Cant Activate Windows 8

i bought windows 8 disc used ,i put it on computer, it asked for the 25 letters and it all loaded, then later it asked for them again to activate ,but it didnt work

either the box had wrong key or could it be windows 8 just cant be activated in 2023?

eventually would computer lock up?

win 8 is so damnable why did i bother

 

I suspect it has been "re-registered" too many times. I have an old Win 8 disk somewhere that has been "re-registered" at least twice previously. Might try it in a VM. Will let you know.

 

Interesting that Windows 8 is not showing here.
https://prod.support.services.micro...-numbers-35f6a805-1259-88b4-f5e9-b52cccef91a0
Have you tried activating by phone?
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...-numbers-c0389ade-5640-e588-8b0e-28de8afeb3f2

 

I just set up a Win 8.1 VM in Hyper-V - incredibly quick and simple btw! - and activated it online using a pre-used key. No issues. I didn't use a disk, just downloaded an iso from MS. You could try that using the key you have rather than the disk.

 

The likely reason activation failed was because activation is done from within Windows but you a almost certainly had not set up your network connection in Win 8 beforehand. As the key worked first time the key itself is good.

 

Earthling, long time no see!

OK, not to be a dick or anything, but why did you purchase a W8 disc? OEM machines are supplied with a license key. W8 has been technically abandonware for a while.

Make, model, OS(!) and service tag if applicable.