We all are very well evident with the Windows 8.1 update released last year, which fixed the woes created by Windows 8. I guess many of you have been updated to Windows 8.1 while there many users facing trouble to get this update on their system. They are missing to enjoy the charm of Windows 8.1 due to various kinds of issues. One such issue, I recently came around. Actually, when you try to download Windows 8.1 from the Windows Store, you might get this error:
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Store
You need to use an account with Administrator privileges to install Windows 8.1, try logging in with the user account of an administrator of this PC and trying the upgrade again.
The error message says that you need to be logged in as administrator but when I got the error, I was already using the administrators account. The account I was using was in the administrators group and I can do other administrator functions with this account. In order to fix this issue, you can follow these steps:
FIX : Can’t Download Windows 8.1 From Windows Store
1. Press 
+ W and put updates in Search box, select View installed updates from search results.
2. In the Installed Updates window, look for the Update for Microsoft Windows (KB2871389) and right click on it, select Uninstall.
3. Now using following links, download the KB2871389 update package manually for your Windows 8 edition and install it:
Download Link [All supported x86-based versions of Windows 8]
Download Link [All supported x64-based versions of Windows 8]
Download Link [All supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2012]
After following above mentioned steps, you can re-try to download Windows 8.1 from Windows Store, it should work without any issues.
Hope this helps!
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Thank you. This worked!
This worked for me when none of the Microsoft Help suggestions had worked at all. Thank you!
This really worked for me, You should be at microsoft, I searched all microsoft websites, and none of them proposed a working solution so easy.
Thanks a ton…
^^ Thanks for the feedback guys. Glad to hear that it worked for all of you :)
followed the steps, but when i press the download button it says the ‘apps were installed successfully.
^^ Try clearing the app cache by going to Start Screen and typing WSReset.exe and hit Enter. Also try rebooting the machine. Something should help.
Really helped, thanks a million
thank youuu…. :)
Thanks, this seems to be working, I am now downloading 8.1 yeah
Thanks, this worked
I tried doing this and it still is giving me the administrator message…. ugh, so annoying i guess im just stuck with the windows 8 version…
Did this for friends computer and it worked great, just did it on another computer and it keeps showing the same error, is there anything else to do?
^^ Looks like other computer don’t have KB2871389 installed, and on same system you’ve lost administrative rights. Try this way to get them back: thewindowsclub.com/lost-administrative-rights-in-windows
thank you so much, I tried everything as well…… and your solution worked!!
i don’t find a download option in windows those links itself and i uninstalled that update too..what to do??
Hello, I’m currently trying to create a bootable Windows 8.1 disc for future clean installs, but because I have Windows OEM product key, i’m getting the following error “We can’t connect right now. Check your internet connection and try again.” when trying to download the Windows 8.1 ISO. What should I do?……
Hi i have tried what you said and though the error of administrative privileges is gone ,i still cant download it shows the error “something went wrong and install of windows 8.1 can`t be completed” pls help
^^ Checkout: https://www.kapilarya.com/fix-something-happened-and-the-windows-8-1-couldnt-be-installed-error-code-0x80071a91
@Andrew & @remar, Try: https://www.kapilarya.com/download-windows-8-1-media-creation-tool
This article is now obsolete as the updates you mentioned have been removed form the Microsoft site. Delete.
^^ Everthing still exists, check: support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2871389.
Perfect solution, thank you.
^^ Glad we could help :)
Found the update. Removed it.
Message came up that it couldn’t be completed.
Can you help?
This is complete and total nonsense.
Why should anyone have to be logged in as administrator to download and create an ISO file?
Only a corrupt corporation that has absolutely no concern for the security of people’s personal computers would demand administrative privileges to download data for the sole purpose of creating an ISO file that will then be burned to a disk or flash drive, which will then be used to install the update or OS.
Think about it people, there is not one single thing that Microsoft has to do to your system to enable you to download the disk image and convert it to an ISO file.
If this was Linux, you would have a direct link to the ISO file and do nothing more than download the ISO file. Why does Microsoft use a download manager tool that does not work unless it is running under an administrator account.
What exactly is Microsoft changing in our systems prior to downloading the data for the sole purpose of creating an ISO file that can be burned to a disk so that the computer owner can install the OS?
Sorry, but the only things that I run under Administrator are programs I am either installing or programs I know have a legitimate reason to run under administrator.
Downloading a data file and converting it to an ISO image so that I can create an installation disk is not a legitimate reason to run under an administrator account. Especially given the fact that that program is going to be running for several hours and that link is going to be open for those several hours leaving an open path to my administrator account which if hacked, could be caused to wipe the entire computer clean.
Yeah Microsoft, I just happen to be one of those people that does not buy into your lies about being more secure. If you were more secure, your download manager program would not need am administrator account to run properly. It would download the data under a standard user account and create the iso file without the need to make changes to the computer system.