Unable to perform Refresh after upgrade to Windows 8.1.

Hi Dillon,

1. Why exactly are you refreshing the computer?

2. What is the make and model of the computer?

3. Does the issue persist with other CD/DVD?

This error message may also occur if the Windows 8 pro installation disc is bad/corrupted.

Also, the drivers for the DVD/CD ROM drives might have corrupted after the upgrade. So, I would ask you to update the DVD/CD ROM drive drivers from the device manager and then try to access the Windows 8 disc.

Steps:

a. Press Windows key + X

b. Select device manager.

c. Double click on DVD/CD ROM drives

d. Right click on the device listed and select Update Driver Software.

e. Follow the on-screen instructions and restart the computer after the drivers are installed.

If you want to perform Refresh in Windows 8.1, you will need a Windows 8.1 disc. If you upgraded your PC from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and your PC has a Windows 8 recovery partition, refreshing your PC will restore Windows 8. You’ll need to upgrade to Windows 8.1 after the refresh has finished.

If you refresh the computer the Apps you installed from websites and DVDs will be removed. Apps that came with your PC and apps you installed from the Windows Store will be reinstalled. Windows puts a list of removed apps on your desktop after refreshing your PC.

Hope this answers your query. You can write back to us for further queries/issues related to windows and we will be glad to assist you further.

Hi Dillon,

 

1. Why exactly are you refreshing the computer?

2. What is the make and model of the computer?

 

This error message may also occur if the Windows 8 pro installation disc is bad/corrupted.

 

If you want to perform Refresh in Windows 8.1, you will need a Windows 8.1 disc. If you upgraded your PC from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and your PC has a Windows 8 recovery partition, refreshing your PC will restore Windows 8. You’ll need to upgrade to Windows 8.1 after the refresh has finished.

 

If you refresh the computer the Apps you installed from websites and DVDs will be removed. Apps that came with your PC and apps you installed from the Windows Store will be reinstalled. Windows puts a list of removed apps on your desktop after refreshing your PC.

 

Hope this answers your query. You can write back to us for further queries/issues related to windows and we will be glad to assist you further.

Hello Mahesh Kumar A

Thank you for your largely irrelevant reply. Did you actually read my post?

I said I only had a Windows 8 pro disc.

I didn't say I had a Windows 8 recovery partition.

As far as what happens to the Apps, that information is freely available elsewhere and I didn't ask that.

Only the first sentence of your 4th paragraph addresses my question. "If you want to perform Refresh in Windows 8.1, you will need a Windows 8.1 disc."

I think, especially after reading the reply from Lei'ouZhang that my original comment must be true. If you have installed Windows 8 from a disc and the subsequently upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 via the App Store, then you will lose the Refresh and Restore functionality. The only option would be to clean install Windows 8 (after backing up all files etc) and then upgrade again via the Apps Store.

Well done Microsoft.

I would have appreciated a straight forward reply to my question which was, "So does that mean I cannot ever use the Refresh process now that I have upgraded to 8.1?"

I have exactly the problem.  I thought that the update process (from Windows 8 to 8.1) would allow you to create some kind of recovery media.  When I upgraded from Windows 7, the upgrade tool allowed me to create a USB drive or DVD ISO with the installation files.

The only way I could actually refresh my Windows installation was to do a clean install from my Windows 8 disc (that was created with the previously mentioned tool) and then do a update to Windows 8.1 through the Windows Store.

I would really like to know if there is a way to create Windows 8.1 installation media, or to get the files required for a Refresh without doing a clean install.

I encountered the same issue testing the refresh/reset after a update to 8.1

Homemade pc,

- 100% empty harddrive with no partitions

- installed 8.0 today from my OEM disc

- apply all Windows updates

- apply 8.1 update through store

- attempt to reset/refresh the pc and it says I`m missing files and that my media will provide these.

My 8.0 OEM disc does not provide these files, and it appears the 8.0 recovery partition is not updated to a usable 8.1 recovery partition, basically rendering it useless.

Next I created a recovery USB stick from the option within Windows, this stick does allow me to boot from it but when you try reset/refresh it still tells you you are missing files.

My installation process couldn`t be anymore by the book than it already is, so my only conclusion is that updating to 8.1 renders you unable to use the refresh and reset features entirely.

I had the same problem with the 8.1 preview but expected this to work properly with the final release.

Refresh and reset were GOOD improvements going from 7 to 8, how can we get this to work again in the future ?

I would like to get a working 8.1 recovery partition on my system.

