Got Windows Phone 8.1 through Preview for Developers? Lumia Cyan upgrades may fail

Microsoft has introduced Preview for Developers to give Windows Phone users early access to new releases, specifically betas, of the tiled operating mobile system. The program is also supposed to ensure a seamless upgrade path to the official firmware, once it is available.

While I have had no issues upgrading to an official firmware ever since I started using Preview for Developers in late-2013, it looks like there might be a problem in upgrading to Lumia Cyan for those of us who have relied on the program to install Windows Phone 8.1.

This immediately grabbed my attention. "If you are registered to Windows Phone Developer Preview Program, you might need to use the Nokia Software Recovery Tool to return your Lumia to a normal commercial software before downloading the Lumia Cyan update", says Microsoft in a blog post aptly titled "How to update to Lumia Cyan smoothly".

In a statement for Windows Phone Central, the software giant acknowledges that those who are using Windows Phone 8.1 through Preview for Developers, with BitLocker encryption enabled, are experiencing issues upgrading to Lumia Cyan. Here is what Microsoft says:

We are currently investigating the issue. We have paused delivery of the update to customers using the Preview for Developers, and will resume once a fix is in place. Customers whose phones have been affected should use the Nokia Software Recovery Tool to return your Lumia to a normal commercial software state before downloading the Lumia Cyan update.

The software in question can be downloaded by heading to this support page. Using it, you will be able to install the official firmware for your Nokia-branded Windows Phone 8 device, which will then allow you to install the Lumia Cyan firmware, which includes Windows Phone 8.1.

It is also worth noting that Microsoft is rolling out another Windows Phone 8.1 release through Preview for Developers, which may solve this problem. To see if it is available, head to the Windows Phone Settings menu, open the "phone update" sub-menu and tap on the "check for updates" button.