Windows 8 Windows 8.1 Refresh/Recovery

[redserpent7]

I recently did an update of my machine from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1. The update process did not show any errors or warnings and by the time it finished I was under the impression that everything went smooth.

After the update I was testing the environment and discovered that one of my desktop applications stopped working, I went to the developer's website and indeed I found there is a known issue with their software on 8.1 and to solve it, I had to completely uninstall the software and then install it once more. So I went to Programs and Features in order to do so and to my surprise the Uninstall button was missing from the interface. Right-clicking an item and selecting uninstall from the menu gives a warning message suggesting that the application might have already been uninstalled and asks if I wanted to remove the application from the Programs list. However, clicking OK or Cancel just closes the message box and nothing happens.

So in my frustration I went and tried to Refresh My PC; Once I clicked Refresh My PC the verification process started and indeed it told my that some system files are missing and that it should take care of it provided I insert my Windows disc. Now since its an OTA update from Win 8 to 8.1 I thought that MS knows that some people will not have a physical copy of 8.1 and so I inserted my Windows 8 Pro System Builder disc hoping it would work, but sadly as you might have guessed, it did not. It told me that I needed the 8.1 recovery disc.

Now I have been looking everywhere for a recovery image to download and use to fix my problem, everywhere I go it suggests that I make my own copy. But how am I supposed to do that if my Windows is faulty and has missing files. I really don't wanna go back to Windows 8 and re-upgrade to 8.1. I have a monitored internet bandwidth and I cannot go and download the 3 GB 8.1 update once more.

Can someone please help? How can I repair my 8.1 machine?

Searching online I came across this article describing how to get an ISO image for 8.1 with a Windows 8 product Key. However, entering my Windows 8 Pro System Builder (OEM) key in the box fails and tells me that the key I entered is not for this product. I am truly frustrated now.

regards

 

[brkkab]

I do know that Bright House, is in the process of going all digital, cable tv wise. Maybe Cox is doing the same and both could be causing weird issue's

 

[Peterr]

@MikeHawthorne -Comcast had to send a special tech out who replaced everything including splitters as Comcast is running on "old" lines and connectors. I was losing signal intermittently also. I would definitely ask for a supervisor tech to come out and replace the old 'stuff'.

@brkkab- Can I use the generic you poseted here or search generic Windows 8.1 activation/product key b/c they change it?
How did you activate?

Thank you both
Peter

 

[MikeHawthorne]

My TV is hooked up to Satellite so it only goes out in bad weather. LOL

I got hit by lightning about a year ago, Comcast came and replaced everything from the pole to my computer but it didn't effect the IE problem.

That's when I got my new computer too.
Everything got fried from our Dish box to my router.
Even our heat pump got fried.

Fortunately nothing caught fire.

Mike

 

[Peterr]

My ac part of the heat pump got hit by lightning and we got about 4K towards a new one. The old one was very old.
I gather you don't care for the triple play?
I hear you about everything being replaced. Sounds like a Comcast vs. Mike software incompatibility. let the engineers sort it out. Maybe if they create a ticket and it is escalated the software guys might find the issue seeing it affects two different machines. It has to be on their end b/c your programs, the router etc. are all ok.
If you ever get an answer, please let us know.
Peter

 

[MikeHawthorne]

We have so many different broad band suppliers it's kind of weird.

We have a Verizon Router, in the library that powers our home phone system, a Comcast router that hooks up 2 computers and our iPad when it's at home.

And a Dish for our TV.
Now they offer internet too.

Surprisingly there is no real monetary advantage to consolidating these into one service, we've checked.
We get a deal for having the iPad, iPhone, and Phones on Verizon.

Dish gives us a deal every time I threaten to switch to Comcast, and we like the Dish service better for out TV.

As far as Comcast they are only Charging us $40 a month for 100 mbs service for a year.
We got a deal by threatening to go to Dish. LOL

Mike

 

[Peterr]

Wow, I am dizzy thinking about that many providers. You have me thinking. I threaten Comcast with one FIOS ISP and we pay $ 135.00 for TV, PC, and VoIP phone. That isn't bad and we get every channel we want with the exception of the premium ones like Disney etc. I am in MD about 15 -20 miles north of the nation's capitol.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi, again.

We have Dish 250 HD with 3 cable boxes (upstairs, main floor and lower level, so we get everything but HBO, Stars, etc.
That's about $85 a month, Comcast is $40, and Verizon is about another $60.

So we are spending about $185 a month,

But that's both our home and cell phone service, plus our remote iPad, TV and 100 Mbs internet.
Sometimes when we are between deals it can reach $200.

We always talk about cutting back on something but we don't want to give up anything either.

I never thought that I'd pay that much just for connections.

I remember when we just had a phone and dial-up with free internet from NetZero or Juno for about $35 a month, and our TV came in through an antenna for free.

Those were the good, but slow old days.

But now we have Skype and can talk to our friends in Scotland or Arizona for free as long as we want.
So there are a lot of pluses too.

