Repair Install Windows 8

How to Repair Install Windows 8 and 8.1 without Losing Anything​

   Information

Windows 8 introduced the option to refresh and reset your PC to repair or reinstall Windows 8 with as needed. These new features are great for what they are intended for, but there are some drawbacks to them.

When you reset your PC, it will basically give you a clean install (retail) or factory recovery (preinstalled OEM) of Windows 8 afterwards. You will lose everything from your current Windows 8 installation.

When you refresh your PC, this basically repairs Windows 8 by reinstalling it while keeping your files, Store apps, most of your settings, etc..... However, all installed 3rd party desktop apps will be removed. If you like, you could create a custom refresh image to not lose anything, but this will require creating new custom refresh images every so often to keep it updated to not lose anything since the last image was created.

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install (aka: in-place upgrade install) to fix your currently installed Windows 8 without losing anything. For example, desktop apps.

You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to do a repair install of Windows 8.

   Note

Settings that will be Preserved when doing a Repair Install

• All user accounts.
• Files in all users' C:\Users\(user-name) folders. (ex: Desktop, My Documents, My Music, etc...)
• Wireless network connections.
• Apps from the Windows Store will be kept.
• All installed 3rd party desktop programs will be kept.
• Mobile broadband connections.
• BitLocker and BitLocker To Go settings.
• Windows Firewall settings.
• Drive letter assignments.
• File type associations set per user.
• Metro apps settings per user.
• Display settings.
• Personalization settings such as lock screen background and desktop wallpaper.
• All users' PC settings will be kept.
• Choices you made during Windows Welcome, such as computer name and user accounts, will not change.
• Network, Libraries, and Windows Update settings will not change.
• Customer Experience Improvement Program settings will not change.
• Windows Error Reporting settings will not change.
• Some drivers may or may not be removed, but usually will remain.

Settings that will be NOT be Preserved when doing a Repair Install

• Installed Windows Updates will be removed.
• Some drivers may or may not be removed, but usually will remain.

   Warning

• You will only be able to do a repair install from within Windows 8.
• You will not be able to do a repair install at boot or in Safe Mode.
• You must have at least 8.87 GB + what is currently being used of free space on the hard drive/partition that Windows 8 is installed on. You may need more if you have a larger installation.

Be sure to back up anything that you do not want to lose before doing a repair install just to be extra safe. For example, if you lose power in the middle of doing the repair install.

Here's How:

1. Start Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, and sign in to an administrator account.

2. Disable any 3rd party firewall, antivirus, or other security program to avoid it from possibly preventing the repair in-place upgrade installation of Windows 8.

3. Do step 4 or 5 below depending on what you would like to use to do the repair install with.

4. If Using a Windows 8/8.1 DVD or USB to do a Repair Install with

   Note

• The DVD/USB you use must be for the same language as the Windows edition you currently have installed.
• If you have Windows 8 installed, then you must use a Windows 8 DVD/USB.
• If you have Windows 8.1 installed, then you must use a Windows 8.1 DVD/USB.
• If you have Windows 8.1 Update installed, then you must use a Windows 8.1 Update DVD/USB.
• If you have 32-bit Windows 8 installed, then you can only use a 32-bit Windows 8 DVD/USB.
• If you have 64-bit Windows 8 installed, then you can only use a 64-bit Windows 8 DVD/USB.
• If you installed 64-bit Windows 8 with UEFI, then you can only use a UEFI Windows 8 DVD/USB.

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A) Insert/connect and open the DVD or USB, and go to step 6 below.​

5. If Using a Windows 8/8.1 ISO file to do a Repair Install with

   Note

• The ISO you use must be for the same language as the Windows edition you currently have installed.
• If you have Windows 8 installed, then you must use a Windows 8 ISO.
• If you have Windows 8.1 installed, then you must use a Windows 8.1 ISO.
• If you have Windows 8.1 Update installed, then you must use a Windows 8.1 Update ISO.
• If you have 32-bit Windows installed, then you can only use a 32-bit Windows ISO.
• If you have 64-bit Windows installed, then you can only use a 64-bit Windows ISO.
• If you installed 64-bit Windows with UEFI, then you can only use a 64-bit Windows ISO.

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A) Mount the ISO.​

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B) Open the mounted ISO from This PC if it didn't automatically open, and go to step 6 below.​

6. Double click/tap on the setup file to run it. (see screenshot below)

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7. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.

8. If this is for Windows 8 Enterprise, then click/tap on Install now. (see screenshot below)

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9. If prompted, select (dot) Download and install updates, and click/tap on Next (Windows 8/8.1 or Windows 8/8.1 Pro). (see screenshots below)
NOTE: If any updates are found, then they will be installed, and installation will restart and continue on to step 10.

