Windows 8.1 on Surface Pro 4?

[LuckyL]

I think it *should* work but I wonder if anyone has given this a shot?

I am still on the fence re a replacement for my SP2, however, after reviewing TH2, I know that Windows 10 won't cut it for me. So if 8.1 works fine on a SP4, that may be a way forward.

 

[GreyFox7]

I don't believe you'll find needed drivers for 8.1

 

[Seneleron]

The drivers SHOULD be functionally identical between the two. My best advice is to either use a trial of or purchase Acronis True Image, BACKUP THE ENTIRE DRIVE [so as to be able to restore it later if you have any issue] and then attempt a clean install of Win 8.1

The only potential issue you may run into is valid program licensing [as I strongly suspect your Win10 License won't work for Win 8.1.

 

[GreyFox7]

Acronis chokes on the Surface if you want to image it use Macrium.
I tried to import the new keyboard driver on 8.1 and got an error which said the driver was not compatible and compiled for a higher OS.

 

[LuckyL]

The drivers SHOULD be functionally identical between the two. My best advice is to either use a trial of or purchase Acronis True Image, BACKUP THE ENTIRE DRIVE [so as to be able to restore it later if you have any issue] and then attempt a clean install of Win 8.1

The only potential issue you may run into is valid program licensing [as I strongly suspect your Win10 License won't work for Win 8.1.

According to Understanding downgrade rights Windows 10 Pro includes downgrade rights, so I don't see a licensing problem.

I too believe that the drivers should work, however, I hoped that someone had tried this - I would like to be sure before spending a lot of money on a SP4

 

[leeshor]

Those downgrade rights you speak of are for systems that were originally designed for Windows 7 or 8. It assumes you could have purchased the system from the vendor with either of 2 operating systems.

 

[starstreak]

While I personally haven't had any main issues with win8.1 on any of my computers, you're the first that I know of that want to go from a 10 to 8, when so many people hate 8. And 10, besides being new and lacking new stable drivers, seems so much easier to use than 8.1.

 

[leeshor]

Actually many of the forum members have fallen back to 8.1 after upgrading to 10 due to stability issues on 10. However, those were Surface devices prior to SP4. The SP4, Surface 3 and Surface Book all came with 10.

 

[Seneleron]

Acronis chokes on the Surface

Really? I've only run it on my desktop [came free with my SSD] but it didn't SEEM overly resource heavy...

 

[leeshor]

Really? I've only run it on my desktop [came free with my SSD] but it didn't SEEM overly resource heavy...

You may only find there is a problem when you need it. Do a test to make certain it's working. A few people have claimed it won't on the Surface tablets. Those same people, for the most part, said Macrium did not have the same issues.

 

[surface15]

I am using my sP4 in a dualboot with Win8.1/Win10.

I backed up my Surface Pro drive using Storagecraft Shadowprotect then restored it to my Surface Pro 4. Win8.1 is working and I get ane xtra 1-1.5hr battery life.

It booted up with a standard VGA driver, and 5-6 drivers with an exclamation mark. I fixed those by downloading the full SP4 Win10 driver ZIP file from Microsoft's support site, clicking on each with a (!) and manually selecting the path I unzipped the ZIP file to.

 

[LuckyL]

I am using my sP4 in a dualboot with Win8.1/Win10.

I backed up my Surface Pro drive using Storagecraft Shadowprotect then restored it to my Surface Pro 4. Win8.1 is working and I get ane xtra 1-1.5hr battery life.

It booted up with a standard VGA driver, and 5-6 drivers with an exclamation mark. I fixed those by downloading the full SP4 Win10 driver ZIP file from Microsoft's support site, clicking on each with a (!) and manually selecting the path I unzipped the ZIP file to.

Thank you very much - very useful summary. An extra 1.5 hours battery life, wow. And I'm being asked why I don't want Windows 10 - it's terrible

Food for thought until i7 SP4 eventually is available in EMEA.