How do I downgrade from windows 8.1 to 8 without losing applications?
You cant Downgrade from any higher version of Windows to lower one of Windows without loosing data as the compatibility is not available for the lower version. Therefore,You have to reinstall a clean copy of Windows 8 and reinstall all drivers again as compatibility of the drivers also changes according to the version of Windows changes. So sorry you cant downgrade without installing a clean copy of Windows.