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10. Enter your product key that matches the installed edition of Windows, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

   Note

The product key you enter must match what you are installing, or it will not work.

If you have a Windows 8 product key with Windows 8 installed, then you are good.

If you have a Windows 8.1 product key with Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 Update installed, then you are good.

If you have a Windows 8 product key with Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 Update installed, then you would need to enter a generic key below to install with, and change the product key later on in step 24 below to activate with your Windows 8 key instead.

If you have Windows 8 Enterprise, Windows 8. Enterprise, or Windows 8.1 Update Enterprise installed, then you would need to change the product key later on in step 24 below to activate since Enterprise editions do not ask to enter a key at this step.

• Windows 8 (core): FB4WR-32NVD-4RW79-XQFWH-CYQG3
• Windows 8 Pro: XKY4K-2NRWR-8F6P2-448RF-CRYQH
• Windows 8 Pro with Media Center: RR3BN-3YY9P-9D7FC-7J4YF-QGJXW

• Windows 8.1 (core): 334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT
• Windows 8.1 Pro: XHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKB
• Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center: GBFNG-2X3TC-8R27F-RMKYB-JK7QT
• Windows 8.1 Enterprise: MNDGV-M6PKV-DV4DR-CYY8X-2YRXH OR FHQNR-XYXYC-8PMHT-TV4PH-DRQ3H

KMS setup keys (8/8.1): Appendix A: KMS Client Setup Keys

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11. Check the I accept the license terms box, and click/tap on Accept (Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro) or Next (Windows 8 Enterprise). (see screenshots below)

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12. If this is for Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro, then select (dot) Keep Windows settings, personal files, and apps, click/tap on Next, and go to step 14 below. (see screenshot below)

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13. If this is for Windows 8 Enterprise, then click/tap on Upgrade: Install Windows and keep files, settings, and applications. (see screenshot below)

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14. Windows 8 will now check for compatibility issues to see if you'll need to do anything to get your PC ready for Windows 8. If anything is found, you will need to take care of them before continuing. (see screenshot below)

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15. If this is for Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro and no issues were found from step 14 above, then click/tap on Install. (see screenshot below)

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16. Windows 8 will now start to install. The computer will restart a few times during this. (see screenshots below)
NOTE: This will take a while to finish.

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17. When Windows 8 is finished installing, select a color you like, and click/tap Next. (see screenshot below)

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18. Click/tap on Use Express settings. (see screenshot below)

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19. Do step 20 or 21 below depending on if your primary administrator account is a local account or Microsoft account.

20. If you have a Microsoft Account

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A) Go to step 22 below.​

21. If you have a Local Account

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A) Enter the password for the displayed account, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)​

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B) Click/tap on Skip, and go to step 22 below. (see screenshot below)​

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22. Windows 8 will now startup signed into your administrator account. (see screenshots below)

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23. Use Disk Cleanup to delete at least the Previous Windows installation(s), Setup Log Files, Temporary Windows installation files, and Windows upgrade log files items to free up the large amount hard drive space that they take. (see screenshots below)

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24. If you have an Enterprise edition or needed to use a generic key to install with from step 10 above, then you will need to change the product key to be able to enter the product key and activate it. (see screenshots below)

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25. Check for and install any available Windows Updates.

26. If needed, refresh or update you Windows Experience Index (WEI) score.


That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Refresh Windows 8
• How to Create a Custom Recovery Image to Use to Refresh Windows 8
• How to Reset Windows 8
• How to Refresh or Reset Windows 8 without Installation Disk
• How to Do a Clean Install of Windows 8
• How to Do a Clean Install with Windows 8 Upgrade
• How to Install Windows 8 Using "Unified Extensible Firmware Interface" (UEFI)
• How to Create a System Image in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Do a System Image Recovery in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Do a System Restore in Windows 8
• How to Create or Set Up Windows Backup to Back Up Files in Windows 8
• How to Fix "You've been signed in with a temporary profile" Error in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Fix "User Profile Service service failed the sign-in. User Profile cannot be loaded." Error in Windows 8 and 8.1

 

[highstream]

nearly 2 hours later, still at 52% and same cpu range. Read/Write speeds on the system drive are mostly 0 with blips up as high as 45 kb/s write, if that's relevant. Is that reasonable? Anything I should look for? System SSD has 88 GB (of 118 GB).

 

[Brink]

If you like, you could stop it by restarting the computer, but you'd be risking having to do a clean install if it goes belly up.

