There will be no ISO downloads of Windows 8.1 for the public.

Anonymous
2013-10-17T19:50:01+00:00

Microsoft has made it known there will be no .ISO file for Windows 8.1 available to the general public.

"Consumers" here really means any copies of Windows 8 that weren't purchased through Microsoft's Volume Licensing programs. So a small business with 20 PCs to upgrade, for example, will have to do them one at a time via the Windows Store – so that's 20 separate 3.5GB downloads.

The Windows Store is the only way for consumers (non-enterprise, non-IT Pro) to download and install Windows 8.1. No ISOs will be made available, so each device needs to be updated individually via the Windows Store.

UPDATE:

Since I started this discussion, Microsoft has introduced a Media Creation Tool that makes it easy to download a .ISO file and create bootable media:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

The new downloader allows for selection of:

⦁ Language

⦁ Windows 8.1 Version

⦁ Architecture

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Install and upgrade

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

47 answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2013-10-27T07:57:03+00:00

    Hallo.

    There is also another way - if ur familiar with Sysprep :)

    all you need to do is setup one reference machine, upgrade it to 8.1, install all additional software and than sysprep it. Than you can create custom wim file, put it to MDT , which has also been released in final version, and start Deployment.

    d.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2013-10-26T15:24:50+00:00

    Actually, it keeps the Windows Store apps.  I upgraded two computers, and the Windows Store apps were kept on both, along with all their settings and files.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2013-10-26T06:22:39+00:00

    Windows 8.1 store upgrade says that it will wipu out only applications installed from windows store, whereas all other desktop applications and personal files won't be affected.

    So is it like installing through workaround will do a clean install and wipe out everything unlike upgrade from windows store which wipes only the window store applications.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2013-10-25T11:56:14+00:00

    It is all the same upgrade, just a different means to do it.  This will wipe everything from your system, however, so make sure to have a backup.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2013-10-25T11:45:07+00:00

    Hi Andre,

    The specified route is for the purpose of upgrade from windows 7 or windows 8.1 preview, so wether the version downloaded will be stable on windows 8. Wether the version downloaded is the same version as downloaded though windows store.

    In short wether

    upgrade from windows store = upgrade through above route

    Kindly clarify.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments