Complicated: How to revert a Windows 10 PC to Win 8.1?

[MamaBear2017]

Hi everybody,

I'm new to this particular forum ( Win 8 ) and this is a little complicated, so please bear with me.

I have this 6 year old Asus Essentio. Just changed the CMOS battery, as it was getting flaky at times. I WAS running Win 7 with it.

So I "upgraded" to Windows 10 in July, near the deadline for the "free" deal. I've been having several problems ever since, and have tried all kinds of recommendations from the nice people in the Ten Forums, but haven't been able to solve them. Not the least of which is a problem that I call the "Black Screen of Update", that I get after every update - an unresponsive PC that I have to shut the UPS power off to, and then it finishes the update and boots ok. But being my entire computing life since 1987, AND my part time home business is on this PC, I get more than a little stressed from that.

So I've been thinking in terms of getting a new Win 8.1 PC for redundancy, and installing all my programs on the new one, THEN transferring all my data and profiles ( if possible ) over. THEN doing something with the older PC, but I'm thinking of options for that now.

In FACT, I just bought a refurbed: Asus Desktop Computer M32BC-B01 AMD FX-Series FX-8310 (3.40 GHz) 8 GB DDR3 2 TB HDD AMD Radeon R7 240 2 GB GPU Windows 8.1 64-Bit

and it's sitting out in the living room in boxes now, with a new 24" HD Asus LED monitor.

( Hey, a girl's entitled to a nicer computer once in awhile, huh? )

So my options for the older one, after transferring everything to the newer one:

1.) I could use the Windows 7 disks that I have for it, and just reinstall the WIN 7 OS. I'm not SURE how that would work, being it has Windows 10 on it now. Will it let me? Or would I have to format the HD with the old Win 7 disk, or what?

2.) I was thinking of maybe buying a Win 8.1 disk and installing that on the older one, but again, would it let me? And on Ebay, I'm seeing Win 8.1 upgrade disks, that don't cost so much, but full original ones are really expensive. Not sure which I'd need for this.

OR:

3.) Probably the simplest, if this is kosher: Get everything working perfectly on the newer Win 8.1 PC, THEN clone that HD and swap it into the older PC, while saving the older Windows 10 HD in the fire safe, just in case I missed something.

Option 3 sounds like the quickest and easiest?

Thoughts and suggestions, please?

 

[MamaBear2017]

Just got a blue screen today - "Windows needs to restart".

 

[nt62]

my part time home business is on this PC, I get more than a little stressed from that

Depends on what OS you want to use for your home business.

If you're going to work only, ... very nice "all-in-one" devices can be relatively inexpensive
available at any office supply chain store or Walmart.

A performance machine is another matter.

Reverting back to 8.1 is going to be a problem if you want to keep all your data.

Before any data loss occurs you might look at external drives
like Western Digital Passport drives to backup data.

They are inexpensive USB drives that simply plug
into a port and can hold much more data than flash drives.

Always backup everything you can before making changes to operating systems.

Do you want to use 7 / 8.1 / or 10? or all 3?

I expect the 10 forums techs said to upgrade to the latest build.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12387/windows-10-update-history

My view is that a clean installation is a good place to start.
It is also good to know about imaging tools and drive wipers.

When installing a Microsoft OS, there is always that option "CUSTOM" when starting a clean install,
to delete a drive and make it unallocated which is the best way to do a clean installation.

backup first, image first, save everything first before making changes to an OS.

When you refer to cloning and swapping, you could be asking for trouble if not very experienced.

Everything depends on how much data and programs you have.
Do you have 4 or 5 or 50?
Is it a problem to reinstall programs?
What kind of data? Backup to an external flash / thumb or USB drive is a good place to start.

I am not a fan of trying to do reversions because they would tend to create problems.

 

[MamaBear2017]

No, I want to use 8.1, which I understand is a nice stable Windows version. But can I get my data back into it, from Windows 10? I'm fine with a clean install, but need to preserve the data.

It shouldnt be a problem to reinstall programs - just time consuming. But I still have the Windows 10 machine that I can keep using, next to the new 8.1 machine, while I do.

I'm not interested in reversion, just getting the new 8.1 machine set up next to the old Windows 10 machine, getting programs installed on the 8.1, then migrating all my data over, then wiping the old Windows 10 machine and cloning the new 8.1 to it for redundancy.

Oh, and my only game is chess.

