Windows 8 to Windows 7 to Windows 8.1...

Hi everyone,

Wasn't too sure where to put this thread, so hope it's in the correct area. Also apologies in advance if this has been asked before. I've scoured the web but cannot seem to find a straight-forward answer to the issue I'm having.

My brother purchased a laptop that came with Windows 8 on it originally. He couldn't stand Windows 8 and had it downgraded to Windows 7. He now wants to update to 8.1 and asked me how to go about doing that, and I'm at a loss as to how to advise. The Win 8 license key would have been embedded in the BIOS originally, but is the key still there given that Windows 7 was installed? The laptop doesn't have a sticker with the original license anywhere.

Also, I cannot for the life of me work out where to download a copy of Windows 8 for an OEM system. I figured that if he could reinstall Windows 8 (providing the initial license key could be read from the BIOS), he can upgrade to 8.1 from there through the store.

I don't believe he created any recovery cds or has a backup of the system pre Win 7, and I don't think the recovery partition is present either (I know, I've already scolded him ). The manufacturer won't send out any recovery cds and wants the laptop sent back so they can restore it to factory themselves, at a cost (which seems rather stupid to me. A couple of years ago this would have been a non-issue as most manufacturers included recovery cds with their systems).

Any way around this dilemma? Just want to get the system back to how it was when he bought it so he can upgrade to 8.1 from there. Surely it can't be this difficult?

Looking forward to your help/replies.

 

Hey coleoptere2007,

Really appreciate the response. I've read through the links you provided, feel a little lost after the "slmgr.vbs /dlv" part. I'm not in front of the laptop in question at the moment so just trialling this on my own system. I can get the info required in that first step, then used the Windows 9 Product Key Viewer and got the serial.
On my brother's system, won't this show his Win 7 serial though, or will it reveal the original Win 8 OEM serial?

Next up, let's say he had Win 8 x64 Eng (I think that's what he had), do I download Win 8.1 with update x64 multiple editions from the link you provided?

The last part has me a bit baffled too. What do you mean by, "use a default key for installation"? Do I not use the original key obtained via Windows 9 Product Key Viewer? If not, where do I obtain a default key, and how do I then activate with the original Win 8 key?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm a bit of a newb clearly when it comes to all this Win 8/8.1 licensing mess...