Magic Method to Move from Windows 8.1 Preview to Windows 8.1. RTM (but your Desktop App's will be nuked)

Ron Grzywacz's Blog - Upgrade your Surface RT / Windows RT Device 8.1 Preview to 8.1 RTM

I've been running the 8.1 Preview on my Windows RT device since it was available. It was a nice improvement. Yesterday the RTM version of 8.1 was available, and I wanted to get it on my Surface RT running Windows RT. I checked Windows Update and it wasn't an option. I checked the Store, and I was seeing some odd behavior. I couldn't' find it via search, although I wasn't 100% of the title of what I was looking for. I did some digging, and it turns out there's an easy way to do the upgrade. Open a browser and type in "ms-windows-store:WindowsUpgrade" (without the quotes). This will open a link to the Upgrade in the Windows Store. From there I clicked the install button and let it do it's magic. I'm now running Windows 8.1 RTM on my Surface RT.

Warning: The store just showed the spinning dotted circle for a while after clicking install. The machine was installing the update during this time. You can bring up the task manager to see if the machine is working. ...

I've used this magic approach twice to upgrade my Build 2013 Surface Pro and Acer W3-810 devices from Windows 8.1 Preview to Windows 8.1 RTM.

NOTE: This is a hacker'ish approach. You'll loose your Desktop app's and there's no progress or such other indication. Once the download is complete, you will be warned that you'll loose the Desktop app's and you'll be able to cancel... Personally this wasn't that big of a deal for me, but beware. Again, there's no UI on this, so if you take this approach, be patient (my Acer took a couple hours to download...)

Also make sure your device is up to date prior to starting this...

Also you're on your own if this doesn't work and it hoses your device...

Do not remove this tag... Your mileage may vary...

yada, yada, yada... In the end, it worked for me, so do with it what you will.

 

Related Past Post XRef:
The Old with the New - How to [unofficially] upgrade from Windows 8.1 Preview to Windows 8.1 RTM [Think "cversion.ini hacking for fun and..."]