diff --git a/libraries/gpu-gl/src/gpu/gl/GLBackend.cpp b/libraries/gpu-gl/src/gpu/gl/GLBackend.cpp
index 1210112a78..c5c9b90eb2 100644
--- a/libraries/gpu-gl/src/gpu/gl/GLBackend.cpp
+++ b/libraries/gpu-gl/src/gpu/gl/GLBackend.cpp
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ BackendPointer GLBackend::createBackend() {
     // Where the gpuContext is initialized and where the TRUE Backend is created and assigned
     auto version = QOpenGLContextWrapper::currentContextVersion();
     std::shared_ptr<GLBackend> result;
-    if (!disableOpenGL45 && version >= 0x0405) {
+    if (false && !disableOpenGL45 && version >= 0x0405) {
         qCDebug(gpugllogging) << "Using OpenGL 4.5 backend";
         result = std::make_shared<gpu::gl45::GL45Backend>();
     } else {
diff --git a/libraries/gpu-gl/src/gpu/gl41/GL41BackendTexture.cpp b/libraries/gpu-gl/src/gpu/gl41/GL41BackendTexture.cpp
index bff5bf3f2c..54d3c87194 100644
--- a/libraries/gpu-gl/src/gpu/gl41/GL41BackendTexture.cpp
+++ b/libraries/gpu-gl/src/gpu/gl41/GL41BackendTexture.cpp
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ void GL41VariableAllocationTexture::promote() {
 
     // allocate storage for new level
     allocateStorage(_allocatedMip - std::min<uint16_t>(_allocatedMip, 2));
-
+    /*
     withPreservedTexture([&] {
         GLuint fbo { 0 };
         glGenFramebuffers(1, &fbo);
@@ -325,7 +325,24 @@ void GL41VariableAllocationTexture::promote() {
         glDeleteFramebuffers(1, &fbo);
 
         syncSampler();
-    });
+    });*/
+
+    uint16_t mips = _gpuObject.getNumMips();
+    // copy pre-existing mips
+    for (uint16_t mip = _populatedMip; mip < mips; ++mip) {
+        auto mipDimensions = _gpuObject.evalMipDimensions(mip);
+        uint16_t targetMip = mip - _allocatedMip;
+        uint16_t sourceMip = mip - oldAllocatedMip;
+        auto faces = getFaceCount(_target);
+        for (uint8_t face = 0; face < faces; ++face) {
+            glCopyImageSubData(
+                oldId, _target, sourceMip, 0, 0, face,
+                _id, _target, targetMip, 0, 0, face,
+                mipDimensions.x, mipDimensions.y, 1
+                );
+            (void)CHECK_GL_ERROR();
+        }
+    }
 
     // destroy the old texture
     glDeleteTextures(1, &oldId);
@@ -343,7 +360,7 @@ void GL41VariableAllocationTexture::demote() {
     uint16_t oldAllocatedMip = _allocatedMip;
     allocateStorage(_allocatedMip + 1);
     _populatedMip = std::max(_populatedMip, _allocatedMip);
-
+    /*
     withPreservedTexture([&] {
         GLuint fbo { 0 };
         glCreateFramebuffers(1, &fbo);
@@ -368,7 +385,24 @@ void GL41VariableAllocationTexture::demote() {
         glDeleteFramebuffers(1, &fbo);
 
         syncSampler();
-    });
+    });*/
+
+    // copy pre-existing mips
+    uint16_t mips = _gpuObject.getNumMips();
+    for (uint16_t mip = _populatedMip; mip < mips; ++mip) {
+        auto mipDimensions = _gpuObject.evalMipDimensions(mip);
+        uint16_t targetMip = mip - _allocatedMip;
+        uint16_t sourceMip = targetMip + 1;
+        auto faces = getFaceCount(_target);
+        for (uint8_t face = 0; face < faces; ++face) {
+            glCopyImageSubData(
+                oldId, _target, sourceMip, 0, 0, face,
+                _id, _target, targetMip, 0, 0, face,
+                mipDimensions.x, mipDimensions.y, 1
+                );
+            (void)CHECK_GL_ERROR();
+        }
+    }
 
 
     // destroy the old texture
diff --git a/libraries/image/src/image/Image.cpp b/libraries/image/src/image/Image.cpp
index 707a2e4496..e60187d230 100644
--- a/libraries/image/src/image/Image.cpp
+++ b/libraries/image/src/image/Image.cpp
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@
 using namespace gpu;
 
 #define CPU_MIPMAPS 1
-#define COMPRESS_COLOR_TEXTURES 0
+#define COMPRESS_COLOR_TEXTURES 1
 #define COMPRESS_NORMALMAP_TEXTURES 0 // Disable Normalmap compression for now
-#define COMPRESS_GRAYSCALE_TEXTURES 0
+#define COMPRESS_GRAYSCALE_TEXTURES 1
 #define COMPRESS_CUBEMAP_TEXTURES 0 // Disable Cubemap compression for now
 
 static const glm::uvec2 SPARSE_PAGE_SIZE(128);