UEFI Windows 8.1 Pro

I don’t know if I had UEFI and partitioned Win 8 installed exactly right (as it should have been) but I know I did use UEFI, absolutely … and when I upgraded to Win 8.1, I don’t know if that caused a problem or what or when, but one day, earlier this year, I turned on my monitor and my screen was telling me there was no OS to be found.

That was troublesome. I went to BIOS that day and turned on LEGACY Bios, and voila, Windows 8.1 booted right up.

That didn’t sit well with me. I hadn’t tried to install anything else, no dual booting or anything. No hinky software.

At a couple of points in the ensuing months I used Refresh, when things just weren’t going well, they just felt wrong.

One day recently I hit the first link when I Googled something. I didn’t intend to, I was searching for possible downloads, not wanting to do what I mindlessly did, first and only time ever to hit a sponsored link like that.

I can tell you I had to immediately shut down and use System Restore, but even then something was bad. So I did a Refresh.

My problem then though was the UEFI thing. Secure Boot and keeping my main Desktop computer running fast and problem free. So I pondered it deeply for about a week, and yesterday got all my stuff together and went for it. I deleted all of my partitions off the SSD and had made sure I was booted into my Windows 8.1 Pro DVD as UEFI. Windows 8.1 Pro was then installed properly in that space

Now I’m working at getting all the programs I want installed properly, then I’ll make a custom image for refresh. <—– Something I wanted to do long ago, but just never did. Now is the time!

Getting a clean install of Windows 8.1 is not the easiest thing. You have to have it downloaded and put onto a USB Stick or Drive, or a DVD. If you want to use UEFI then you have to have your USB copy made correctly for UEFI booting, or use a disc and have a UEFI DVD or Blu-ray drive.

Next is the nasty of your Windows 8 key not working when they force you to input one in the beginning of the install. It won’t be a problem to input it later, it will be accepted. In order to install though you either have to have a generic key that will be accepted to install, or you add a file to your install files that will make the key input to be bypassed until the end, once Windows is installed you’ll be able to input your Win 8 key.

In my case I found a generic key and it worked. I installed and once I verified my install, I went into PC Settings and input my own Windows 8 key. Activation on the spot.