Solved I am just finishing win 7 pro to win 8 upgrade. Why 8.1?

I had a LOT of programs installed in win 7 pro on my 2010 ThinkPad only to find them uninstalled when I did an in-place upgrade to win 8. Had got the upgrade disc thinking most programs would be left standing. After getting win 8 programs (desktop apps???) about 50% back installed I find out Microsoft seems to be trying to force me to upgrade to 8.1 soon.

If I upgrade from 8 to 8.1 using the store do I lose all my programs AGAIN? Do I really have to uninstall my security suite that I just installed only to reinstall again? Are they going to force an 8.3 on me next year? I don't like tile world at all and the desktop UI is worse than 7, but the motor seems better so I'd rather not use the win 7 recovery partition. Is there anyway to not have to reinstall all my 3rd party dekstop programs again after an 8.1 upgrade?

PS : I plan on waiting till 12-30 to upgrade if at all.

No losing of anything .

I upgraded from 8 Pro to 8.1 Pro with my Microsoft account through the Store & lost nothing.

Nothing??

Do you really mean you did NOT have to reinstall ANY 3rd party desktop apps, e.g. dropbox, itunes, photoshop, etc.?

I also want to be clear that I only use a local, non-microsoft account, for everything (desktop) I install. Will everything upgrade in-place in my situation and I mean non-microsoft desktop apps?

Hello chock.

8.1 has been around for a while (preview version). If you would like to experience it first, and,
if you can, (lots of ifs), if you know how, image your current system once or twice, again,
if you have experience in this area, then try the Windows 8.1 Free Edition (Enterprise 90 day)

Download Windows 8.1 Enterprise Evaluation

Also, I would familiarize yourself anyway with imaging, (NOT Microsoft backup)
so that if you want to upgrade 8 to 8.1 from the store, you could at least have a backup image of Windows 8 saved. I did the upgrade from the store and everything stayed the same. You can choose to NOT sign into a Microsoft account. All the programs on my system were still there after the upgrade, including the wallpaper. Only the start screen background changed.

Still, I would suggest trying the 8.1 Free Evaluation first if you can. No product key required.
You would have to be familiar with doing a clean install from a bootable ISO, however.
Preferably, a thumb (flash) drive. Good Luck.

Nobody seems to fully answer my question.

Everything remains is way to general for the answer I need. So everybody's "programs" stay in place. Nobody differentiates start tile app programs from desktop 3rd party program programs. I'm only interested in the latter being preserved. I want to know of a specific 3rd party app, e.g. iTunes, that remained in place and did not have to be reinstalled. I don't care about Start Tiles apps, Microsoft Store apps or any Microsoft programs even of the desktop variety.

I know how, and do, partition image my disk for backup/restore, but I'd rather know I won't have to use it because someone here has specifically answered my question.

Thanks

chockfullof546 said:

I want to know of a specific 3rd party app, e.g. iTunes, that remained in place and did not have to be reinstalled. I know how, and do, partition image my disk for backup/restore, but I'd rather know I won't have to use it because someone here has specifically answered my question.
Thanks

Click to expand...

All these stayed.



A word of caution. Windows 8.1 seems a little buggy. Just my view. It seems 8 (and IE 10) is more stable.
IE 11 is buggy :shock: ... The zoom factoring is not stable for one thing.

chockfullof546 said:

... I know how, and do, partition image my disk for backup/restore, but I'd rather know I won't have to use it ...

Click to expand...

My view is that imaging is not a chore but a beautiful thing. I use it often, with pleasure.
As far as Microsoft accounts are concerned, they can be closed, signed off of, or switched to a local account.

Thanks for that list of programs. I think it gives me enough to answer my question.

I image after major software installs or upgrades and at initial os install. I keep the last few with the initial os image and only test restore very infrequently. I view it as a very necessary chore. Feel the same about data backup and test recovery. It's even more important and more of a chore in my view.

Thanks a lot again for your info.

You're Welcome. Good Luck.

I get nervous when it's implied that some should use Microsoft Backup. NO! omg!
It's how the process is configured. If done correctly, it will only take minutes (depends on system).
If data and video are mixed in with the system, the image will be bloated.
If the page and hibernation file are included, the image will be bloated.
If the image must include 2 or more operating systems, the image will be bloated.

My system images that work perfectly as restored operating systems vary from 7GB to 11GB
and are created in about 2 minutes. It's not necessary to spend half a day making a saved system.

Well, Best of Luck.