Hello all, I am repairing (wipe/rebuild) a laptop that came pre-installed with: Win8.1 SprUP 64Bit w/ Bing Language: NH Apparently, MS Media Creator will not allow the creation of installation media for an 8.1 w/ bing. If I have understood correctly - this is intentional (on behalf of MS). I do not want to connect this malware ridden laptop to my home network. Instead of having to connect the laptop to my network and using windows updates to get Windows 10, can I ask for some guidance with the following: A) Is there a windows 10 iso that I can download (on a clean machine) and simply install over this? One which will automatically sort out the activation, leaving me with a legitimate win 10 install & Key and a clean/sanitised laptop? B) The windows 8.1 w/ bing - is there an installation media image I can get from somewhere else, so that I don't need to go this far? Really appreciate any guidance members are will to provide. B.
cocachris98 I understand your concern - but please revisit and compare them. A Windows 10 solution + procedure, is only discussed here. It is not mentioned in my other post at all. By mentioning the difficulties I am having with windows 8.1 w/bing as a part of this post - I am stimulating a broader discussion/exploration of the topic, which might be helpful to others in this exact scenario. I would guess, that there are many others that are weighing up - whether to struggle and find 8.1 w/bing somehow, or if it is easier just to jump to 10. This is an entirely different discussion, when compared to my other post. B
So do you want to do a clean install on that machine? Wipe it out and start fresh with Win 10? 8.1 Bing would be eligable for Win 10 Home. Please post back.
Yes, thats right. Currently - the laptop has been restored to factory state. I.e just as it was when first purchased from the retailer (hidden restore partition etc). I would to consider a fresh windows 10 install on it, by downloading and burning the windows 10 install media on my desktop. Then I would simply insert the dvd and initiate installation - wiping the system and killing all malware on it. But - since I am not going through the on-line upgrade process - will there be issues with activation? (Sidenote - is there a way to keep the restore partition facility - but with a windows 10 restore image instead? It might be useful for the owner - because, if I am not around when something goes wrong again - at least they'll have restore options).
If his machine is really as infected with malware as he thinks that it is, his USB drive will be compromised when he attempts the gatherosstate procedure. Burning a DVD would be a better option to keep the install clean. Wiping the drive and using the embedded Win 8. key for activation seems to be the safer option.
I am grateful to each of you that have contributed, and are helping me with this. The laptop is a toshiba (I know, don't ask). Like nearly all other retail laptops, it has a 'built in' recovery capability (reinstall entire OS to factory state). I'm specifically pertaining to the hidden recovery partition on the HDD. Can this be kept? Or whichever way I instll 10 - will the owner loose this capability? uffbos - by generating the xml file on the machine (which is infected) - I risk transferring the infection to the fresh 10 install, by reintroducing that file?
Frankly the recovery partition, nowadays, is an almost useless waste of space, just get the win 8.1 iso if you mind to get back If not, just remove any partition using diskpart or whatever tool you like before proceeding to install win10 An xml alone can't infect anything, assuming you have your extensions visible and your xml didn't turn to something like foo.xml.exe
i would go with uffbros' suggestion. that's what i would do in this case. just make sure that the current windows 8.1 is genuine so you get a good genuineticket.xml wiping the hdd seems to be necessary in this case. if you don't want to risk reinfecting the new system or your usb stick try to upload the file from the infected system to a pastebin or file sharing service, or as email attachment or you could run some kind of recovery system or linux from a cd and copy the genuineticket.xml that way