User
    I'd say try the Windows 10 Clean Install/. If it doesn't work right then go back to 8 and start over.
     
    Ztruker, Aug 7, 2015
    #7
  8. Retro Win User

    Downgrading to Win8 then upgrading to Win10 again questions

    I ended up clean installing Windows 10 and got the error 0xC004C003 and had enough of all the messing about so I decided to return to Windows 8 in the end.

    I'll probably hold off installing Windows 10 again until more bugs are ironed out and next time I'll probably upgrade through the GWX app instead of the Media Creation Tool in case this is what caused my activation problem before. *Smile

    Thanks for the help though.
     
    Retro, Aug 7, 2015
    #8
  9. Ztruker Win User
    I think that means it wasn't activated the first time.
     
    Ztruker, Aug 7, 2015
    #9
  10. Retro Win User
    I used the Media Creation Tool to upgrade Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 first before clean installing and thought it had activated successfully (I initially mentioned my problem in the activation forum) but rebooting my PC gave me error 0xC004F034 and rebooting the PC again it stated it was activated and so forth so it looks like it hadn't completed activation properly in the first place.
     
    Retro, Apr 4, 2018
    #10
Thema:

Downgrading to Win8 then upgrading to Win10 again questions

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