When I booted into Windows 8, surprise: Windows 8.1 isn't in the Store anymore. I guessed I had to do Windows updates for it to appear. And I was right. However, it took over 1 GB (maybe even 2 ? I don't remember) of update downloads and over an hour to get it to the point where I could even start downloading Windows 8.1. In the end, I managed to install it fine.
But I made a mistake. When partitioning my drive, I filled it with partitions. As a result, Windows put its system reserved partition on my tertiary, very slow and old hard drive. And I don't want that. So I need to do it all over.
But I have a limited Internet connection, and with all the initial retries, the updates and the upgrade itself, I've downloaded a lot already, not to mention that I've spent 8 hours on this whole thing so far. (I was working on getting a Linux live USB key to work so I could use it to later delete my leftover ProgramData folders from my hard drive, so I could eventually move the new installation's ProgramData folder there, because those files are so hard-locked that you just cannot delete them otherwise.) (And of course the hard drive being my personal data drive, wiping it empty is out of question.)
So I would like to know if there is a way, any way, to get to Windows 8.1 without having to redo the hours of downloads and updates. For example, I have the 8.1 Preview ISO. Can I install that, and then upgrade to the real 8.1 Pro with my Windows 8 Pro key? It might work, or it might require an 8.1 key, and I don't really want to try it without knowing, with the long time I've been on this already.
Or would it be possible to somehow make the Windows Store 8.1 upgrade available to a clean, non-updated Windows 8 Pro installation?
Or perhaps there is a non-Windows Store way to upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1. I know that, for example, developers have full 8.1 ISOs available to them. Maybe there's an alternate solution that I could use?
I've tried the method suggested here (link).
It consists in installing Windows 8.1 from this page (link), as though I were running Windows 7 or 8.1 Preview, and entering the placeholder Windows 8.1 Pro key (
XHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKB) to install it, later activating with my Windows 8 Pro key. I didn't get very far, though. WindowsSetupBox.exe did accept the placeholder key (but not my 8 Pro key), and gave me the option to continue. But on the next
page, it says it's unable to establish a connection, and to check my Internet connection (which is obviously fine). I've tried a few compatibility modes and launching as admin, but it didn't change anything.
Is there anything else I could try?
PS: Please don't suggest that I buy a Windows 8.1 license on top of my Windows 8 one. That would be beyond insulting, and remembering a couple of incredibly uninvolved answers I got in the past, I wouldn't say it's unfathomable.