The refurbed 6 year old Asus Essentio is actually plenty fast, for what I do, it's just messed up with Windows 10 and I want out.

 

[nt62]

Depends on what kind of data.
8.1 may be considered stable,
but it has since been discarded and does still hold on to old tech.

Even some browsing features of 10 are less functional than products like Chrome.

Microsoft does not produce 8.1 any more.
Online sales are unsold keys and remnants.

I find 8 to be better than 7 technically but 10 is technically better than 7 or 8.

If by cloning you refer to a system image?
Transferring a clone or image to a different motherboard creates problems.

Migration of data?
I haven't heard that reference since Windows 95.

Are you referring to database tech?
I can see where that could be a stressor.

 

[MamaBear2017]

I'm having serious problems with Windows 10. I've heard that it has to do with the new OS not being compatible with older HD's?

And I just bought the refurbed machine with 8.1, so...

Yes, cloning a HD so I can actually boot and run from it, as a system disk in another PC. I have Acronis True Image for that, and someone also suggested that I try the free version of Macrium Reflect, which they think is better.

And I don't see 10 as so great, with all the problems I've had since upgrading this machine from 7 to it. I use Seamonkey for browsing, but my mail links won't open Pegasus Mail or Thunderbird from ANY browser now. And every time it updates, I get what I call the Black Screen of Update - the PC becomes unresponsive. I also had updates before, where it couldn't find the boot sector afterwards, and was time consuming to get working again. I've just about had it with 10 and think I should give it 3-4 years to mature. I cant afford to buy a brand new PC with it pre-installed. Well actually, I might have gotten this refurbed one with 10, if I wasn't so afraid of it now, but too late now.

A database tech???

 

[nt62]

it has to do with the new OS not being compatible with older HD's

How old is old? I can't imagine using a drive that is not at least SATA.
Any OS would have a problem if a drive has bad sectors or other technical problems.

I agree retail 10 looks like a flea market of apps.
8.1 is less burdened but it still has app mania.

afford to buy a brand new PC with it pre-installed

Well there are some new PC's out there in the 200 to 300 range
that include 10 home which basically is a giveaway.
Slow as a snail they may be.
If they idle all day, or are just used for data entry, well ...

give it 3-4 years to mature

It's not going to.
The OS depends on up to date hardware.
The hardware is what needs to get better.

I've been using 10 since pre release and
have never had any type of BSOD unless
the hardware is altered.

I couldn't recommend what I am using now,
that is another issue.

 

[MamaBear2017]

it has to do with the new OS not being compatible with older HD's

How old is old? I can't imagine using a drive that is not at least SATA.

This Asus Essentio was bought refurbed, about 6 years ago, with Win 7.

Any OS would have a problem if a drive has bad sectors or other technical problems.

The drive is fine. I've been told that Windows 10 has problems unless the HD is the latest and made for it.

I agree retail 10 looks like a flea market of apps.
8.1 is less burdened but it still has app mania.

Not relevant to this.

afford to buy a brand new PC with it pre-installed

Well there are some new PC's out there in the 200 to 300 range
that include 10 home which basically is a giveaway.
Slow as a snail they may be.
If they idle all day, or are just used for data entry, well ...[/QUOTE]

I just picked up the one mentioned above in this thread. $400 refurbed and MUCH faster than what I have.

give it 3-4 years to mature

It's not going to.
The OS depends on up to date hardware.
The hardware is what needs to get better.[/QUOTE]

Not sure that's the issue. Microsoft pushed Windows 10 free upgrade for everyone. The least they could have done was make it work with 6-8 year old HD's?

 

[MamaBear2017]

Here's a common example. About once a week since upgrading to Win 10 on this 6 year old refurbed Asus Essentio, I've been getting a BSOD for "driver power state failure". I have no idea what driver is doing it, but some manufacturers apparently arent supporting their devices on Windows 10? I know, the USB wifi adapter on my sister's PC has had driver issues. It wouldn't work at all with Windows 10. I had to find a driver for the chip set in the adapter, rather than from the manufacturer of the adapter. So should we have to update ( buy new ) hardware to be able to use Microsoft's latest greatest OS?

 

[MamaBear2017]

Here's a question that just came to mind. My older PC was Win 7 64 bit. If I buy and install a full version 8.1 OS on that disk, after backing up my data, then reinstall programs and transfer the data back, should I buy a 32 bit or 64 bit version of 8.1 to do it? Or would it matter?