Upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10

[John K]

Hi guys,

I never upgraded to Windows 10 and still run Windows 8.1 on my laptop.

I do have the product key that came with my laptop for Windows 8.1

Is there a way to still upgrade for free to Windows 10? or have I missed my chance and now have to go to Windows 11? My laptop is old but has 16GB of RAM and a 2.4Ghz CPU.

I did go into the upgrade centre and although the download for Windows 10 seems to have happened it was not installed.

Appreciate it.

John K.

[glend (Glen)]

Stay on Win 8.1 if your running imaging software, it offers you nothing.

[astro744]

The download from Microsoft will allow you to create a bootable USB drive. It’s been a while since I’ve done this but you will have the option of Home or Pro depending on what you have already. Also you will have the option of clean install or upgrade.

In the past I would always advise a clean install but if you have any older hardware and drivers I highly recommend an upgrade rather than clean install as Windows 10 will then retain any old drivers and allow older hardware to keep running. I’m not sure if this applies to all hardware but it sure fixed the issue iPad with my older printers and scanners.

When Windows 10 first came out I did a clean install only to find most of my peripheral hardware was not supported and no drivers were available. I went back to 7 the hard way by reinstalling everything. A couple of years later I tried again but this tome with an upgrade rather than clean install, (upgrade also allows roll back for a short time). I found that the upgrade kept every device I had working as before but under a new operating system. Since Windows 7 has not been supported (with security updates) for some time now it was an easy decision to move to Windows 10. Not sure when end of life of 8.1 is or was but Windows 10 is in 2025 sometime. All this means is that security and other updates will no longer be available for download.

If you have a stand-alone system and not connected to the internet and it is all working for you then no need to change but otherwise an update is recommended if only to keep up with security updates.

I have found an interesting pattern in Windows history in that every alternate edition is not as popular or favoured as every other edition beginning with 3.0 for me.

3.0 ok
3.1 better
95 ok
98 better
Me ok
XP better
Vista ok
7 better and best so far
8/8.1 ok
10 (various build versions) better if not even better than 7.
11. I haven’t got a platform that supports it.

I have omitted the OS/2, NT, 2000 and further server based versions that could also be setup as a stand-alone desktop.

[LonelySpoon (Neville)]

FWIW, I have an odd combo on one scope, ZWO EAF and Atik camera.

Only way I could get an auto focus was with NINA.

Installed latest upgrade there and now it tells me each time "Win8 not supported, horrible things may happen..." but AF works.

I've had no issues with Win 11, but 'something' happened a while back and all drivers for Atik failed on both computers (8 & 10) and required a complete reinstall of the OS. redoing drivers before that didn't work, everything fine now on 11.

Neville
LSO

[Sitt (Simon)]

Originally Posted by glend

Stay on Win 8.1 if your running imaging software, it offers you nothing.

W8.1 is no longer supported by Microsoft. OP I would upgrade to W10 without hesitating if that's available to you. Keep in mind that ASCOM upgrades only work with supported OS eg WXP is no longer supported by ASCOM which means that the days are numbered for W8.1

[John K]

Thanks for this info.

It's a free upgrade but for some reason at about 73% installation I get a message that Windows 10 installation has failed.

I have just checked the BIOS on my computer and looks like it is the original BIOS from 2013! Just wonder if this is the issue?

I will try and again to run the installation as an administrators and then contact Microsoft if it fails again.

Anyone also experience this?

Originally Posted by Sitt

W8.1 is no longer supported by Microsoft. OP I would upgrade to W10 without hesitating if that's available to you. Keep in mind that ASCOM upgrades only work with supported OS eg WXP is no longer supported by ASCOM which means that the days are numbered for W8.1

Agree and the reason I want to get on to it before Jan 2023 when they will stop supporting it.

[glend (Glen)]

Originally Posted by Sitt

W8.1 is no longer supported by Microsoft. OP I would upgrade to W10 without hesitating if that's available to you. Keep in mind that ASCOM upgrades only work with supported OS eg WXP is no longer supported by ASCOM which means that the days are numbered for W8.1

It works fine for me. There is an old saying in Banking IT, "never migrate to the latest release of anything".

[redbeard (Damien)]

Hi, as astro744 mentioned, here is the link to get the 'win10 installation iso' file to burn onto a disk. And also the instructions to create a bootable usb stick. Recommended to do this as opposed to the update method I think, especially if you want to do a clean install.


https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/soft...load/windows10


Cheers.

[astro744]

Originally Posted by redbeard

Hi, as astro744 mentioned, here is the link to get the 'win10 installation iso' file to burn onto a disk. And also the instructions to create a bootable usb stick. Recommended to do this as opposed to the update method I think, especially if you want to do a clean install.


https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/soft...load/windows10


Cheers.

Thanks for posting the link. I was going to do that but I was using my iPad and the message Microsoft gave me was that Windows 10 was not compatible with my device, (der!). Not sure if I had a proper link then.

Yes a clean install must be done from a bootable USB drive. An upgrade must be done from within Windows.

[redbeard (Damien)]

Good ol' Apple, happens to me too.

[John K]

Originally Posted by astro744

Thanks for posting the link. I was going to do that but I was using my iPad and the message Microsoft gave me was that Windows 10 was not compatible with my device, (der!). Not sure if I had a proper link then.

Yes a clean install must be done from a bootable USB drive. An upgrade must be done from within Windows.

