oh DRM..Im pulling my hair... please help, The horror of reinstalling Windows 8

orangpelupa

orangpelupa

Elite Bug Hunter
Legend
please help. I've been pulling my hair to no avail.. (literally, im really pulling my hair but its not snapped off my head)

Windows 8 is a nightmare. It took me days to teach my dad how to use it and now the HDD broken and Windows 8 can't be reinstalled on the new HDD.

Laptop comes with Windows 8.
No serial number/key sticker. Just one "Windows 8" Sticker.

I cant download official ISO from microsoft because it asking me for a KEY. The laptop did not have any KEY sticker. Oh dumb microsoft. :rolleyes:

Then with the power of google, i got Windows 8 iso.
Installed from USB, The installer says my laptop key did not match media. what???
Ok, with a bit of googling found answer on Microsoft Technet. I need to manually say "Editions, Core" on ei.cfg inside sources fodler.

Nice, now installer works and did not ask any serial because it reading from BIOS.
OK, so far its fine now.

But when boot into windows, BOOM. Windows not activated. It tell me to buy new key :devilish:

how can i manually see the Key embeded inside the BIOS?
Maybe Windows detect the key wrongly?
or the ISO i use is not virgin (the uploader says its a virgin ISO, but i doubt it)..

or.. where i can get official Windows 8 ISO?

my google-fu has fail me.

THanks for any replies.
 
when you got the iso was it the exact same version (normal/pro/32/64 ect) ?

ps: ms made a huge mistake they offered a free media centre upgrade but it turned out it would also turn unregistered versions to registered
http://www.itproportal.com/2012/11/22/how-to-get-a-microsoft-windows-8-pro-upgrade-for-free/

edit: bugger seems the offer ended the end of january
but as you did buy a legitimate license I see no moral problem using a work around

ps: finding the product key in the bios
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...-when-it/d4c5c0c1-825d-47f2-9bed-d9625c7e68ff
 
Hi davros.
The version already correct.

Windows 8 64 bit. Universal ( i just set the editon to "Core" on ei.cfg).

The windows installer already works, skipping the Key screen. So i think the installer able to read the KEY inside laptop BIOS.

But for whatever reason, it wont activate after boot to windows. One weird thing is, looking at the activation failed screen, i can see the last few digit of the key "CYQG3" and that is a generic key that available on google :/

i suspect the ISO is not virgin, it has beed modded to include CYQG3 key.
or the windows installer is able to read the BIOS key but did not save it, windows just use the default key CYQG3.
 
If you purchased Windows 8 separately, you must have a serial key with you.

If you purchased a laptop with Windows 8, there should be a serial key within the package.. But if you don't have it, then you must call the retailer and ask where you can get the CD-Key.

Some laptop makers have specific Windows builds that you can only download directly through their website.


There's no way Microsoft is ever going to try and stop you from installing Windows 8 because you switched the hard drive..
 
When you use the ei.cfg trick you're bypassing the UFI key check. This is why you have to activate.

Whatever version the key in UFI is, you need *THAT* version. If you had the right version in the ISO you wouldn't need the ei.cfg trick.

So the question is, if you pull up the SKU for the laptop you purchased, what version is it?

I've been through this on 2 laptops and it can be overcome...just not easily.

Did you make recovery media or is the recovery partition on the old drive recoverable?

If you made recovery media, remember that most laptops cannot recover on a USB-3.0 port, they have to use USB-2.0.
 
ToTTenTranz said:
If you purchased a laptop with Windows 8, there should be a serial key within the package..
Click to expand...
not true

One of the improvements Microsoft is making to Activation 3.0 for newly built machines that come preloaded with Windows 8, you won’t have a COA (Certificate of Authenticity) sticker attached to the machine anymore. Instead, this will be embedded in the BIOS. This will avoid product keys from being compromised and OEMs will buy what they need.
Click to expand...
 
ToTTenTranz said:
If you purchased Windows 8 separately, you must have a serial key with you.

If you purchased a laptop with Windows 8, there should be a serial key within the package.. But if you don't have it, then you must call the retailer and ask where you can get the CD-Key.

Some laptop makers have specific Windows builds that you can only download directly through their website.


There's no way Microsoft is ever going to try and stop you from installing Windows 8 because you switched the hard drive..
Click to expand...

