Win 8 upgrade to Win 10

[ellielouya]

Hi -

A year or two (or more?) ago Windows 8 was upgraded to Windows 10 for free.  Recently had to restore factory settings due to virus.  During the course of that is when it came to mind that I should've saved an up to date backup copy.  Wondering, without  a backup copy, and without having to shell out more money, is it possible to reinstall the Windows 10 upgrade?  In case it matters, my desktop is a Pavilion 20.

Thanks for your help!

[Grzwacz · Accepted solution]

Greetings,

Welcome to the forum.

I am not a HP employee.

You can reinstall Windows 10 (W10) free if your PC was previously updated to Windows 10 and post installation activation occurred.

Go here (Link) to do the in place upgrade or you can install W10 clean using the W10 Installation Media Tool.

You don't have to do a HP factory recovery after updating to Windows 10. Keep the Windows 10 installation media you create using the above link.

The Windows 10 installation media can also be used to troubleshoot and repair your PC.

Regards

[ellielouya]

Followed the link and re-upgraded to Windows 10 without any problems.  Didn't create Windows 10 media but did notice the option so I'm hoping I can go back and do that later today.   

Guess I could also create a set of backup discs.  However, the DVD RW drive isn't recognizing software discs.  It wasn't recognizing any discs, then I finally got it to where it it'll play pre-recorded DVD's.  Tried everything but can't get beyond that.  Ironically, there's an Optical Disc Drive support/tests disc that was created when I first got the computer - but, of course, it does no good because it's not being recognized.  That's an entirely different topic though so I'll try posting it elsewhere. 

Anyhow, many, many, thanks.  The link worked.  I'm running Windows 10 again now. Much appreciated!

[Grzwacz]

Hi Ellielouya,

You're very welcome.

Your PC should support booting from USB media.

Create Windows 10 USB recovery media. A eight GB USB stick should do the job.

Regards

[ellielouya]

Thank you.  Yes, that should work for keeping the upgrade on hand.   

Problem is, I can't reinstall the software that was wiped out during the restore.  Since the upgrade issue is resolved I started this as a new post under desktop hardware.  Hope that was the right thing to do.

[Grzwacz]

Hi Ellielouya,

You're very welcome.

Yes, starting a new thread is good.

Regards