I just found this link - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

"If you don't have a Windows 8.1 product key, you can't create installation media. You can't use a Windows 8 product key for this."

It seems like it won't be possible to create recovery media for Windows 8.1 is you upgraded from Windows 8.  I hope I'm wrong.

I also spent the last two days figuring out to get a 8.1 recovery media. Since the keys for 8.1 differ from the Windows 8 keys there is no legal way to get an 8.1-ISO.

I think Microsoft completely forgot about our scenario. So for the time beeing the only way to "refresh" my PC without having to download over 3 Gig, is using good, old "Acronis Backup".

I am not giving up on this yet but what I have learned now is troubling.

Quick summary of my setup and my results, I have a homemade computer, and a 8.0 OEM/system builder disc and key bought in 2012.

I managed to create a 8.1 recovery USB stick that works, that`s all.

We know that updating a 8.0 installation to 8.1 through the store renders your recovery partition useless.

I was also unable to reset/refresh 8.1 using my 8.0 OEM disc, naturally, but couldn`t hurt to try.

Windows can make a recovery media for you, I did that with a USB key, and this recovery media turns out to be useless, you can not refresh/reset because you are still missing files.

I thought that in order to get a usable 8.1 recovery partition I would need to do a clean instal of 8.1.

Doing a clean instal of 8.1 is impossible without a 8.1 retail disc and no ISO`s have been released so that means you`re stuck.

That is unacceptable so next I started cheating.

I followed instructions from this page to get a 8.1 ISO file, this file is downloaded by the installer provided by Microsoft so I see nothing wrong or dangerous about this.

http://www.reddit.com/r/windows8/comments/1oqs4c/how_to_download_windows_81_iso_with_80_retail_key/

I actually didn`t use the ISO I made, the installer also allows you to create a 8.1 bootable USB stick which I prefer to burning a disc.

I`m using a UEFI motherboard that makes booting from USB very easy but that should not be a requirement for this.

Next I booted from the USB key and started the installer, the installer however did not accept my 8.0 OEM key, so stuck again.

I read elsewhere that 8.1 can NOT be installed using a 8.0 key, but you can ACTIVATE it using a 8.0 key.

A normal 8.0 or 8.1 does not allow you to instal windows without entering a key, but I found a fix for that with some more searching.

This page explains how to create a single ei.cfg file that needs to be put in the sources folder on your install ISO/USB stick, this disables the key requirement during the installation.

http://www.jmedved.com/2013/09/installing-windows-8-1-or-8-without-a-product-key/

Using a USB stick makes this easy.

With the file on the stick I booted from it once again, this time I was indeed able to start a clean 8.1 installation without having to enter a key.

During the installation I REMOVED EVERY PARTITION, and asked Windows to instal onto the UNpartitioned space.

As far as I know doing this makes sure the installer creates the partitions just the way it likes it.

The installation ran until I was promted to remove the USB stick, I did and it rebooted.

The OOBE runs and asks for a key, this wizard accepted my 8.0 OEM key and the instal finished.

This leaves me with a clean 8.1 install, Windows says it is activated, and in disk management I see it has created a new 300MB recovery partition.

This recovery partition DOES NOT WORK ! when I start refresh/reset it says I`m still missing files.

I can however finally use this feature with the USB stick I made, but that is not the desired setup, I want a functioning recovery partition.

I really hope this issue does not exist with 8.1 retail discs doing a clean install.

Dear Microsoft, I am cheating because the way you are handling the keys is unreasonable.

A 8.0 OEM key holder has the right to install 8.1 for free, so it is unreasonable for the 8.1 installer to deny me the right to a clean installation of 8.1 with my key.

I found a very easy fix just now :)

The contents of the ISO and/or the USB install stick you can create contains the files Windows needs to do a refresh/reset.

If you mount the ISO or plug in the USB stick you`ll see that you can now use the refresh/reset feature without any missing files.

Next I tried something very silly, but it worked !

I freed up some space on my C drive by shrinking a partition, exactly 3200MB works for me.

With this unpartitioned space you now create a new NTFS partition using all of the free space.

Next in this partition create a 3200MB normal volume, NTFS, I labled it 8.1 recovery but the name doesn`t matter, give it any drive letter you like, and quick format.

Then you take all the files from inside the ISO or USB stick and copy those into the 3200MB volume, it should fit with about 87 MB free space.

Unplug the USB stick or Unmount the ISO, then try refresh/reset, IT WORKS ! you have now created a working recovery partition :)

You can remove the drive letter from this partition to avoid accidental access, it will still work.