Windows 10 Collision - attempting to reverse to (Dell) OEM WIN8

Discussion in 'Windows 10' started by PeeCee, Apr 21, 2016.

  1. PeeCee

    PeeCee MDL Novice

    Apr 21, 2016
    1
    0
    0
    Hello All,
    As an early adopter to Windows 10 from 8 on a Dell Inspiron 15Z-5523, I finally attempted a dual boot to handle some things lost in the upgrade. I was 'rear-ended' and things hit the fan when the USB boot failed under the "Legacy" option. Then I reversed back to UEFI and attempted a WIN10 HDD boot. First, Win8 complained with a recovery screen and would not boot. (I know I should have created a recovery device). Then I downloaded a recovery file from microsoft and attempted to run it from USB. This was its the death star: No Bios boot screen, only the Dell 3-3-3 beeps. Spent all night disassembling laptop, removing and shorting things. This morning I created a FreeDOS boot USB using Rufus (very easy) and it booted!
    Then I proceeded to download the BIOS from Dell and loaded it using the /forceit option. It now appears to boot the bios consistently, but I lost the ability to boot the FreeDos USB Stick even with Legacy enabled - (anybody know why?)
    I just need to get back to where I was before this dual boot attempt and I believe I can do it with an OEM Windows 8 iso image.

    It appears once upon a time there may have been a OEM WIN8 ISO download link here. Does anyone know of a valid Win8 iso available to satisfy an OEM reload?

    Any help is greatly appreciated:
    1. Why USB no longer boots and
    2. Windows 8 iso!

    PeeCee