Mike

 

[brkkab]

Yes, so true. Now all the cable companies are switching from analog cable tv to digital cable tv, so everyone's going to need the cable tv boxes for tv sometime soon this year. That's going be more fee's for everyone. That's the exact reason why I'm still using Office 2010, instead of 2013 or 365. I don't think the $99.00+ a gear, is a good deal for me. Especially considering I'm on social security disability for life and only have 2 pc's.

 

[Peterr]

I too am disabled and understand about stretching the dollar. I had to stop work at 53 so my pension is teeny.

 

[brkkab]

Yeah, I had to stop at 35. No pension's for me.

 

[Peterr]

I managed 30years. I am sorry about your 'no pension' but then again I do not have any SS as I never contributed. My contributions went to my employer. One day at a time.

 

[brkkab]

Yeah, I'm just extremely lucky that I wasn't lazy and averaged 75-80 hour's a week, when I was able to work. If I hadn't had them hour's in, I'd be seriously screwed now. Even when I was in high school, I had 3 job's, a band and sport's. I only slept about 2 hour's a day back then and didn't have any day's off. Day's off only happened if I was in the hospital back then.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I'm lucky, I was in a business where no one ever gets a pension, unless they own it.
I worked for a large ad agency for many years.

In 1980 I finally started my own graphic design business with a friend I worked with at the agency.

We did pretty well for a long time, and started an IRA account.
We didn't put a lot of money in it (I wish I had now, but there was always some other way to use the money) but it's better then not having one.

Where I'm lucky is that my wife was a teacher for over 40 years, and that gave us both a pension and health insurance for the rest of our lives.

Now I'm 75 and have been mostly retired for a long time.

The funny thing is that one of the reasons that we closed up shop when we did was because everything was switching to computers, and we knew nothing about them.

We were still working on drawing boards and in the darkroom (we did our own photography).

Our clients like Baker Books were all going in house to do their own stuff on Macs.

Once I was retired, I got a computer and learned to use it, and went back into business on my own, a year later, working out of my house.

I still do work for one of my original clients, that I started with back in 1980.

Mike

 

[Peterr]

Baker Books was in New Bedford MA and I knew Charlie Baker. Was he one of the owners? He worked in the local school dept. but perhaps the family would be familiar to you.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

The Baker Books that I'm talking about it here in Grand Rapids.

http://www.bakerbookstore.com/

We didn't have anything to do with the books themselves, but we did all their catalogs, in store displays and point of purchase material for many years.

It seems that they now call them selves Baker Book House, but it was just Baker Books back then.

Mike

 

[Peterr]

Link Removed

This is a coincidence I guess. They were around for quite awhile as this article will suggest. I moved years ago and have not been there since.

Peter

 

[MikeHawthorne]

A sign of the times.

For many years, I worked in a Grand Rapids Ad Agency that had 70 employees.

We had the top two floors of the large downtown building we were in.
I watched them assemble the Calder sculpture that the city is now known for, outside my office window.

We had our own photo studio, labs to process our film, an animation studio set up to shoot animated TV commercials on 16 mm film.
A sound and recording studio, a dozen writers, account people artists, etc.

Now with computers there isn't an agency close to that size around here anymore.

Back in the 70s the whole city was covered with typesetters, engraving companies and printers and I used to deal with artists whose whole business was photo retouching.

All gone now, only some of the printers are still here. no typesetters or engraving companies.
And I started going out of the area to get digital printing done at lower cost myself, a long time ago.

Mike

 

[Peterr]

My wife is an artist who needs pen and ink renderings shot to size, so needs printers. They are hard to find. She is using a nationally known company as they do everything digitally now and used to be known only for selling office supplies; they adapted cleverly.
The older guys she dealt with are all gone as you say.
Time marches on - it marched right over my department where I worked.

 

[kkay]

Just so everyone knows. You can install 8 & 8.1 from a flash drive without any extra software being needed, even if you have a uefi. Worked on both my notebook and desktop last week. Both have uefi's, instead of bios's. SecureBoot on both is fully working on each with the bootable flash drive's that were made by the Windows 8.1 download. For the notebook, which doesn't have a optical drive and the Windows 8 key stored on it's motherboard. I just put my Windows 8 dvd in my desktop and copied it all to a flash drive. The flash drive booted on the notebook and clean installed 8. Then it was upgraded to 8.1.

I like this idea, but I thought you could only have one copy? You say the flash drive booted, and you had a clean install of Win8. Then it was upgraded? Did you upgrade in the store, or did you do an iso image of 8.1, and then upgrade?
I thought my computer was running great in Win8. Then I did the 8.1 upgrade via the store. That is when all hell broke loose.
I am just finding out I have corrupted files, and made a thread on that. If I have to go all the way back to the Win8 disk, I am leery of updating to 8.1 again and being back in the same boat. I had all kinds of issues, and could not get certain drivers to update. I finally got a Dell tech involved, and it took her hours to sort the mess out. I wish before my warranty ran out, that I know about sfc /scannow If I had done that, I might have had corrupted files then, and got her to sort it out.

 

[Peterr]

If you perform cmd sfc and find corruption or issues run it a second time.
If that does not work perform cmd admin Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth.
Then when no issies appear, run MBAM then a disc cleanup and then try the store.