win 8 product

Hi.

I recently bough a second hand pc with win 8.
Windows can not verify product key.
I am willing to buy one and update/upgrade to latest edition.
I searched windows website with no luck.
I need your help please. :cool

Thanks.

 

Microsoft no longer provides product keys on COA labels. The keys are coded into the BIOS itself, and RWeverything is the only program I know of which can retrieve the key from the BIOS. Is there a COA on the machine? If so, which OS is listed on the label?

If you ever choose to upgrade your machine to an SSD with Win8, there is a chance the cloned drive will not boot the machine due to CSM and UEFI issues. Windows 8 treats all SATA ROM drives and USB flash/ROM drives as Legacy devices. If you want to boot from a CD-ROM or a flash drive you need to enable CSM, disable Secure Boot, and make sure the BIOS is set to boot non UEFI, Legacy devices. There is a chance that Win8 may repair itself when you boot the cloned drive, but this does not always happen and the clone is a failure should it not.

The best way to upgrade the machine is a fresh install with media either purchased from a retailer, or recovery media provided by the PC manufacturer which you would have to order.

Many people choose to downgrade to Win7. Nice job Microsoft.

 

Almost forgot:

Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Operating-Systems/SubCategory/ID-368?Pagesize=100&Order=PRICE

TigerDirect:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat..._slc.asp?MfrId=566&Nav=|c:306|&Sort=4&Recs=10

 

Hi.

No dvd received.
It looks like a pirated software =

 

Hi.

I decided to purchase a license for win8, only activate recent one installed on my pc then upgrade to 8.1

I tried from Microsoft, It requests to d/l full software, I am afraid I am loosing my data. :cry

I need best way to do job.

Thanks.

 

Of course I am willing to pay. I hate to run pirated software.

I will find out their number in my country.

Thanks.

 

The majority of OEM buyers are not downgrading to Windows 7, either due to cost or lack of knowledge.

Those cases we do hear about on the Internet are from the minority that know more than the average consumer.

In the course of an average PC user's computing life, there will be almost no need to:

1. Boot to alternative media unless something breaks. Which in that case, they buy another or take it in for repair.
2. Downgrade their OS.
3. Replace their hard drive unless it breaks. See #1 for that.


So its an issue, sure, but only one of inconvenience for techs and power users, both of which know how to get around the issue.

The funny thing about this is that everyone praises Apple during this time, despite them having an even more restrictive UEFI setup. Boot to disk? No way. Downgrade? Its very painful. Run another OS? Without Apple's provided methods, you will be hacking the UEFI.

 

I can honestly say we do lose PC sales because of Windows 8. Consumers who are buying it in most cases do so because they have to, not because they want to. If we don't have a Win7 machine to suit, they go elsewhere to find someone who can provide a machine as such.

ViStart, or Classic Shell can save a sale, but a great many people who have been migrating from XP or Vista are not interested in 8, or a learning curve.

I have to say I deal with the general public, not statistics on paper.

 

Indeed, but nothing what I said mentioned any of that

People who don't want Windows 8 will either wait to buy, or give in. The downgrades are few and far between, especially since many machines do not include downgrade rights anymore. Those that do downgrade will let techs do it, which is why I said its only an annoyance for us.