I had to install Windows 8.1 Preview over the Windows 8 installation which was giving me problems. The problems went away but yesterday I got a nice surprise:
This preview version has expired. Please upgrade to Windows 8.1 using the Store. The computer will reboot in two hours and then every hour.
...or something along the lines.
I started downloading the update but then read on some forums that the installation will wipe clean your previous programs and probably settings, only the [useless] apps will remain in place.
Here's how to skip the trouble and perform an in-place installation of Windows 8.1 while retaining all your previous programs and settings. You will need to have a valid Windows 8 product key.
Steps summary:
1. Go to the 'order page with product key only'
2. Download Windows 8 installer
3. Start the installer and cancel after it reaches 1%
4. Download Windows 8.1 installer from the same link
5. Launch the [new] installer and let it download the image
6. Make an installable USB drive
7. Edit USB:\sources\cversion.ini and replace 9458.0 with 9431.0
7. Create USB:\sources\ei.cfg with the content below
8. Launch USB:\setup.exe and perform the in-place upgrade
9. Restore your Windows 8 key / serial number
Explanations:
[TODO, doing these steps myself just now, will add links]
ei.cfg content:
[EditionID]
Professional
[Channel]
Retail
[VL]
0
cversion.ini content:
[HostBuild]
MinClient=9431.0
MinServer=9431.0
The installer also requested me to manually uninstall the following programs:
To restore your key launch cmd.exe in Administrator mode and enter:
slmgr /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
slmgr /rearm
Obviously you need to replace the 'X's with your valid key.
This preview version has expired. Please upgrade to Windows 8.1 using the Store. The computer will reboot in two hours and then every hour.
...or something along the lines.
I started downloading the update but then read on some forums that the installation will wipe clean your previous programs and probably settings, only the [useless] apps will remain in place.
Here's how to skip the trouble and perform an in-place installation of Windows 8.1 while retaining all your previous programs and settings. You will need to have a valid Windows 8 product key.
Steps summary:
1. Go to the 'order page with product key only'
2. Download Windows 8 installer
3. Start the installer and cancel after it reaches 1%
4. Download Windows 8.1 installer from the same link
5. Launch the [new] installer and let it download the image
6. Make an installable USB drive
7. Edit USB:\sources\cversion.ini and replace 9458.0 with 9431.0
7. Create USB:\sources\ei.cfg with the content below
8. Launch USB:\setup.exe and perform the in-place upgrade
9. Restore your Windows 8 key / serial number
Explanations:
[TODO, doing these steps myself just now, will add links]
ei.cfg content:
[EditionID]
Professional
[Channel]
Retail
[VL]
0
cversion.ini content:
[HostBuild]
MinClient=9431.0
MinServer=9431.0
The installer also requested me to manually uninstall the following programs:
- Sentinel Runtime Drivers - caused by Lightworks. Download haspdinst.exe and run it with the parameters "-fr -kp"
- N-Trig installer - this is from my drawing tablet. Renaming \Program Files\N-trig to N-trig.old solved this
To restore your key launch cmd.exe in Administrator mode and enter:
slmgr /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
slmgr /rearm
Obviously you need to replace the 'X's with your valid key.
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