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Surface Pro 3 downgrade to Windows 8.1

Hi guys,

I have a brand new, out of the box, Surface Pro 3 running Windows 10.  After 2 days of hair pulling the user has had enough and wants to run Windows 8.1.

I have tried using the recovery image from the MS website but that is only a Windows 10 image.  I have downloaded the Windows 8.1 Pro ISO and converted it to a bootable USB using MS's USB DVD download tool.

My problem now is what Windows Activation key do I use to activate Windows 8.1 Pro clean install on this Surface Pro 3.  I obtained the key from Windows 10 using Belarc Advisor but at the beginning of the Windows 8.1 install I get a message stating that "We couldn't verify this product key. Please check your installation media."

Or is there a way that I can some how download Windows 8.1 Pro recovery image for the Surface Pro 3?

Thanks for any help.

Answer
Answer

If you bought with Windows 10, there is only an embedded license for 10. Not for 8.1. So it can't pull the license to activate from the embedded BIOS key. The info I've seen on downgrade rights is "fuzzy". I suspect you will need to purchase an 8.1 license and media and install from that and then download the 8.1 drivers and install them. I don't know if the install will be "blocked". You probably should visit a Microsoft Store for help with this.

Let us know how this turns out.

Barb - Windows and Devices for IT MVP
*Please click Yes below if your problem is resolved. This may help others with the same issue.*

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Last updated June 10, 2023 Views 4,717 Applies to: