Chapter 2. Upgrading to Windows 8.1

If you’re a Windows 8 user, congratulations! Microsoft gives you the upgrade to Windows 8.1 for free. You don’t even have to do anything as long as the Windows Automatic Updates feature is enabled. It’s a quick and painless process. If you’re using Windows 7, you can upgrade directly to Windows 8.1—but at a cost. Upgrading to Windows 8.1 preserves your documents, photos, videos, downloads, and music but not your programs and apps.

If you can, we recommend upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8 first, and then upgrading from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1.

An upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 gives you the option to keep your existing programs and apps. The process of upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8 is covered ...

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