Looks like using the Windows Reset did not work if an 8.0 image was involved. I did not believe an 8.1 update would replace the original image in the Recovery partition, but I have been surprised before. But we know from your prior post, the image was registered and could have been used, if it was possible to use that version.
When you got that system, was there an OEM process for doing a Factory Reset? If such a process had been set up to just reset using the image in the Recovery partition, it might not care if it was Windows 8 or 8.1. I know on my Dell which came with Vista, there was a partition for just a Dell DOS that would run and handle the reset operation, just wondering if the newer systems used something similar or relied strictly on the Windows 8 Reset process.
