Win8.1 upgrade oddity - Microsoft account

[mikeymikec]

I've just built a computer with Win8 on, and thought I may as well slap Win 8.1 on it straight away (ie. when there's little to lose if it goes wrong) rather than risking it later.

The upgrade process went smoothly, and after rebooting it came up with the purple setup screen. It then asked me to put in my Microsoft account, with no option to skip, despite the fact that I had set up Win8 with a local account. I pressed the back button, unplugged the ethernet cable, and went on, and the question was skipped automatically.

 

[Doh!]

I've just built a computer with Win8 on, and thought I may as well slap Win 8.1 on it straight away (ie. when there's little to lose if it goes wrong) rather than risking it later.

The upgrade process went smoothly, and after rebooting it came up with the purple setup screen. It then asked me to put in my Microsoft account, with no option to skip, despite the fact that I had set up Win8 with a local account. I pressed the back button, unplugged the ethernet cable, and went on, and the question was skipped automatically.

No need to unplug the ethernet cable (especially if it's tucked away behind a heavy desk). Just hit "create a new account" then select "Use Local Account" option.

 

[mikeymikec]

No need to unplug the ethernet cable (especially if it's tucked away behind a heavy desk). Just hit "create a new account" then select "Use Local Account" option.

I've got another machine that I should be able to try this on, so thanks for the advice. Do users typically lose settings as part of the upgrade then?

There wasn't any way for me to tell as I hadn't made any user-specific customisations.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I've got another machine that I should be able to try this on, so thanks for the advice. Do users typically lose settings as part of the upgrade then?

When I upgraded, everything was reset to windows default. Pretty annoying when you have a lot of customization. Also some drivers where changed to 8.1 versions. But from what I'm reading on the forum, others have upgraded without issue, so it seems to be a case of YMMV.

 

[corkyg]

I upgraded my Win 8 system to 8.1 using the upgrade option. All settings and druthers were preserved except for Windows Media Center. But, I had my key for that, and used the ad features option to recreate it. I then cloned that drive (my reserve drive) and it came out perfect with WMC, etc. Oh, and I also use Start8, and it updated to version 1.3. All without issue.

 

[ElFenix]

i updated to 8.1, the upgrade hung at the "now lets set up your account" screen, and when i rebooted it rolled back 8.1.

 

[Berryracer]

i updated to 8.1, the upgrade hung at the "now lets set up your account" screen, and when i rebooted it rolled back 8.1.

That happens if you attempt to upgrade without having updated your drivers before hand.

Vital drivers to update:

1) Intel Chipset Drivers, but run the EXE using the -overall -overide command from DOS otherwise it won't actually install anything since it will detect that you already have drivers:

01-Intel Chipset Drivers 9.4.0.1027

After you download the *.ZIP File, copy the folder you extracted to C:\ and rename the folder to chip.

Now, right click on the Windows 8.1 Start Menu button and choose Command Prompt (Admin)

Type CD\ then hit Enter

Type cd chip then hit Enter

Type setup.exe -overall -overide then hit Enter.

This command will install the full Intel Chipset Drivers not just the components that are missing. This is very essential.


2) Intel Management Engine Interface, if you don't update that, you will end up with a messed up Windows and you can't even boot to the desktop, I tried it and had to do another clean install because I installed an old MEI driver

3) VGA Driver

4) Bluetooth Driver

those are the most vital to the success of the upgrade, then after updating, you can try the Windows 8.1 upgrade again

Although I personally think nothing beats a clean install

lemme know if you need more help on that I can guide you step by step

PS: those driver links above are from the ASUS laptop drivers for my laptop you may want to grab them direct from Intel although the content should be the same since they're Intel Drivers anyway

 

[code65536]

i updated to 8.1, the upgrade hung at the "now lets set up your account" screen, and when i rebooted it rolled back 8.1.

Yea, the whole upgrade thing seems a bit fragile. When I did an upgrade to 8.1 Preview, something similar happened--a freeze during the first boot after the upgrade. I checked the (very verbose) logs, but nothing really jumped out at me.

This being a guinea pig machine, I just said screw it and tried again, and it worked the second time (I didn't do or change anything).

Also, berryracer, I highly doubt that drivers will break the upgrade at that stage. And certainly not the INF "drivers".

 

[Berryracer]

Yea, the whole upgrade thing seems a bit fragile. When I did an upgrade to 8.1 Preview, something similar happened--a freeze during the first boot after the upgrade. I checked the (very verbose) logs, but nothing really jumped out at me.

This being a guinea pig machine, I just said screw it and tried again, and it worked the second time (I didn't do or change anything).

Also, berryracer, I highly doubt that drivers will break the upgrade at that stage. And certainly not the INF "drivers".

Yeah maybe not the INF files but when I did a clean install of Windows 8.1 and installed the Old MEI (Intel Management Engine Interface) v9.0.0.1287, after the reboot my Windows went FUBAR and I had to do a clean install

I then updated to MEI 9.5.XX and it was fine, its better to eliminate all possibilities of failure if you know what I mean

 

[JEDIYoda]

Yeah maybe not the INF files but when I did a clean install of Windows 8.1 and installed the Old MEI (Intel Management Engine Interface) v9.0.0.1287, after the reboot my Windows went FUBAR and I had to do a clean install

I then updated to MEI 9.5.XX and it was fine, its better to eliminate all possibilities of failure if you know what I mean

The key here is CLEAN INSTALL!!

 

[ElFenix]

those are the most vital to the success of the upgrade, then after updating, you can try the Windows 8.1 upgrade again

Although I personally think nothing beats a clean install

lemme know if you need more help on that I can guide you step by step

i'd already gotten brand new drivers and it was a clean install of win 8. i tried upgrading again and it upgraded the second time fine. :shrug:

 

[Fayd]

The upgrade process went smoothly, and after rebooting it came up with the purple setup screen. It then asked me to put in my Microsoft account, with no option to skip, despite the fact that I had set up Win8 with a local account. I pressed the back button, unplugged the ethernet cable, and went on, and the question was skipped automatically.

I wish I had known about that. I fucked up and set up a microsoft account. I didn't want one.

 

[Raincity]

I wish I had known about that. I fucked up and set up a microsoft account. I didn't want one.

Just create a local account and use it instead at sign in.