This. For OEM machines, they haven't really bothered to use the sticker's serial number for quite some years now. In order to reinstall Windows on that HDD you either need to use the recovery disk/USB key that you created through Windows 8, or you must contact the OEM to get the OEM specific version of the Win8 installer.

Each major OEM has their OEM specific key embedded in the BIOS and only their OEM specific version of the Windows installer will work.

This, of course, only applies to Windows that came with an OEM machine. If you installed a purchased copy of Win8 then none of that applies and you can use any Microsoft provided installer.

What Davros posted is just them finally ditching that sticker. The serial from those stickers hasn't been actually used on OEM machines for quite a few years (Including WinXP, Vista, Win7, etc.) now.

So, long story short. There is no key you can use that will allow you to install and activate from a standard Win8 ISO. You have to get the OEM specific install media, at which point you don't have to bother with a serial number, at all.

Regards,
SB
 
OK laptop comes with Windows 8 so under a year old presumably.
Reinstall via their recovery partition. If laptop HDD "broke" then that probably means the recovery partition is also non-existent. Save the hassle and go ring the OEM up - it needs to go back to the manufacturer for a warranty repair/service.
 
I got a win8 laptop this month. No windows key. The more I use it the more win8 pisses me off.
With win7 vs osx 10.7 I favor win7 75% vs 25%. But with win8 its dropped down 50/50 with 10.8 I assume the apple is has the advantage (first time this century)
I'm thinking of installing Linux but have heard its quite difficult. Something in the news recently with ppl during ms or something. R they exagerrating?
 
the chronology:

Laptop cant boot
ASUS Service center replace HDD
ASUS Service center cant recover the windows for 1 month and cant give estimation when will it finish.

i take back the laptop.
i confirmed the HDD has been fixed (dont know id they really replace it or not).
im stuck too cant recover the windows :D
 
orangpelupa said:
the chronology:

Laptop cant boot
ASUS Service center replace HDD
ASUS Service center cant recover the windows for 1 month and cant give estimation when will it finish.

i take back the laptop.
i confirmed the HDD has been fixed (dont know id they really replace it or not).
im stuck too cant recover the windows :D
Click to expand...

In win 8 the is recovery which never works and reset, which does work. Have you tried reset?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
zed said:
I'm thinking of installing Linux but have heard its quite difficult. Something in the news recently with ppl during ms or something. R they exagerrating?
Click to expand...

Installing and using linux is braindead easy, it's easier than windows because you have no need to deal with software licensing, antivirus, antispyware, needing to download winrar, pdf reader, video player etc.
BUT when something doesn't work (such as typically, the wireless card) it's a pain in the ass and you need to do some sysadmin work whereas on Windows you would download a driver and click setup.exe.

You need a fresh distro, for a fresh laptop. Linux Mint 14 should be very easy, and it has the most software in repositories (it's a variant of Ubuntu 12.10). Mint 13 for a long term support version (updates till april 2017)
 
yup. if you use linux "as-is", its very easy. But if want to customize things like installinlg new driver. its a bad experience. but if you connect to internet, Ubuntu should automatically look for apropriate driver on the internet.

btw case closed. Finaly able to activate the windows.

Will post the procedure tomorow. Hopefuly will help those other people having activation problem like me (found lots of them on gooogle with no astwer)
 
orangpelupa said:
the chronology:

Laptop cant boot
ASUS Service center replace HDD
ASUS Service center cant recover the windows for 1 month and cant give estimation when will it finish.

i take back the laptop.
i confirmed the HDD has been fixed (dont know id they really replace it or not).
im stuck too cant recover the windows :D
Click to expand...

Get a refund if you can. That is an unacceptable level of service.
 
I believe the major issue here is Asus. They are required to provide a means of installing windows 8 again. Either they provide a reinstall DVD/USB with the laptop, a program with the laptop to create recovery DVD's, or they have a partition on the hard drive allowing you to do a factory reset back to fresh install.

Likely in this situation it was the last option (or you didn't create recovery DVD's) and when they replaced the hard drive they failed to provide one with a fresh install or a recovery partition thus you were not able to install windows 8 on your laptop.

Asus was the failure here, nothing to do with MS.
 
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