Windows 8 Help with Refreshing / Resetting upgraded Windows 8.1

[PartiallyGeorge]

Hello,
Recently I unsuccessfully tried to upgrade my Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 (the process froze at 32%/6%), and now I'm thinking about performing Windows 8.1 reset / refresh first and re-try upgrading to Windows 10 after that. My problem is: when I bought my Desktop PC (a HP) it came with the pre-installed one-language Windows 8.1 Home edition. I upgraded it to Windows 8.1 Pro immediately after the purchase. Now my question is: will my system be reduced to a 'Home one language' state after I reset / refresh it or I will keep Windows 8.1 Pro? If the system is reverted back to 'Home one language', how can I restore my upgrade?
I have the upgrade product key; I tried to download Windows 8.1 ISO using this key but MS refused saying it's an upgrade key and cannot be used to install Windows 8.1.

 

[Saltgrass]

Any time you do a factory reset, the image on the drive is used to replace the current install. In your circumstance, that will be the Home edition. Have you ever made a System Image for a Backup?

If the install failed, did it roll you back to 8.1 Pro?

How large is your hard drive and how much room is left on it? An upgrade takes more space than you might think.

See if there is a Setupact.log or a setuperr.log in the $Windows.~BT folder, which is a hidden system folder.

Some folks have had problems due to an excessive number of drivers being carried forward and augmented. There are some threads about cleaning your system before starting the upgrade. Right now I don't have a link.

 

[PartiallyGeorge]

Hi again, thanks for the answer.
A follow up:
1) No, I haven't made System Image for a Backup
2) Yes, after the installation of Windows 10 failed, it rolled back to 8.1 Pro.
3) It's a 128GB SSD with only about 40GB free space. I guess I'm a little bit tight with the free space, but other than the OS and Users/AppData folders, it doesn't contain anything at all - everything is installed on another partition, so I really have no idea what else to remove.
4) I haven't checked the log (stupid of me) and alas I deleted the $Windows.~BT folder.
(before the last attempt, I uninstalled Norton 360, and disconnected all external USB drives. It didn't help apparently.)

Incidentally, I phoned Microsoft and they confirmed that if I reset / refresh Windows 8.1 it will revert back to 8.1 Home / one language, however, according to them, I will be able to use my Pro Upgrade key to restore Pro version. I hope he's right (he couldn't answer my question about 'Refresh' straightaway and had to ask someone else.

 

[Saltgrass]

If it is already on 8.1 Pro, unless you just want to clean it up you don't need to Reset. A Refresh, if you have the 8.1 Pro Media (or the latest version) may work, just make sure the media is available.

We has another thread involving a situation similar to yours where a smaller SSD was being used. I will look for that thread to see if I can find it and if it was resolved.

The other situation is your comment about data being on another partition. When a system is being installed, it may need access to that data so there may be something going on regarding that configuration.

Edit: You were good enough to give the overall percentages when your problem occurred. The linked thread just mentions 32% so you can make a judgment if it resembles your situation.

Windows 10 stuck at 32% upgrade

 

[PartiallyGeorge]

The whole point of this operation is to upgrade Windows 8.1 Pro to Windows 10, so I'm trying to figure out what's best, reset or refresh, but I guess it's not important now as I will be able to restore my 'Pro' status using my 'Pro' key (the guy from Microsoft said that.)
No, I don't have 8.1 Pro Media, I upgraded Home to Pro using 'Instant Upgrade function (is this its name?).
Re partition, actually the files are not on another partition, they are physically on a different hard disk, but I used a bog standard redirection method described in the Windows documentation as allowable.
(I had also symlinked the offline Outlook folder as it is big, 3GB and I cannot possibly keep this on such a tiny HDD. This is not standard, but I hope it won't affect the upgrade.).
Thanks for the link, actually I had read it before (well, at least someone succeeded at installing it!) and I'll try the method suggested right now. Hopefully it'll work. If not, then I'll do the reset.

 

[PartiallyGeorge]

UPDATE (which has nothing to do with Windows 8, I'm afraid) - I finally managed to install Windows 10 without even resetting Windows 8.1 - thanks to you, guys!