I'd forgotten about Windows 8.1, seems it's not dead and buried - yet. Things change in six months from now: on 10 January, 2023 Windows 8.1 reaches official End Of Life. It'll still work after that date but there will be no more security or bug fix updates for it.
Microsoft have answers to some questions Windows 8.1 users may ask on this page:
Windows 8.1 support will end on January 10, 2023.
It
might be possible to upgrade to Windows 11 via Windows 10:
How to Upgrade to Windows 10 From Windows 7 or 8.
However, quite possibly your PC won't be capable of running Windows 10 or 11. You can get an idea here:
Windows 11 system requirements. Basically, if your PC is over four years old there's a good chance it won't be compatible with WIndows 11.
If your PC won't run Windows 11 you can buy a new Asus laptop with 11.6" screen for £149. For that price it's low spec but comes with Windows 11 Home installed:
Hughes.co.uk. You might find a Chromebook for less but you'll be pretty much tied to Google for everything.
If Santa doesn't bring you a nice new PC for Christmas / buying a new PC isn't an option then you might find Linux is a very suitable alternative. It's legitimately free and, despite what you may have heard or read, using Linux isn't rocket science. Linux should work fine on desktops but some laptops are designed to work only with Windows or only with Chrome OS. Some printers and scanners may not work with Linux, HP have good Linux support and you can pick up a new HP printer & scanner unit for less than £50, far less than a new PC.
I'd suggest using a Ubuntu-based Linux distro (distribution) such as Linux Lite or Linux Mint to start with. Linux Lite is designed to work on older PCs but still has pretty much everything you'll need. Linux Mint XFCE will also work well on older PCs and has more options to customise it to your preferences. Both will run from a DVD or USB drive so you can try it
before wiping Windows off your hard drive and installing Linux (you'll probably get the option to install it alongside Windows, if your HDD has the capacity).
A couple of points
before trying a Linux DVD/USB:
1. On a separate CD/DVD or USB drive,
make a back-up of your
1.1 Files: documents, photos, music, etc, you have saved to your PC and want to keep - they should all open OK in Linux.
1.2 Passwords and Bookmarks/Favourites.
2. If you use a USB drive it'll need to be formatted to FAT32 (option should appear when using
balenaEtcher).
Linux Lite user manual / installation guideLinux Mint Installation GuideDownload Linux lite /
Download Linux Mint 20.3 Xfce EditionThere's also a good guide to installing a Ubuntu-based Linux OS, such as Linux Lite or Mint, on
Ubuntu.comIf that sounds like rocket science you can buy a
Linux Lite 6.0 or
Linux Mint 20.3 XFCE DVD for a mere £6.49
But you might still need to change the boot order.
IF your PC doesn't boot from the Linux DVD/USB stick but boots into Windows you probably need to change the boot order in BIOS/UEFI. This isn't difficult but does require care. When you switch your PC on there will almost certainly be a brief message displayed on the bottom of the screen informing you how to boot into BIOS/UEFI. Usually it involves repeatedly tapping the F2 or F12 key while the PC is booting. If you google the make and model of your PC you should find out which key it is, although there's another way:
How to Access the BIOS on a Windows 8 Computer. I wouldn't mess around in the BIOS/UEFI, stick to just changing the boot order, if needed.
When you do that you should enter either the old fashioned BIOS or the modern EUFI. Either way, you want to navigate to the Boot section and check/change the boot order. This is where the PC looks for an Operating System to boot from. If it's set to boot first from the hard drive it will ignore any USB and CD drives and boot straight into Windows. So change the order so it's set to boot first from USB drive, second from CD ROM and third from HDD. As I said, I wouldn't mess around in the BIOS/UEFI, stick to just changing the boot order, if needed. When you've done that Save & Exit. Restart PC with DVD/USB inserted, it should now boot into Linux so you can try before you install. Remember to back-up your documents, etc,
before you install (better still, back-up before you enter BIOS/UEFI / boot from DVD/USB).
BIOS
UEFI
Edit: Windows 11 requires PC less than 4 years old.