Can I do a clean install of Win8.1 after upgrading to Win10?

[Elaine98]

A year ago I bought a Lenovo Yoga 2 that came with Windows 8.

Unfortunately, I upgraded to Windows 10 several months ago. It has been such a nightmare I want Windows 8 back.

Can I just buy a new copy of Windows 8.1 and clean install it on my laptop? Someone told me once its been upgraded to Windows 10 that I can't do that, but that just doesn't seem right.

I'm not very savvy when it comes to doing a reinstall. I'm not sure what to buy and I want to make sure trying this won't brick my computer. OEM, Full, etc seems like there is so many things to consider when trying to buy just a regular old version of Windows 8.1

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[clifford_cooley]

Can I just buy a new copy of Windows 8.1 and clean install it on my laptop? Someone told me once its been upgraded to Windows 10 that I can't do that, but that just doesn't seem right.

They didn't know what they were talking about. Especially when you think about the new copy of Windows 8.1 having its own new license and activation key independent from your system. However if you know your old activation key, a new key is not necessary.

I've upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 7. Then did a clean install of Windows 10. Something didn't go right and Windows 10 didn't activate. I think I took note of the wrong key for activation. I then re-installed Windows 7, activated the install, and then upgraded to Windows 10 once more. Taking note of a different key I then clean installed Windows 10 and activated successfully.

Since that time I have began using my Microsoft account for activation, so I don't technically need to take note of the activation key. On one machine months later I have re-installed Windows 7 and activated the install.

Upgrading to Windows 10 does not disable your previous operating system license. If at anytime you want to downgrade, that option is available to you. You will however need to know your old activation key, that is if you don't have recovery media.

 

[Saltgrass]

You may want to go back to Lenovo and ask them if they have install media available. As was mentioned, If the system originally came with Windows 8, in order to get to 8.1 free you would need to reinstall Windows 8 and use the supplied key which might be in the bios.

If you want to buy a copy of 8.1, you should be able to do that. Installing over a prior, especially newer, version of an OS can be problematic and you may need to remove partitions associated with the other OS during the install.

I always like the Retail version of an OS but with the changes surrounding Windows 10, and OEM version of 8.1 might be OK but I have never installed one.

If you wanted to clean install Windows 10, you can do that after you upgraded to Windows 10 and show it as activated.