Windows 10: How to restore 8.1 from windowsOld.wim file

I installed Win10 on my base PC and no issues, but now it seems I've bricked my Samsung Slate 7 tablet(I5 64GB storage) during the upgrade to Win 10 on this one. The tablet cycles "restoring your previous version of windows" and reboots but never completes anything. I see a WindowsOld.wim file but how can I use this to restore back to windows 8.1 manually? I've tried everything else, and I don't have my install key handy (different location) so would prefer not to do a clean install at this point.

Any ideas?

:)

 

Can windowsold.wim save a corrupt Windows 10 SSD Drive?

Sorry, but in my message, I'm way passed that state. Thanks for the generic reply, but that does not help.

Again, I created the win 10 disk using the ISO file. Again, I used all the repair tools with no success. The drive is corrupt.

Again, how can I use the folder:

windowsold.wim

to revert back to win 7?

At this point, saving win 10 does not look like an option.

 

My Win 7 upgraded to 10 computer died, new computer is Win 8 that I've upgraded to 10, how can I restore the Win 7 back up files?

Answered on the "How To Geek" forum. Worked perfectly.

How to Restore Windows 7 Backups on Windows 8.1 or 10
Windows 8 offered support for restoring Windows 7 backups, but Microsoft removed this feature in Windows 8.1. There’s still a way to restore your files from Windows 7 backups on Windows 8.1 or 10, but it’ll
take a bit more work.

 

I have not found anywhere that stated a restore to 8.1 from Windows.old actually worked. Found lots of attempts but no successes.

Your best bet is to backup the existing hard drive or at least Windows.old to an external hard drive then do a clean install of 8.1.

See here:

Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 ISO - Download or Create
UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows
How to Do a Clean Install of Windows 8 or Windows 8.1

Copy any files or folders you want from the saved Windows.old to the new install.

 

Yeah, did the clean install once I conjured up my install key, but can't open the new backup format windows 10 uses (Windows.Old.wim). Does anyone know how to open a .wim file?

 

Maybe 7-Zip or WinZip?

Edit: Yup, just tried opening it with 7-Zip and it worked fine.

 

Never was an option as the pc wouldn't boot up. I had to do a clean install. Now I'm looking into the .wim file and see what can be recovered. Also, I have a WHS 2011 backup at another location so will give that a shot at some point. Good to go for now.

 

It should also have been possible to access that option from a bootable Recovery Drive... but I see it's too late now anyway.