# Hassle Free Upgrade to windows 8.1 from windows 8



## de.das.dude (Aug 17, 2014)

After spending two sleepless nights in a row not knowing what to do when my update procedure kept failing on me... and after finally achieving windows 8.1 with.. frankly, very silly solutions... i thought it would make a guide for the people who are yet o encounter this horrible experience.
This guide presumes you have decent english comprehension skills and patience.

1. Configuring your windows update.
First you need to disable manual checking of windows updates. You can do this from Control Panel -> Windows Update, and then look in the top left of the screen.

Set it to "Do not check for updates automatically"


2. You will need a specific update i.e. KB 2871389 for windows 8.1 upgrade to be available in your windows store.
Since you have disabled automatic updates, you will no longer need to look at the screen showing this update failed to install.

Instead click *here* to download the update manually from microsoft themselves. They did this because they know how horribly windows 8 updater is bugged.


After it finishes downloading, go to the download location, right click on the file and "Run as Administrator"

Still fails? *Click the online trouble shooter to fix problems. *On starting you will find two options, updater and a intelligent file transfer. clcik one and follow through then run the program again and do the other one.


4. Restart PC to install the update.

5. Go check in windows store. If it does not download, then disconnect internet and reconnect again.

6. As soon as it starts downloading there is a chance it can get stuck at a couple of key points.
i.e at 50%, at 62%

Just disconnect internet and reconnect.

7. You can pause the download when ever and shut down PC and resume again the next day from where you left off.


THis should do it.


Afterwards many people complain their activation has been lost. just open run (windows key + R) and type "wsreset.exe" and press enter. That should do it.

*More tricks-

For anyone who wants to find their serial number and other useful (lol or maybe useless) information just open command line and type*

>wmic
hit enter and type
>os
hit enter and scroll to the right. enjoy
trick brought to you by @Drone


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## rtwjunkie (Aug 17, 2014)

Very good guide. I however had no trouble a few months back. I did a fresh install of 8, and manually checked for all updates that went as far as W8 can get. Then went to windows store and installed 8.1.

the key was it was a fresh install and i did nothing else and installed nothing else through this process.

Hopefully it's an alternate method that can help somebody if yours doesn't.


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## de.das.dude (Aug 17, 2014)

rtwjunkie said:


> Very good guide. I however had no trouble a few months back. I did a fresh install of 8, and manually checked for all updates that went as far as W8 can get. Then went to windows store and installed 8.1.
> 
> the key was it was a fresh install and i did nothing else and installed nothing else through this process.
> 
> Hopefully it's an alternate method that can help somebody if yours doesn't.



sometimes a fresh install doesnt work as microsoft's update servers are crapped. that happened to me. they couldnt process the request for the updates that i wanted and hence they wouldnt even download.

first time i did the update though last year, it was pretty flawless. no problems.


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## Kursah (Aug 17, 2014)

Nice work. Still pisses me off that Windows 8 keys won't activate a fresh 8.1 install. Not sure what they were thinking there.


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## erixx (Aug 17, 2014)

yeah, great guide, I hope I can try it sometimes (not, hehe). The tip to only install 1 update before upgrading is worth millions!!!! 
But it would be nice if there were some tricks for when you activate. I share with others that that part is the worst.


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## de.das.dude (Aug 17, 2014)

since i use a laptop it comes pre activated. Sometimes the activation poops after reseting and or upgrading, at which point just need to run wsreset to fix it.


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## de.das.dude (Aug 17, 2014)

Kursah said:


> Nice work. Still pisses me off that Windows 8 keys won't activate a fresh 8.1 install. Not sure what they were thinking there.


this is the exact as that proverb "too many cooks spoil the broth".

this is what happens when you have too many people working on one thing.


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## Tsukiyomi91 (Aug 17, 2014)

Interesting thread.


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## THE_EGG (Aug 17, 2014)

You're a lifesaver man. I had 8.1 upgrade problems with my Taichi31. More precisely being stuck at 82% and then when I would try reconnecting to the internet or restarting it would just start again and get stuck at the same old 82%.

Your process fixed this for me! It must have been something to do with windows update...


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## de.das.dude (Aug 18, 2014)

no probs. There are some weird problems with weird solutions  no clue how it worked but this fixes them all lol.


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## BlackHawk1 (Oct 9, 2014)

Great post! I found a similar one. I would like to point out that you may want to edit your OP...