Strange but that does not work for me - that download page downloads the MediaCreationTool2H.exe file on my computer only, not the Windows ISO file.

Does that sound right?

Then it concs out at 73% or thereabouts on the install

[astro744]

Ok. If you are looking for the Windows 10 download from a Windows computer then you will get the page that has the media creation tool. Download it and run it to create a bootable USB or ISO file for DVD.

Accessing the Windows 10 download from my iPad took me direct to the ISO file download. When I typed the address in to my Windows browser it redirected to the media creation tool. I used the media creation tool in the past and had no issues.

Not sure why you are getting to 73% only. Are you doing a clean install or upgrade? Has your system already been wiped? If no try the upgrade from within Windows (you cannot upgrade from bootable USB). You have nothing to lose by trying the upgrade as you will have an option for roll-back for about 7 days. If you don’t like it you can then either roll-back or try a clean install again.

My BIOS is from 2008. It supports Windows 10, latest version as well as SSD as my boot drive.

[redbeard (Damien)]

It looks like they have removed the direct link to the iso file, but I think I have found another way to do it. Again, for a new install, never run the Windows install from Windows. I'm downloading the iso file now and here are the steps so far:


1. Download MediaCreationTool21H2.exe
2. Run MediaCreationTool21H2.exe
3. When it asks what you want to do, select "Create installation media(USB blah blah) for another PC"
4. Select 64bit or other etc

5. Select ISO file
6. Save as....
7. Burn ISO file to DVD using freeware iso burner software, don't just copy the file as it has to be converted from the iso file. The ISO file downloaded no issues to my PC and it's about 4.2GB in size.
8. The DVD should be bootable and able to select the windows installation options. Make sure your boot options are set in the BIOS so you can boot from the DVD.





If you don't have an optical drive, you can use the usb boot disk method and extract the iso to that.

[Sitt (Simon)]

Originally Posted by glend

It works fine for me. There is an old saying in Banking IT, "never migrate to the latest release of anything".

The latest Windows release is W11 which came out nearly a year ago, the OP is asking about upgrading from W8.1 to W10. Windows 10 was released in 2015 so your statement makes little sense being that W10 is already 7 years old.

[Sitt (Simon)]

If your BIOS is dated from 2013 and you are running W8.1 then you most probably won't be able to upgrade to W11 as your pc will be too old. W11 has a minimum hardware requirement which means that if your computer is from a certain generation it will refuse to install . Stick to W10 otherwise upgrade your computer if you want W11.

Originally Posted by John K

Thanks for this info.

It's a free upgrade but for some reason at about 73% installation I get a message that Windows 10 installation has failed.

I have just checked the BIOS on my computer and looks like it is the original BIOS from 2013! Just wonder if this is the issue?

I will try and again to run the installation as an administrators and then contact Microsoft if it fails again.

Anyone also experience this?



Agree and the reason I want to get on to it before Jan 2023 when they will stop supporting it.

[astro744]

Originally Posted by redbeard

It looks like they have removed the direct link to the iso file, but I think I have found another way to do it. Again, for a new install, never run the Windows install from Windows. I'm downloading the iso file now and here are the steps so far:


1. Download MediaCreationTool21H2.exe
2. Run MediaCreationTool21H2.exe
3. When it asks what you want to do, select "Create installation media(USB blah blah) for another PC"
4. Select 64bit or other etc

5. Select ISO file
6. Save as....
7. Burn ISO file to DVD using freeware iso burner software, don't just copy the file as it has to be converted from the iso file. The ISO file downloaded no issues to my PC and it's about 4.2GB in size.
8. The DVD should be bootable and able to select the windows installation options. Make sure your boot options are set in the BIOS so you can boot from the DVD.





If you don't have an optical drive, you can use the usb boot disk method and extract the iso to that.

The ISO file is only useful for creating DVD media but you can create a USB with other software with it. I created a bootable media last night using the above method except that at step 3 above I selected USB media and created a bootable USB direct. (You need 8GB stick).

Select Windows 10 and 64 bit or 32 bit (can let auto select or override, note hardware must support 64 bit and likely does in your case as mine did and it’s older). You no longer have the choice of Windows 10 Home or Pro and you will get the licence version that matches your current installation.

Boot to USB for clean install. If you prefer upgrade then run media tool again from within Windows 8.1 and select upgrade. It will download again but perform an upgrade in the process and not bootable media or ISO.

[leon]

Just my two cents worth, I have never had Win 7 and since it came out Win 8.1 is what i am currently running, and it is still supported until January 23. I really like the OS as it suits my needs.

Have looked at Win 10, but not sure if i really want to upgrade to it. My Alice has it and hates it, so for now John I would stick with the Devil you know and works for you.

Leon

[AndyG (Andy)]

Originally Posted by John K

Then it concs out at 73% or thereabouts on the install

Hello John, how much free space do you have on C: drive? This process will need space to download the file, unpack to temp, etc, then eventually write an image to the stick.
If applicable, scrutinise the quality of the USB stick, there may be errors writing to it, if it's old. A nice new 8Gb+ USB3 based stick is quite cheap and will read faster when it comes to the install phase of Win10.

Party on.

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Update the bios and firmware of the machine, it should update

[astro744]

Type the following into your search engine; "Windows 10 install stuck on 73%"

Plenty of hits.