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Clean install of Win 8.1 with pro upgrade key 1

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1DMF

1DMF

Programmer
Jan 18, 2005
8,795
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Like usual MS is driving me nuts with their licencing.

We bought a laptop with Windows 8 Basic on it, we paid our IT company to upgrade it to Win 8 Pro.

I need to clean the laptop and do a fresh install for a new user and the Licence key they have given me refuses to work with an 8.1 Pro install saying it can only be used to add features to Windows.

We have paid twice for this junk Win 8 OS and now it won't let me re-install it.

How do I resolve this?

I'm close to just torrenting a crack because I am sick to the back teeth of being ripped off by MS and their 'shaft the customer' licence keys.

If someone can explain what I need to change on the USB UEFI install I created, it really would be appreciated because using the PID.txt file mechanism isn't working.

Thanks,
1DMF.

"In complete darkness we are all the same, it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"
Free Electronic Dance Music
 
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Can you return to Windows 8 (your original version) and then use the Add Features to accept the new Product Key to get back to Windows 8 PRO, and then upgrade 8 to 8.1?


How to Install Windows 8.1 – Instructions with Screenshots


How to perform a clean installation of Windows


Windows 8 Upgrade: clean install possible?


How To Clean Install Windows 8 Pro Upgrade
Start a Clean Install Using an Upgrade Licensed Copy of Windows 8 Pro




How To Clean Install Windows 8 or 8.1 (Part 1 of 2)




Most new machines come with a recovery partition allowing you to go back to the time of purchase, you will have to check your user guides (or the manufacturer's Web Site) for instructions. Choosing that path requires you to save all valuable data first. Unfortunately upgrading to Windows 8.1 may lose such Recovery Partition.


Windows 8.1 Update Leaves OEM Owners With Broken Restore Function


Warning! If You Upgrade to Windows 8.1 Through Windows Store, You May Loose The Ability to Refresh and Reset


Update to Windows 8.1: FAQ




Create installation media for Windows 8.1
 
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Nope I have just found after doing a factory reset on the darn thing, that the upgrade to pro won't work because the key is for 8.1 and the factory default is 8.

I also currently can't install 8.1 because it says I have to run windows updates first.

this is a total joke, and the last time I buy MS software!

"In complete darkness we are all the same, it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"
Free Electronic Dance Music
 
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Yep, Win 8 won't let you upgrade to 8.1 unless it's fully patched. The good news is that if you do this then install the 8.1 upgrade you should be able to upgrade that to Pro with the licence key you have. The bad news is that this is time-consuming :(

Nelviticus
 
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The bad news is that this is time-consuming :(
Click to expand...

Exactly, it's a total and utter disgrace, I have a licence to run Win 8.1 Pro, that is what I should be able to install.

Makes we want to invoice MS for my wasted time, if I thought I'd get anywhere with it.

Hence from a personal home use, I will no longer purchase MS software, I will get my compensation though other means.

OK, doesn't help my work situation, other than to give me a warm feeling inside!

Software companies seem to have lost the plot of late and think it acceptable to treat paying customers in this diabolical manner.

UBISoft and Assassins Creed - Unity, another case in point, 4 patches later and still the game is unplayable, with every one waiting for patch 5 , with baited breath that it will even fix all the issues.

Yet NVidia keep wanting to optimise my Assassin's Creed via GeForce Experience to every possible setting on 'low' (which I have already tried and still it is unplayable) and 'low', are they having a giraffe, my SLI 760's out perform a single GTX980!. It wasn't cheap for the missus to buy me this game for Christmas, and I won't be asking for another one this Christmas!

I sent my GTX970 GFX cards back for a refund for unacceptable noise, didn't cash in my free game tokens, and won't be buying a UBISoft game again, I have now acquired Far Cry 4, which I am running beautifully on max settings with my SLI GTX760's.

I'm fed up of paying good money for bad software! UBISoft lost 8% on their shares because of this debacle and I hope MS do they same!

They even seem to be dangling a carrot in front of current Win 7 / 8 users offering a free upgrade to Win 10 if done within the first year of launch.

Right, so it's free is we all beta test it and then I bet it will be just as impossible to perform a fresh install when you replace your hard drive!

-----------

OK rant over, back to the mind numbingly boring job of finishing this laptop re-install, on update 114 of 133, then I might be able to install 8.1, then it's upgrade to pro, then it's the office install, so there goes any productive output this Friday!



"In complete darkness we are all the same, it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"
Free Electronic Dance Music
 
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In light of this discussion, maybe someone can explain why Microsoft made a distinction between 8.0 and 8.1 key codes. If they hadn't done that, these reload scenarios would have been much less painful, i.e. install 8.1 directly on a computer that originally came with 8.0 tied to the bios.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.
 
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Who knows, but it also links to why they have skipped Win9 and gone straight to 10 or X which ever it is!

For some bizarre reason MS think that if they skip a version number it will confuse people and negate the (good version / bad version / good version / bad version ...) well known cycle they go through.

7 = good, 8 = bad, 8.1 = good, 9 = bad , 10 = good.

Though who in their right mind considers 8.1 as a version anyway, it was a service pack as far as I'm concerned.

As we are only ever going to have SP1 for Win 7 and it seems zero for Win 8 (if you call 8.1 a version), I think they are now releasing service packs as windows versions!

Bah Humbug!

"In complete darkness we are all the same, it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"
Free Electronic Dance Music
 
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Your analysis is confusing and maybe not 100% correct (depending on how you "count" versions) but it captures my angst. I would have classified 8/8.1 as a single entity and called it bad. That would mean that 9 would have been GOOD! So then, no need to skip to 10, which to me is lunacy.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.
 
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There's actually a very strong technical reason to not use the name Windows 9 - Link

If some Java JDKs would recognise Windows 9 as some 95/98/Me edition, this would be bad.

For the same reason they shouldn't name it Windows X because of XP.

Hope this helps.

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I know this is rambling way off topic but I recently bought a new laptop and it came with Windows 8. I hated it. A totally infuriating OS for anyone who doesn't have a touch-screen tablet.

However, after updating it to 8.1 I actually rather like it, to the point where if Win 8/8.1 was a free upgrade I think I'd switch my Win 7 machines over to it.

Nelviticus
 
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to the point where if Win 8/8.1 was a free upgrade I think I'd switch my Win 7 machines over to it.
Click to expand...
You can when Windows 10 arrives, it's a free upgrade for all Win 7/8 users!



"In complete darkness we are all the same, it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us, don't let your eyes deceive you."

"If a shortcut was meant to be easy, it wouldn't be a shortcut, it would be the way!"
Free Electronic Dance Music
 
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You can when Windows 10 arrives, it's a free upgrade for all Win 7/8 users!
Click to expand...
I read about this recently and it troubles me. I really don't like the idea of "software as a service" in general. I want a CD/DVD in my hot little hands and a key code that I can use to reinstall my product whenever I want. Activating Office 2013 is very annoying because they force you to login to a Microsoft account and likely it will be similar with Windows 10.

If some Java JDKs would recognise Windows 9 as some 95/98/Me edition, this would be bad.
Click to expand...
That's pretty lame - being held hostage by something like that.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.
 
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> won't be buying a UBISoft game again, I have now acquired Far Cry 4

erm .. Far Cry 4 is an UbiSoft game.
 
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