1. Step 1 should read to disable AUTOMATIC updates, not disable manual updates.

2. KB2871398 should really read KB2871389

I would like to say that KB2917499 may also be needed as it was in my case. I also had to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter after installing those 2 updates. After these steps I was able to begin my 8.1 download from the Microsoft store. I don't know if it made a difference or not, but I also went into the Bios and disabled "Secure Boot."


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## Mussels (Oct 9, 2014)

This seems to be a really long, ridiculous way of doing it.


install 8.1 with dummy serial from microsoft here

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj612867.aspx



Windows 8.1 Professional
GCRJD-8NW9H-F2CDX-CCM8D-9D6T9
Windows 8.1 Professional N
HMCNV-VVBFX-7HMBH-CTY9B-B4FXY
Windows 8.1 Enterprise
MHF9N-XY6XB-WVXMC-BTDCT-MKKG7
Windows 8.1 Enterprise N
TT4HM-HN7YT-62K67-RGRQJ-JFFXW
Windows Server 2012 R2 Server Standard
D2N9P-3P6X9-2R39C-7RTCD-MDVJX
Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter
W3GGN-FT8W3-Y4M27-J84CP-Q3VJ9
Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials
KNC87-3J2TX-XB4WP-VCPJV-M4FWM


then activate online with your 8.0 legit key later  perfect!


Yeah, its that simple and MS have temporary keys on their own website.


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## de.das.dude (Oct 9, 2014)

dont have a windows 8 key. its not visible anywhere. not even at the back of the laptop on the sticker, which is where it usually should be.

that is the problem.               

also what if you want to keep all the settings and stuff.


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## Naito (Oct 9, 2014)

Yeah, it is annoying the way MS have done the keys, but I guess they had no other choice. Luckily I have one legit Windows 8.1 key I can enter during setup, then I just do the old "Change Product Key" in the Control Panel>System and activate one of my two legit 8.0 keys.

If Windows 8 came installed, you may have wanted to follow this guide. I'm pretty sure it is still legit if you use the key on the same computer. The key should be in the SLIC/MSDM table within the BIOS.


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## Mussels (Oct 9, 2014)

de.das.dude said:


> dont have a windows 8 key. its not visible anywhere. not even at the back of the laptop on the sticker, which is where it usually should be.
> 
> that is the problem.
> 
> also what if you want to keep all the settings and stuff.




If you have a legit key, you just update via windows update/store.
If you fresh install, you use that method above.

Both work perfectly for me in every situation i've used windows 8.1 on over a dozen machines now - retail keys and from that $15 sale they had on.

issues with your licence and lacking a key are due to the laptop manufacturer and its licence being weird, and probably not applicable to many others.


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## BlackHawk1 (Oct 9, 2014)

de.das.dude said:


> dont have a windows 8 key. its not visible anywhere. not even at the back of the laptop on the sticker, which is where it usually should be.
> 
> that is the problem.
> 
> also what if you want to keep all the settings and stuff.




Maybe I am missing something, but there are programs that allow you to find your keys... Magic Jelly Bean and Belarc advisor are two such programs.


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## de.das.dude (Oct 9, 2014)

Mussels said:


> If you have a legit key, you just update via windows update/store.
> If you fresh install, you use that method above.
> 
> Both work perfectly for me in every situation i've used windows 8.1 on over a dozen machines now - retail keys and from that $15 sale they had on.
> ...


yeah manufacturer is samsung. so ofcourse its going to be crappy *smirk*


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## Drone (Oct 9, 2014)

For anyone who wants to find their serial number and other useful (lol or maybe useless) information just open command line and type

*wmic
*
hit enter and type

*os
*
hit enter and enjoy
*
*


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## Mussels (Oct 9, 2014)

Drone said:


> For anyone who wants to find their serial number and other useful (lol or maybe useless) information just open command line and type
> 
> *wmic
> *
> ...



thats handy


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## de.das.dude (Oct 9, 2014)

Drone said:


> For anyone who wants to find their serial number and other useful (lol or maybe useless) information just open command line and type
> 
> *wmic
> *
> ...


added to OP


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## Jetster (Oct 9, 2014)

The serial number is on the system page. The product key would be useful


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## Drone (Oct 9, 2014)

Jetster said:


> The serial number is on the system page. The product key would be useful


Um no. System Page shows product id


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## Kursah (Oct 9, 2014)

Great thread, needs stickied in a new section dedicated to Windows IMHO. I have referred quite a few folks to this thread...would be nice to find it faster.


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## Jetster (Oct 9, 2014)

Drone said:


> Um no. System Page shows product id



Its the same number. Check


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## Jetster (Jun 1, 2017)

Almost a three year old thread


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