I just wanted to confirm, what has already been stated. I came on here and followed many of the suggestions. On the 7th try to install Windows 8.1 I finally succeeded. I had to run all the Windows 8 updates, even the suggested ones. I then went to the HP site and had my laptop scanned and updated any drivers that popped up (including the BIOS). I then ran the Windows 8.1 upgrade assistant and uninstalled any programs that were not compatible. Last but not least I watched the video posted earlier about removing the wifi card from the laptop and then proceeded to do just that. I hard wired my laptop and proceeded to upgrade it to Windows 8.1 ... after all that I re-installed the wifi card and ran all this in reverse as there are now drivers popping up for windows 8.1. It took many tries and a lot of time but with the help of the suggestions mentioned above I managed to get it done!
Thank you everyone for your trial and error and more importantly for sharing what you discovered.