 

[highstream]

It can be stopped via the Cancel button w/o harm. But what's a reasonable time to wait? I'm not impatient, just wondering if it's hanging and wasting my time. 3:10 and counting. I've done this before and it was nothing like this System Explorer shows Setup.exe using 0% cpu but Install.exe using from 0 to 0.7% cpu, about 69 mb memory, as is Dismhost.exe, which as I understand it is for deploying a Windows image.

 

[Brink]

That's a bit long in my opinion for it to run, but as long as you have hard drive activity it should eventually finish.

 

[highstream]

Afer six hours with the mount, I restarted with the burned DVD image of 8.1 Pro x64 at midnight, this time skipping the updates to see if it made any difference. Got to 51% complete in a short while and now, 11am, that's where it still sits. Install.exe continues to show 0-02%, i.e., a trickle. Comodo keeps popping back on every so often. Is this attempt still worth taking seriously? I have to think that the same corruption that's causing the problem with my current installation is holding back the repair too.

 

[Kari]

One thing I noticed in your post, don't know if it has anything to do with this:

Comodo keeps popping back on every so often.

The repair install is an in-place upgrade, to same version and edition but still an in-place upgrade. I have done my share of in-place upgrades, even wrote short instructions for that some years ago at our sister site the Seven Forums.

According to my experience the most common reason for an in-place upgrade to fail is AV and / or Firewall. Both must be in my opinion totally switched off if not uninstalled while in-place upgrading, then again turned on or reinstalled.

 

[highstream]

They've been turned off before starting and still off when the "hang" occurs, so I'm not sure that's the problem but I'll try an uninstall of Comodo to see. It keeps popping back on every hour or two. The others, MBAM and Windows Firewall, have stayed off. Thanks,

 

[highstream]

Question:
- While I'm running the repair from the Admin account, does it matter if I'm still logged or not in the local one?

 

[Brink]

It doesn't matter as long as you are signed in to any administrator account and do it from within Windows.

 

[highstream]

Thanks. You said earlier that it makes a copy of the current install. Because of that, is it normal for install.exe to drop to <1% cpu usage shortly after it gets to a certain point, which here has been about 52%? Overall cpu usage is in the 1-2% range there too.

 

[Brink]

It usually doesn't take that long unless there's a serious issue with Windows or the hard drive.

Personally, I'd do a clean install instead if able to do so at this time.

 

[highstream]

So, not a refresh? With either clean or refresh, can an 8.1 iso be used on an install that started with a win 8 retail disk? Btw, Windows error check found one error on the system SSD, but it doesn't seem of consequence for the current problems, and scannow keeps coming up clean. Windows 8 Mgr repair of all system components hasn't solved it either.

 

[Brink]

You could use an ISO file downloaded from OPTION ONE below to install 8.1 and activate with a 8 product key.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/18309-windows-8-windows-8-1-iso-download-create.html

You could try doing a refresh instead to hopefully avoid a full clean install.

 

[highstream]

Thanks for the help (more, encouragement). The ISO I've been using on this attempted repair install came from using those instructions in coordination with your other set - http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/26095-repair-install-windows-8-a.html. Just to double check, for the (failed) repair install I've been using an 8.1 Pro x64 ISO, even though the original disk I have is Win 8 Pro, because that's how I understood the instructions; my 8.1 install was an online update.

 

[Brink]

That's ok. When you do a repair install or refresh, the installation media needs to be the same as what you currently have installed.

 

[highstream]

Update: I decided to give Windows repair install another try (about the tenth) - and it worked! And upon completion, CIS 8 installed properly and is currently updating. Don't ask me what changed. Was it running Avira's rescue disc (12 files renamed, but none obvious as to why), was it running msiexec /regserver, was it ignoring the safe CIS update instructions and running disk cleanup, or maybe it was being away for a few days and a good Thanksgiving dinner. Whatever it was, everything appears it's all back to working as it should.

Btw, I did the repair with the iso mounted and it took only 30 minutes. Some of the specifics shown in the your (Brink's) repair install instructions were bypassed, including having to enter an activation code or give an MS ID. In the end it just turned into my desktop, all ready to go.

 

[Brink]

That's great news.

If this was an OEM PC, then the installation would have automatically detected and entered the product key embedded in your UEFI firmware chip.

 

[highstream]

Not an OEM, but a DIY.

 

[awong]

Repair fail

Hi,
I was able to get to last stage to setting up devices but get a message box saying "one or more components fail.....restart"
It then reverted to my previous version/current setup. Is there any way to rectify this? I really hate to do a clean install.

thanks
Andrew

 

[Brink]

Hello Andrew, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Unfortunately, when a repair install fails, you usually only have a clean install as an option.