Dell sometimes will send out a flash drive with a recovery partition on it, to recover the original system.  You might ask. 

I'm also trying to contact Dell.  The support page for the Dell Venue 8 Pro says that "Dell has tested this device and confirmed it can upgrade to Windows 10." but when I did, I got stuck. At bootup, there's no touch detection (but if I boot into BIOS options settings the touchscreen works fine, so I know it works).

Dell told me to send it in would cost over $250, but I only spent $99 buying the entire tablet. So that's not in my best interest.

I just ordered a $1 USB adapter (with $17 shipping fee, ugh) so I can plug a flash drive into the USB port of this thing, and I hope I can boot up from it and install Windows myself.  I'll post back in a few weeks when I get it in the mail.

Since Windows 10 is a free upgrade for the Dell Venue 8 Pro, why doesn't Dell just sell us a USB flash drive with a Windows 10 recovery partition on it? I think that would solve a lot of our problems as well as Dell's problems.

Since Windows 10 is a free upgrade for the Dell Venue 8 Pro, why doesn't Dell just sell us a USB flash drive with a Windows 10 recovery partition on it? I think that would solve a lot of our problems as well as Dell's problems.

I have a Dell Venue 8 model 5830 that I upgraded to Windows 10 (officially per Dell it's supported) but I really want to get back to 8.1.  Dell was even kind enough to send me a package containing an OTG cable and a 8GB USB stuck containing their official Windows 8 Pro image for this Venue (seems legit, it's stamped with a MS and Dell logo, has a Dell part number of 7478v_A00), but I can't get the darn tablet to boot from it.

If I switch the boot order in the BIOS settings, it ignores it and boots to Windows 10 anyway. Even if I delete the Windows Boot Loader option entirely.

If I hold shift while restarting from 10 and get to the recovery options and tell THAT to boot from USB, it also simply ignores it.

Back in the BIOS settings I tried to add a new boot entry and I browse the USB stick to the '/efi/boot/bootx64.efi' as the file location, and then it asks me for a file name (no idea why, I just selected a file in the list), but no matter what I type there (junk or 'bootx64.efi' again, whatever), it simply dumps back to the boot options and doesn't add an entry.

I've tried booting with this USB being the only thing in the drive, or using a powered hub (as recommended by these instructions from Dell) connected to the USB and a keyboard/mouse. No luck, still just ignores it and boots up as normal.

Secure Boot is off.

I don't know what to try next, any help would be appreciated.  Dell sent me this stick and OTG cable as a courtesy, but won't provide actual support to get it installed because the tablet is past warranty. I only paid $99 for the tablet and they want several times that to help me, so I'm on my own.

I guess I should be happy it is in working order with Windows 10, but there's issues with it and I'd like to put this thing back to day 1 condition. I don't understand why it won't boot from the stick.  And honestly, what would Dell do if I sent it to them?  If they have these pre-made recovery USB sticks, why doesn't it work?