How do I uninstall Windows 8.1

[The Blue Flower]

I finally landed a great telecommuting job and downloaded it onto my old PC to sync it with my new laptop. Now I can't get to anything I need. I thought the MS Office Suite was included, but it isn't. That will cost another $100. I'm sitting here in tears, would appreciate some help. And no, I'm not that adept at fixing these things. Thanks.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

1. Which operating system did you have before windows 8? n/t

[Aerows]

2. What did you have before?

If your laptop came with Windows 8.1, you are going to have to go into the BIOS and change back to the non-EEFI BIOS first before you can do anything, then install whatever you want then. I'll be honest with you, if you aren't very computer literate, it's going to be damn near impossible, not to mention you may not be able to find drivers for it.

I recommend a few things - either spring for the MS Office Suite, see if you can use Open Office (it opens Word docs, etc) or you use Google Docs and upload what ever is on your old PC to Google Docs and use them there. Open Office is a great alternative to MS Office.

I could be more helpful if I knew what exactly you are doing at the telecommuting job, i.e. primarily doing documents, spreadsheets or what have you. Hope some of that helps.

[ChromeFoundry]

3. If you just need to read the docs...

you can in stall the free Reader versions of the most popular MS Office apps:

Word Viewer
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=4

Excel Viewer
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10

PowerPoint Viewer
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13

The other option is to push the documents to your SkyDrive and use the free in-browser Word/Excel editors.

[jrandom421]

4. Office was included as part of Windows RT for tablets only, like the Surface RT

Office has never been part of the regular install of Windows, goingl the way back to Windows 3.1. Also, Office 2003 and older aren't compatible with Windows 8.1. What parts of Office do you need? There are several different versions of Office, and you can see the differences here:

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbpage.OfficeCompare?tid=XhF02Wsw&cid=5250&pcrid=2387998148&pkw=microsoft%20store&pmt=e&WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=pointitsem_Microsoft+US_bing_5+-+Microsoft&WT.term=microsoft%20store&WT.campaign=5+-+Microsoft&WT.content=XhF02Wsw&WT.source=bing&WT.medium=cpc

The one thing to note is that Office 365 is a subscription. While Microsoft updates and patches it for you, it's only rented. The rest you buy and install like you've done before.

You don't need to get rid of Windows 8.1, especially if your new laptop is running it. A subscription for Office 365 will be useable on both your new and old systems. It might be worth paying for it, if you are so inclined. You might check to see if your new employer r has a Microsoft license agreement that lets employees get Office for something like $10.00 for home use. He also might either pay for your Office 365 subscription, or if they've already implemented it, they may just need to give you access to it. I know a lot of businesses who have done that for contractors and telecommuters.

No need for tears, you just needed information to proceed.