Windows 8 Forced to upgrade to Windows 8.1!

MikeHawthorne

Essential Member
Microsoft Community Contributor
Hi

Yesterday my wife was forced to upgrade her computer to Windows 8.1.

She called to me that she couldn't close the update screen, so I went an looked at her laptop.

She was right, there was no option but to go ahead with the upgrade.
Everything else was grayed out.

You couldn't even shut the computer down.

I forced it to shut down and it rebooted right back to the same screen.

I gave up and told it to go ahead and it updated to Windows 8.1.
I had planned on just waiting until Windows 10 came out and upgrading to that.

When I got online at one of my graphic arts forums the first post I saw was someone saying they were stuck at the upgrade screen and couldn't exit.

Sounds like Microsoft is taking the hard line with the people who refused to update.

I didn't update because when I did I had sound problems that I couldn't fix.

Now I'm running Windows 10, but I'm afraid that if I boot back into Windows 8 it will force me to upgrade and I'll be stuck with the sound problems.

I got the same thing in Windows 10 when I installed Windows 8.1 Media Center.
I had to restore back prior to that, but I'm guessing that if I do that in Windows 8 it will just force my to upgrade again.

Seems a little pushy to me! LOL

Mike
 
Hi Mike, A friend of mine had the same problem. I also had another woman tell me the same thing. I have to agree with you that Microsoft is taking a hard line on it. I believe each person has the right to choose and should not be made to upgrade if they don't want to. Just because I prefer 8.1 doesn't mean others should do it too.
 
Mike....I'm wondering if the your prior sound issue could be attributed to WMC, as this is the first mention of it I've heard. Did you have the sound issue before or after the install of WMC?
 
Hi

Yes I think now, that the sound issues do relate to Windows Media Center (the Windows 8.1 version) or the drivers that it installs.

My computer is fine with Media Center installed in Windows 8.

In Windows 10 it's fine, until I installed Windows Media Center, when I did that I got exactly the same kind of distortion that I got in Windows 8.1.

When I updated to Windows 8.1 I already had WMC installed so I didn't have any way to compare it.
Possibly I could remove WMC from Windows 8 before updating to Windows 8.1 if I have to do it.
At this point I'd like to just wait for 10.

Just removing WMC from Windows 10 after the fact, didn't fix the problem, I had to do a system restore to get the clear sound back.

My sound is fine with the standard Windows 8 and 10 drivers.
But if I install the latest drivers from Sound Blaster I get the same problems.

I'm glad that the sound s OK in Windows 10, when it goes live I just won't install WMC.

I am running "Windows Media Player" in Windows 10 and it works fine, no sound issues.

I use Winamp for my media center it works at least as well as WMC.
I have it installed in Windows 10 and it's fine.

Mike
 
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@Mike does the other half have updates set to auto?

p.s. my windows 8 still stays on windows 8 but I'm in Australia so maybe we are just on a different list... the idea that Microsoft is aware of any problem, much less taking a hard line is not something I beleave in, guys.
 
It’s update time for us underdogs; Microsoft has pushed out a new update agent for 8, and as a direct consequence of that, all patches are reset so an update that perhaps was rejected before will come back around again and could be missed within the large list of “new” patches.

As this agent results in a major reset with the potential to cause all kinds of patch error issues, Microsoft kept it well under their hat and naturally hasn’t posted messages warning customers about it… or I just missed them with all the windows X demo getting posted...

To be clear... I just love downloading all (140+3+3) the updates again but the 8.1 upgrade is NOT forced--- you can (like me) still have the basic 8 build.

@MikeHawthorne I hope the sound issue works out this time m8.
 
Hi

I couldn't find any way to avoid it, the only option on the screen was update, and everything was grayed out.
I couldn't open Task Manager, or any other application or shut down the computer.

When I did a forced shutdown it booted back up to the same page.

I finally gave up and let it go ahead.

Mike

PS, my sound still won't work correctly in Windows 8.1, but it does work fine in Windows 10.
 
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I agre, this is a bit pushy. But there is really nothing to be afraid of in 8.1. I like it a lot better than 8.
 
The free 8.1 upgrade comes from the Microsoft store… you probably have your store set to auto sink as that is the default.

Yes 8.1 is (slower) ok but I have 8 because I run my vmware and games on it plus I like that it is different to the 8.1 side so I get to use both of them as is my personal choice… granted, for most people 8.1 is the better way to go.
 
Hi

I don't mind the 8.1 update, for my wife's computer, but I had issues with the sound that I couldn't fix.
I had to revert to Windows 8 to get it to work correctly.

I've now figured out that it has something to do with Windows Media Center.
But I don't know how to upgrade because it's already installed (and works OK in 8) so when I upgrade it's already there.

In 10 I can just not install it.

It may be that I could remove it from 8 before upgrading, but I don't plan on upgrading to 8.1 with 10 only months away.

Mike
 
I did not finish reading through every word of this thread but, scanning it I had the gist. And here's a response, take it or leave it, love it or hate it.

1st, I'm not even going to address the "forced' part, forever I have been @ a loss to know how to reply to the notion that some sort of ogre-ish coercion is involved or some sort of 'Big Brother' aura.

Anyway... there is no question 8.1 is an improvement over 8.0. And much of it was to appease people who were wanting certain thing & to make mouse/keyboard users happier. It provided a bunch of functionality & options that made the End User experience better. More over it was very clearly stated that one needed 8.1 to have future updates & upgrades. 8.1 is not & never was an option or choice thing. Nor, in the same vein, can one migrate to Windows 10 from Windows 8.0

WMC is not to be installed on Windows 10 TP

There should be no attempt w/ Windows 10 Tech Preview, a beta OS, to replace or overwrite any current "production OS". No matter whether it is 7, 8 or 8.1
A beta OS should only be run as a VM, on a VHD, dual booted or on a spare box.
IF this is not the case there is no door open for discussion regarding any scenarios while it is installed or after. Well, there isn't much of an after... the previous recovery partition is gone & destroyed. There is no reverting except via a format & clean install & complete data loss.

To repeat, one cannot skip 8.1 8.0 was replaced by 8.1 and one can only move to Windows 10 from 8.1 not from a no longer existent OS. There is no Upgrade path from 8.0 to Windows 10. And there will not ever be any.

Cheers,
Drew
Windows 10OS.jpg

PS: This sort of thing regarding 8.1 has always reminded me of back when SP1 came along for XP and people would talk like there was a decision to make. There wasn't. There is nothing to contemplate or decide w/ 8.1, either.
 
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