New
#1
Can't go back to Windows 8.1 with Bing, using 8.1 Media Creation tool
Not a problem for me, but thought I'd post results of an experiment.
I had a conversation with @NavyLCDR over on another thread about whether users who had computers pre-installed with Windows 8.1 with Bing could use the Windows 8.1 Media Creation tool to re-install Windows 8.1. (See quoted posts below.)
Microsoft says on the Media Creation tool website that users of Windows 8.1 with Bing should contact their OEMs, but PC Steps Magazine seemed to suggest that you could download the Single Language version with the Media Creation tool and it would work.
I said I'd give it a go and finally had an opportunity today to try it...
... and it doesn't work.
I tried reinstalling Windows 8.1 Single Language (32-bit) ISO created by the Media Creation tool for me as a UK user, on my tablet which came with Windows 8.1 with Bing.
However when I tried it, it asked for a Product Key (my understanding is that it should just read the key from the motherboard without asking). I tried typing in the Product Key, but it says 'The product key entered does not match any of the Windows images available for installation. Enter a different product key'. (It clearly recognises it as a real key, if I type in random letters as a key, it just says the product key didn't work.)
So, unless there's a way round this, I think PC Steps are wrong.
It does mean that if you want to upgrade from Windows 8.1 with Bing, make sure you have a backup image before trying an upgrade to Windows 10, because if that goes wrong, there may be no way back.
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Original conversation from the other thread...