It has been a very frustrating weekend. I had two projects I wanted to to at least complete one of. The first was to install an OBI-202 ATA adapter I had recently purchased. That didn't go too well. The unit flamed out in the first 1/2 hour of use. Of course I spent endless hours trying to get that to work, but I eventually gave that up and packed it up for return.
Project #2: Install a 256GB SSD I had purchased as an OS and Program drive. My Windows 8 installation has been problematic. I pretty much solved all the issues, but for the life of me I can't get Windows update to work. I've spent all of today on it and managed to manually install every update I could find plus Windows 8.1. As it turns out, that sent me down a rabbit hole. Here's the deal. I was willing to do a clean install on the SSD to get around all my problems, but I really don't want to have to do that for only a Windows Update problem. I've solved everything else. If I can get the dang thing working, I can move all my data off my current 1TB and clone the OS and Programs to the SSD and save countless hours of work and frustration. It isn't going to work that way of course. Even after 8.1 was installed I still experience the dreaded 80244fff problem. SFC /scannow says everything is fine. dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth/ says everything is fine. Not trying to get help with this although I may ask later. The final thing I was willing to try was to REFRESH my PC. It's a nice feature that Microsoft added to Windows 8. Nice that is, if it would only work.
Here's the catch as I figure it. If you upgraded your PC (originally installed with a DVD) to Windows 8.1, the refresh feature no longer works. I was presented almost immediately with a request to insert my media for some files. As I hunted for the disks I wondered what good would the Windows 8 media be? Apparently not much. I put in the 64 bit version DVD and "refresh" told me it wasn't the right media. Microsoft must be looking for an 8.1 DVD. How would I get that?
Thank goodness for Google and Bob
Here's a nice trick for getting a Windows 8.1 ISO. Trick I say, because Microsoft never intended for you to be able to get this. One properly placed cancel and they will give it to you as long as you have a valid Windows 8 product key.
http://mcakins.com/2013/10/19/download-windows-8-1-iso-using-you-windows-8-0-key/
Get it while you can. They may fix this, so they can really make our lives miserable.
I'll leave out all the expletives, but let's just say I'm not feeling too good about Microsoft today. I owe Bob a beer or two. Not sure this is going to solve anything, but I sure do like the idea of having 8.1 install media. I've got a 3.05GB ISO on my desktop to show for the day's work and not much else.
You can create install media on a flash drive too using this method.
PS: Refresh wipes out all your desktop apps, so that isn't going to be an option for me.
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