Windows 8.0 OEM reload from DVD

[goombawaho]

So given the following, how do I reload Windows 8.0 OEM version without having/buying discs from the OEM manufacturer?
1. Windows 8.0 OEM license upgraded to 8.1 along the way via free update
2. Hard drive dies OR I want to just load Windows from the DVD to avoid bundled bloatware
3. The license in the BIOS is coded for Windows 8 (NOT 8.1) so I can't use a Windows 8.1 DVD that I could easily get from Microsoft right here Link
4. You can't download a Windows 8.0 DVD image for free from Microsoft.

I'm assuming number 3 is true from what I've read.


"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[edfair]

I think your free migration path from 8 to 8.1 has ended. Seem to recall that several months ago. Forced me to install my one copy of 8 and get it updated before time ran out.

So now the question, why buy 8? Better to go directly to 8.1 even though it will cost.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[strongm]

>You can't download a Windows 8.0 DVD image for free from Microsoft.

Pretty sure that you can:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only

There are certain restrictions

1) You need a valid product key. I believe it needs to be a retail key, as I recall that Microsoft never allowed you to download using an OEM key
2) This is technically an upgrade process, so you need to initially run it on a machine with an OS that is eligible for upgrading
3) The process creates an ISO image appropriate to the OS being 'upgraded' (i.e. the machine we initially run on), that is to say whether it creates an ISO for 32bit or 64bit Windows 8

Select Windows 8. Download the installer, run it. Plug in your product key, wait a while whilst about 3Gb of data downloads, and then you will get a dialog asking whether you want to install now, install from media, or install from desktop. Choose install from media, and you will be asked whether you want to create a USB image or an ISO. Sorted (possibly ...)

 

[goombawaho]

I'm not talking retail, I'm talking bundled with a new computer OEM - there is no longer COA on Windows 8 machines.
So - out of luck, right?

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[rclarke250]

You would contact the OEM for install media. For Lenovo you would go here.

 

[goombawaho]

Doesn't solve the problem of getting a clean install free of embedded bloatware that comes with the OEM media - correct?
Will the OEM machine take a retail DVD?

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Sympology]

The OEM machine will take a retail DVD, but your license key will not activate the install. You need a Retail license.

See if PC decrapifer list your model and run that post install.

As for 8 to 8.1, I'm sure you can still do it.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-8/update-from-windows-8-tutorial

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-8/why-can-t-find-update-store

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

http://alvechurchlounge.org.uk

 

[strongm]

Sure; appreciate that you are talking OEM. I'm just suggesting that you temporarily use a retail product key (if you have one available) to allow the initial download (not for the actual install). Without one, yes, out of luck. In which case, as rclarke250 says, your next port of call is the OEM (or using the recovery options in Windows 8 control panel to create a bootable recovery USB< which may be all you need)

Just to clarify (as I'm sure you are aware, but others reading this thread now or later may not be) - Microsoft have never allowed OEM ISOs of Windows 8 to be downloaded from their sites. One of the reasons that Microsoft OEM software is cheaper than retail is that the OEM undertakes to provide all support for the software.