Windows 10: Rolling back a tablet from 10 to 8 after files are gone.

Well I have a toshiba encore I think it is, a small tablet which starts with windows 8 on it, had upgraded to 10 and ended up resetting it to factory settings in a way which left it without the files to roll back to 8 and of course it asks for the windows key but because 10 is hat special kind of horror show doesn't accept the key for 8 the tablet has...

Since it's a tablet with no usb ports how exactly would one get 8 back on it?

:)

 

While rolling back from Windows 10 to Windows 8 shows ERROR

Hi,
abhynz. Thank you for posting on the community. Are you still experiencing the same behavior with the phone? Are there any changes if you unplug and plug the phone back to your PC? How about turning the computer off and on? We look forward to your reply.

 

While rolling back from Windows 10 to Windows 8 shows ERROR

I got feed up with windows 10 bugs and performance on my Lumia 640Xl and would like to roll back to win8. But in the process, recovery tool shows the below Error.

 

There should be at least micro USB port for charging. That post supports adapter to "normal" USB port, mostly those adapters are called OTG. So then you can connect USB hub to that adapter and then connect USB stick with windows setup, keyboard and mouse you will need them because usually on tablets touch screen doesn't work during clean reinstall (also charge battery because if you use charging port to connect usb devices you probably would not be able to charge during reinstall). Prepare windows key to install also check if there is any drivers on manufacturers site, make bootable windows usb stick with rufus or other software. Recommend use rufus because bootable media may need some special settings like gpt partition scheme for uefi, FAT32, etc.

By the way you did something wrong because i have quite few small 7-8 inch tablets with atom CPU (1-2GB ram) running windows 10 (upgraded from windows 8.1) without any problems. Start may feel more sluggish than win 8.1 but it sorts itself out sometime latter.
After you upgrade to win10 and activate once your activation is saved you shouldn't need to enter key when reinstalling 10 (make sure upgrading to same version pro to pro home to home etc) just skip if it asks for one it should activate when you connect to internet.

 

And you didn't read it all did you, the issue with win 10 wasn't due to doing something wrong it was due to clearing it of personal data via reset as I'm prepping to get rid of it, as it was a win 8 tablet it's key isn't a win 10 key and as win 10 is an arse to deal with despite the free upgrade it doesn't accept the 8 key...

The not accepting the key is probably related to the fact I had it clear all user data, cause guess what, don't want strangers getting into my stuff, like factory reset level of removal because the tablet versions always hate having proper user account management options.

If it's gonna take screwin around finding adapters in order to get it back to the o.s it supports I guess I'll just hunt down a win 10 crack for it since hey it has a legal key for an o.s that is free to upgrade to 10 anyway, dealt with enough annoyance due to how window 10 does stuff related to the free upgrade to not be willing to waste much more time messin with it.

 

If it came new with Windows 8.x, then the key should be stored on the motherboard.

I would download the Windows 10 installer, use the Media Creation tool option to burn it to a USB - no need for Rufus if you do that. You'll need the USB adaptor as described above.Then you should be able to install Windows 10 and it should just read the key off the motherboard and activate automatically without needing to type it in. Plus if you had Windows 10 activated on it before, it should activate itself anyway when it recognises the hardware - just Skip when asked for a key.

The one 'gotcha' is that you have to download the right edition of Windows, and I believe you need to choose the same language as was on Windows 8.x, to have it activate.

 

Great way to request help. I'll say this politely...but your comments show you don't understand how the upgrade process works. You are bashing a free OS because you didn't know what to do.

As mentioned, the key is stored on the motherboard. It's always compatible with 10 if the upgrade is done properly. Your tablet may have a method of restoring to Windows 8, but you'll have to check with the manufacturer to find that out. The key has nothing to do with your user data.

We'll be glad to help, but bashing someone who tries to help is certainly not the way to go. VBs is not a mind reader.

PS> Windows 10 is far from a horror show.

 

It's not accepting the Windows 8 key because YOU are attempting to put the wrong version/edition of Windows 10 on it.

 

If your tablet used the common 8.1+Bing wimboot OS and you did not create a usb recovery drive or make an image backup, then you may find it is nearly impossible to return to 8.1+Bing if the rollback mechanism fails.

This is because the 8.1+Bing OS is a special oem version not available directly from MS.

If you reinstalled standard 8.1, it will not activate and would not leave much spare space either.

You might be able to get a copy of 8.1+Bing from toshiba.

 

Funny cause the version is the one the tablet itself downloaded through the GWX thing.
So if it has the wrong version for the key that comes down to what the tablet chose to dl...

I assume the key for this tablet isn't stored on the mobo as it has one of the stickers with the keys on it which most laptops lack when they store the keys on the mobo.

 

Anyway.... to put Windows 8 back on it you are going to need an OTG cable to connect a standard USB flash drive:
Amazon.com: Generic Micro USB OTG Cable for Cellphone/Tablet, Pack of 3 - Non-Retail Packaging - Black: Cell Phones Accessories

Or a microUSB flash drive:
Amazon.com: Generic Micro USB OTG Cable for Cellphone/Tablet, Pack of 3 - Non-Retail Packaging - Black: Cell Phones Accessories

Create a Windows 8.1 installation media:
Create installation media for Windows 8.1 - Windows Help


You can verify which version of Windows 8 the key is for (and then figure out the corresponding Windows 10 version ) by entering it in ShowkeyPlus:
Showkey - Windows 10 Forums

If the Windows 8.1 key is for 8.1 with Bing (Core Connected), then you pretty much out of luck - you will have to install the correct version of build 10586 of Windows 10 which will accept a Windows 8.1 with Bing product key.