After you do the upgrade, Windows will assign the new product key to the installation. Instead, you’ll have to install Windows 8, then do a free upgrade to 8.1.

And the product keys are different for Windows 8 and 8.1, so if you have a Windows 8 product key, you can’t just use it to install Windows 8.1. One caveat you should be aware of up front is that you can no longer download an ISO for Windows 8–just 8.1. RELATED: How to Find Your Lost Windows or Office Product Keys The process for using the tool is largely the same for both versions of Windows, so we’ll be using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool for our example. If you’ve got access to a Windows machine, the official method for downloading ISOs for Windows 8.1 and 10 is the Media Creation Tool. Download the Windows 10 or 8.1 ISO Using the Media Creation Tool The most important thing is that you have a valid license key. If it won’t activate, you can always install and then call Microsoft to get them to straighten it out and allow your copy to activate. NOTE: Depending on the OEM version of Windows that you are running, you might run into an issue using the OEM key with a retail version of Windows. Instead, you get official installation media straight from Microsoft. You get to select the installation language and the system architecture (32-bit, 64-bit or both).įile formats optimized for download speed.īuilt in media creation options for USBs and DVDs.There are a few ways to do this, but they’re all on the straight and narrow–you won’t have to visit a shady BitTorrent site to download ISOs that may be filled with malware. Media Creation Tool can create installation files for Windows 10 圆4 Home, Home N, Home Single Language, Pro and Pro N. Media Creation Tool comes in handy in situations when you want to try or reinstall Windows 10 圆4 on your PC and do not own an installation media. Downloaded files can be sent to a USB flash drive, but note that at least 3 GB of free space are required and that all the information stored on the USB drive is overwritten during the process. If you need to install or upgrade to Windows 10 圆4, Microsoft has released a very simple tool named Media Creation Tool 圆4 to allow you to download Windows 10 圆4 to upgrade the current PC to Windows 10 圆4, or to download the Windows 10 圆4 ISO images, or to create Windows 10 圆4 DVD dic or Windows 10 圆4 USB flash media for clean installation or installing the new version of Windows on a different PC.

Windows 8.1 media creation tool 32 bit