Yes, that was my attempt at number play. No
not word play. We have evolved to number play. Anyway, as many of you
may or may not know, Windows 8.1 is here and it is jam packed with a decent
amount of new features including major and much needed updates to first party
mail, contacts, photos, music apps and the return of the iconic start button. There
are numerous other updates in tow and Microsoft provides a great summary on the
Microsoft Blog.
I come with good tidings today. If you are
like me, you are most likely running the Windows 8.1 preview on a Mac via
parrells. You’d also have Windows 8 running on another computer and possibly
own a Windows RT device. Long story short, it would be an honour to take you all
through the kinks of this update process so you don’t have to. First off is
updating a Window 8 device.
If you already run Windows 8 or Windows 8
RT, getting the update is a breeze. All you need to do is open the Windows
Store and viola! There is a huge tile waiting for you to click on. All updates
happen within the Windows Store vs the conventional means we are used to in
legacy Windows devices. Results may vary with regards to download and
installation times but note that the file is large. Mine was about 3.63 Gb in
total and in typical Windows fashion, expect the installation to check
compatibility and a whole load of other checks so prepare your internet
connections if you need to.
There have been complaints about errors
from the download process requiring people to restart their downloads. Although
I had no errors, I would advice individuals in countries where internet might
be slow and bandwidth expensive to wait things out for now and let the early
rushers trickle out. Microsoft’s servers will be less strained and they should
have addressed most of these kinks.
Of note is that if you do not see the nice
purple tile in the Windows Store on your device, chances are you are yet to
download the required updates that reveals this to you. Microsoft in their
support forum require that all Windows 8 OS updates and in particular one or
two be installed before you gain access to the update within the Windows
Store. (It was unclear which KBXXXXXX
update in particular)
If you are already running Windows 8.1
preview. Things get a little trickier and this is the primary reason for
writing this post. Both my devices running 8.1 preview (A Surface RT and an
iMac via parrallels) all seemed to have their Windows store apps crash at the
splash screen. Upon further research, it was made known that 8.1 preview
devices will not be able to get updated via the Windows Store home like with Windows 8. They have to go through
one or two processes depending on how it was installed.
If your device was updated to 8.1 Preview
via the Windows Store or you updated to the preview using media (CD, USB etc)
but on a Windows 8 device, you can update via these steps;
- On the Start screen, tap or click Store to open the Windows Store. Doing this first will make it so that you can see the progress of the installation once it starts.
- Visit this link and expand the “I installed the preview from the Windows Store or I installed the preview using media while Windows 8 was running“ option. Within this option, there should be an active link to download the update (the link is only active on Windows browsers). The link is also provided HERE (it will only work on Windows 8.1 preview devices)
Note that you will be required to reinstall
all your apps after this update but your personal files will be kept intact. If
you already run 8.1 on other devices, all your Metro apps will sync seamlessly
after your update thanks to the new features Skydrive brings to 8.1.
Also note that there is no way to revert
back to Windows RT from 8.1 RT preview. You must upgrade to 8.1 RT eventually.
If your device was updated to 8.1 preview
from booting with ISO media, the steps to update are pretty much the same as
with updating from Windows 8 but your system will not activate until you buy a
Windows 8.1 license and product key.
A warning from Microsoft: When running
Windows 8.1 Preview, if you used the Add Feature function to change editions,
you might need to reinstall or reactivate using your same edition product key.
To find out more about changing product keys, see KB2750773.
Finally, if you were on a legacy OS
like Windows Vista/XP, upgrading to
Windows 8.1 would require a full refresh of your computer via a DVD. In other
words, you would be looking into formatting or partitioning your hard drive to
make way for Windows 8.1. This isn’t your Vista to Windows 7 “upgrade”. This is
more of an out with the old and in with the new. There is no pouring new wine
into this old wine skin, if you get my drift.
Speaking of Windows 7. Upgrading to Windows
8.1 from Windows 7 is similar to upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8. All one
would need to do is visit the Windows 8.1 Upgrade Assistant and follow the
steps presented.
Don’t forget to let us know about your
experiences with upgrading to Windows 8.1.
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