Windows 8.1 & AMD Graphics

Apparently AMD stopped supporting Windows 8.1 some time ago … ( Years )
And if you run Win 8.1 and are silly enough to buy a Radeon card , you kind of shafted yourself ( Or so I thought )

After some research : I tried the Windows 7 drivers people recommend and = FAIL …
No the card runs , but try doing benchmarks ( 3D Mark )

So next I had to try the Windows 10 drivers and VIOLA !

Download Win 10 drivers , then install . ( Software is unpacked to C: drive in the AMD folder )
The install will fail but the unpacked files are there .

I have run 3D Mark 11 and Fire Strike , so I guess the drivers are doing whats needed .

I have an M4A88TD-M EVO motherboard with on-board graphics running Windows 10 and the resolution won’t go above a certain point. The original drivers don’t work. I can fix it temporarily but it reverts back after updating or something.

Heads up you can install windows 10 for free still.

Better check that , cos I did … No longer free !

I did get Win 10 free , but I dont think it’s legit any more as I reverted to 8.1 … A long time ago …

Cut of date was ( The Windows 10 free upgrade through the Get Windows 10 (GWX) app ended on July 29, 2016. )

I dont know if my copy of 10 is still valid and functioning ?

All upgrades must have completed and reached the “Welcome” screen by 11:59 PM UTC-10 (Hawaii) on July 29, 2016; this is one worldwide point in time

I was able to migrate a Win7 instance to Win10 this January so I suspect it’s still doable. This link indicates it’s still possible to do so.

Win 10 is still free. It’s not advertised as such, but it is. Use your Win 8.1 key to “register” your Win 10 install. It will work.

Also, you should get off any old versions of Windows, they are unsupported and any discovered exploits are no longer patched. Your computer is substantially more vulnerable to nefarious individuals.

I’ve upgraded several Windows 7 and one Windows 8.1 machines to Windows 10 in the past year. Go to the “media creation tool” and just follow the yellow brick road. Now of course somebody is going to come aboard this forum and tell you that its an illegitimate download and not a legal copy. Maybe so but I can’t help but wonder why Microsoft left this door wide open and thousands of people have taken advantage. It upgrades just fine every month…….or at least as well as any Windows 10 machine updates. Ya know…with Windows Update, you have to cross your fingers.

Wrong on both counts sorry, the “FREE” windows 10 campaign that ended in 2016 was originally for “ALL” versions of windows regardless of its legitimacy so people even with “Pirated” copies could upgrade to full windows for free just to get everyone on the ecosystem and give them a legitimate windows key.

Currently as long as you HAVE a legitimate activated copy of windows you can either use that “KEY” to do a fresh install OR upgrade to windows 10 on the current system for FREE as the key is still registered as activated.

Thanks for playing.

Interesting … Thanks , but I like Win 8.1 , and when it’s done and dusted I will most likely migrate to Linux .
I try different flavours from time to time VIA Virtual Box .
My favourite flavour at the moment is Mint .
And then I might VB Windows .

I Virtual Box 95 - 98 - ME and XP at the moment just for some retro fun

I’ve done several Win7 and one Win8 to Win10 upgrades this year.
As long as the Win7 is a legit install, it works.
I like to do the upgrade. That is run the install from inside the current OS.
After that is finished, and I check to see that W10 is activated.
This saves having to mess with entering the PID number, which may not be available depending on how the original OS was installed.
From then on the MS servers will recognize that hardware, and will allow activation each time W10 is installed on that machine. You don’t need to re-enter the PID number again. Just skip that part during the install.
I then wipe the drive and do a fresh W10 install to get rid of years worth all the junk.

I’m a fan of Mint also.
All the Best,
Jeff

Kubuntu > Mint

Windows 10 has worked fine for my mom and I ever since I installed it over a year ago.

We have had no issues whatsoever.

Yeah, I don't like the automatic updates, but they haven't caused a problem (yet.)