How to install Windows 8.1 RTM on a Windows 8.1 Preview system
Back when Microsoft announced the public release of the Windows 8.1 Preview operating system, a beta test version of the upcoming update for its Windows 8 system, the company made it clear that users who installed the preview as an update on a Windows 8 system would not be able to update the system from the preview to the final RTM version.
What this means is that users who have installed the Windows 8.1 Preview need to install Windows 8 on the PC again before they can install the final Windows 8.1 build on the system. That not only means that they lose access to all of their customizations and apps they have installed in the meantime, but also lots of work.
I was not overly worried about that announcement back then, as Microsoft has claimed the same several times in regards to updates from previous beta or test operating systems to final editions.
Anyway, if you have installed the Windows 8.1 Preview on one of your PCs, you are probably wondering if any progress has been made in this regards, now that the final RTM build has leaked on the Internet.
Windows ISO Disc Image Utilities
Winsioutilis is a free program collection for Windows that manipulate configuration files on Windows iso disc images to unlocks restrictions that Microsoft has set in place.
One of the tools, cversion.ini Removal Utility, removes the cversion.ini file from the ISO image of the Windows operating system installation disc. This file defines the allowed upgrade paths. If the system does not match the version information, the update will not commence and you cannot do anything about it unless you edit the file manually, or remove it from the ISO image completely.
This is very useful for upgrading from release preview versions of Windows to the final version (e.g., Windows 8.1 Preview to Windows 8.1 RTM) while preserving your data, settings, and programs. This tools works in the same fast, efficient manner as the ei.cfg Removal Utility, so there is no need to unpack and rebuild ISOs, and the process can be trivially reversed.
To use the application, run it after you have downloaded it to your system and unpacked it. You are prompted to select a Windows ISO disc image that you have stored on the computer. Select the Windows 8.1 final ISO image. It should only take a couple of seconds tops for the process to complete.
If it did succeed, you should get a success prompt stating cversion.ini removed. You can then go ahead and burn the iso image to disc, and install Windows 8.1 over your existing Windows 8.1 Preview operating system without running into any issues whatsoever.
The effect is that you will keep your files and programs and apps that you have installed on the system, which you would otherwise lose in the process.
Closing Words
If you have installed the Windows 8.1 Preview on a Windows 8 PC, you may want to use the small tool on a Windows 8.1 upgrade ISO image to upgrade the operating system without losing any of the existing data. (via Deskmodder)
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What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?
Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.
If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.
5. Rufus
6. Ventoy
PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.
I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.
bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.
ps…. time travelling?
written. Jan 15, 2023
Updated • Jan 13, 2023
This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.
Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.
I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:
1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)
2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)
3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””
4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows
5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss
Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:
6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now
Have I missed any group off this list?
You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.
Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.
Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update
only from windows update though
KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site
1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.
2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.
3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.
This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.
Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.
Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.
Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215
check out the following recent articles:
Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/
BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/
While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.
My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277