# Can you upgrade for free to windows 10, downgrade back to windows 8.1, and then upgrade again?



## Josode (Aug 15, 2015)

Title basically says it all. I used to be using Windows 8.1, and I upgraded for free. After using windows 10 for a week i got a blue screen that said "bad_system_config_info" and restarting does not fix it. It is stuck on the blue screen after restarting. So, i was thinking I could use the option on the blue screen that it gives me to downgrade to previous version, but I would still like to use windows 10. So, if I downgrade, could I then upgrade again for free? (I am still within my 30 days to downgrade) Any help would be greatly appreciated!

If you have any other solution to this blue screen that would allow me to stay on windows 10 and keep all of my files and apps, that would be even better. Thank you! 

The initial error that came up while I was using my PC like normal:









Options ("Continue" and "turn off PC" just take me back to this)









Options Under "troubleshoot" option that was shown above. (I've tried a system restore, but it does not work. I have no "system image recovery", so doesn't work. Start up repair doesn't work. So, "go back to previous build" is my last resort, which is the reason for my question in the first place. I would like to downgrade then upgrade back to windows 10, but not sure if i can.


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## peterh40 (Apr 15, 2007)

Yes, I believe you can. Windows 10 is free for at least the first year from release. 
You can still get the Windows 10 ISO downloade and be able to upgrade using that instead of the downloaded installation files too.


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## good grief (Aug 26, 2007)

Yes, you can roll back to 8.1 and reinstall 10. I did it with Windows 7. As long as you still have your Windows Old file from the upgrade you can roll back within one month of installing 10. 

Rolling back is very quick (took 10 minutes for me). Be aware that 10 may leave a couple of things a little mucked up (it cause problems with Internet Explorer for me, which is why I ended up reinstalling 10), and they do warn that you may need to reinstall some programmes after the roll back. I didn't, but apparently it happens. You'll still have a year from when you first got 10 to reinstall it, and you'll need to reserve again.

After you've rolled back, you can cancel your upgrade, and hide the Windows 10 update in the meantime, to stop it nagging you. You'll have a few updates to install afterwards, and when you choose to reinstall , there will be more to download and install prior to upgrading again.


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## Josode (Aug 15, 2015)

good grief said:


> Yes, you can roll back to 8.1 and reinstall 10. I did it with Windows 7. As long as you still have your Windows Old file from the upgrade you can roll back within one month of installing 10.
> 
> Rolling back is very quick (took 10 minutes for me). Be aware that 10 may leave a couple of things a little mucked up (it cause problems with Internet Explorer for me, which is why I ended up reinstalling 10), and they do warn that you may need to reinstall some programmes after the roll back. I didn't, but apparently it happens. You'll still have a year from when you first got 10 to reinstall it, and you'll need to reserve again.
> 
> After you've rolled back, you can cancel your upgrade, and hide the Windows 10 update in the meantime, to stop it nagging you. You'll have a few updates to install afterwards, and when you choose to reinstall , there will be more to download and install prior to upgrading again.


Thanks for the response! I tried rolling back but unfortunately it does not work. A screen pops up saying "we ran into a problem and won't be able to take you back to the previous build. Try resetting your current build instead" So sadly the only solution might just be to reset my pc.


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## good grief (Aug 26, 2007)

Josode said:


> Thanks for the response! I tried rolling back but unfortunately it does not work. A screen pops up saying "we ran into a problem and won't be able to take you back to the previous build. Try resetting your current build instead" So sadly the only solution might just be to reset my pc.


What a shame it didn't work for you. Good luck anyway on your reset. You still have a year to upgrade, so maybe they'll have some things ironed out by the time that rolls around.


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