The computer started off as running windows 8.1 out of the box. When windows 10 was officially released, the computer was upgraded using a usb drive with windows 10 installation media, rather than waiting for the upgrade that automatically comes from Microsoft. During the install process, it asked for the windows product key. This laptop didn't come with a product on a sticker, rather it had a bios encrypted product key that couldn't be accessed, and should automatically activate windows. There was no skip option, so a sample product key was inserted in order to get past the screen, and it accepted it. Once windows 10 booted, it told us that activation failed, even though we thought that windows would find the real product key. So, I decided to roll the computer back to windows 8.1, and do the upgrade from inside windows, to ensure that it was activated.
However, when I chose "windows rollback" as a boot option, it hung on "restoring to previous build", and then shut down. When I tried to power on the computer, I got a blue screen. I googled, and explored the recovery environment to try and get the system to boot, and eventually I got the computer to restore to windows 8.1. However, now, the mouse and keyboard don't work. I have deleted and rediscovered the mouse and keyboard in the device manager, I have reinstalled the touchpad driver from the OEM, no luck.
I had the idea of using the windows "refresh" feature. I had used it on this computer before, and it had fixed display issues, which I think may have been due to driver problems. I tapped the refresh button, typed in the admin password, and the computer refreshed successfully by itself. (No recovery media required.)
Now, when I hit refresh PC, it asked for recovery media. So I looked on Microsoft's KB, and they said, that if you need refresh/reset media, download the "media creation tool" and create media. So I downloaded that, plugged in a flash drive, and it made the flashdrive into a bootable windows 8.1 flash drive. (Which I could boot from, and use the recovery tools.) But when I pressed refresh again, and it asked me for recovery media, I inserted the flash drive, created by microsoft's offical tool, and it said, "the media inserted is not valid". I've rewritten the drive multiple times, and it still does not work.
Extra info:
- The touch screen still works.
- It is not a hardware issue, the mouse and keyboard work in the windows RE environment, that is loaded on the computer.
- USB mouse and keyboard work
If you need more info, just leave a comment.