Reinstalling Windows 8.1 with built-in product key...

[liviococcia]

Haven't finished reading your post, but I just wanted to mention that "OEM" doesn't mean it's not "Professional."

You can have: [Home/Professional] + [OEM/RETAIL]

Thanks Ichinisan, no I have checked in system properties it is only Windows 8.1 , and anything to do with setting up on the domain network is greyed out.

Also mrjminer, thanks for you post, so are you saying, because these Lenovo PC's have a Windows 8.1 OEM version on them already, that in order for me to get them now up to Windows 8.1 professional using the MVLC license key , I would first need to now back install a version of Windows 8 using the MVLC licence key , then update the PC's to Windows 8.1 professional.

Or are you saying, that because the MVLC .ISO download has the VLC already written into the download it should accept the install of this download version, and ignore the original OEM license embedded in Lenovo's original OEM install.

Also for added information to members help, I can also confirm that in the lower right corner of the Lenovo desktop, it does shows 'Windows 8.1 bing, build 9600'


So any further help would be really great to sort this mess out, and if creating an ei.cfg file can help to do this, what would the specific commands be?

Thanks again

 

[Ichinisan]

help to sort out Windows 8.1 pro would be grateful

You are using an OEM version of Professional right?

In that case, edit your Windows 8.1 install media to bypass entering the key until you're in Windows itself. Windows will accept your key, the installer will not.

Go to the "Sources" directory and edit/add a file named ei.cfg

This is what you'll want in it:

[EditionID]
Professional
[Channel]
OEM
[VL]
0

EDIT: If it's not Professional, try this instead:

[EditionID]
Core
[Channel]
OEM
[VL]
0

Hello continuity28

I have a real issue, so I hope you can help me please.

I work for a charity in the UK and we won a grant for 7 lenovo desktop PC's, these PC's have Windows 8.1and when I look at the product I'd, the ID states it's an OEM version.

As we have an existing Domain network, we know we needed the Windows 8.1 'professional ' version on these new PC's , to be able to hook up to the network and give us the full network access and with all the functions associated with that.

So, what we then did is purchase 7 Windows 8.1 professional licenses through the Microsoft Volume Licensing Centre under the Charity Donated licenses scheme.

I find that if i go to 'Windows Add-ons' and try to enter the license key to unlock the Pro features, the Volume License key is not accepted, I have been told that only an install from the VLC Windows 8.1 Pro download version will accept this licence key, the trouble is these new computers have the embedded OEM Licence key for Windows 8.1.

So after reading what you had posted I thought could doing what you suggest work to get over my problem that I'm having, but I'm unsure as to how my ei.cfg file should be written for my situation.

If possible I would be greatful for you help, and whether you think this would work, and if not, do you have any other possible solution, or work around to get Windows 8.1 pro into these PC's licensed and activated fully.

Kind regards
Livio

Brought your post to page 2 for better visibility. I hope Continuity28 sees it.

 

[mrjminer]

Thanks Ichinisan, no I have checked in system properties it is only Windows 8.1 , and anything to do with setting up on the domain network is greyed out.

Also mrjminer, thanks for you post, so are you saying, because these Lenovo PC's have a Windows 8.1 OEM version on them already, that in order for me to get them now up to Windows 8.1 professional using the MVLC license key , I would first need to now back install a version of Windows 8 using the MVLC licence key , then update the PC's to Windows 8.1 professional.

Or are you saying, that because the MVLC .ISO download has the VLC already written into the download it should accept the install of this download version, and ignore the original OEM license embedded in Lenovo's original OEM install.

Also for added information to members help, I can also confirm that in the lower right corner of the Lenovo desktop, it does shows 'Windows 8.1 bing, build 9600'


So any further help would be really great to sort this mess out, and if creating an ei.cfg file can help to do this, what would the specific commands be?

Thanks again

Almost. The exact OEM version that the key is for must be used for the installation and must be the recognized version by Windows when you activate (ie: when you go to System in Control Panel, it has to show you are using the version that corresponds to your key).

If your OEM key is for Windows 8, you have to use a Windows 8 disk (ie: not an 8 Pro disk, 8.1 disk, or 8.1 Pro disk) to perform the installation, and then activate Windows before installing the 8.1 update or the pro pack.

If your OEM key is for Windows 8 Pro, you have to use a Windows 8 Pro disk to perform the installation, and then activate before installing the 8.1 update.

If your OEM key is for Windows 8.1, you must use a Windows 8.1 install disk, and activate prior to installing Pro.

If your OEM key is for Windows 8.1 Pro, you must use a Windows 8.1 Pro disk.


That is the only way I have found to consistently pull they key automatically and activate successfully. There may be some hacks or config files you could change to get it to work another way, but I haven't looked into that.

 

[liviococcia]

Almost. The exact OEM version that the key is for must be used for the installation and must be the recognized version by Windows when you activate (ie: when you go to System in Control Panel, it has to show you are using the version that corresponds to your key).

If your OEM key is for Windows 8, you have to use a Windows 8 disk (ie: not an 8 Pro disk, 8.1 disk, or 8.1 Pro disk) to perform the installation, and then activate Windows before installing the 8.1 update or the pro pack.

If your OEM key is for Windows 8 Pro, you have to use a Windows 8 Pro disk to perform the installation, and then activate before installing the 8.1 update.

If your OEM key is for Windows 8.1, you must use a Windows 8.1 install disk, and activate prior to installing Pro.

If your OEM key is for Windows 8.1 Pro, you must use a Windows 8.1 Pro disk.


That is the only way I have found to consistently pull they key automatically and activate successfully. There may be some hacks or config files you could change to get it to work another way, but I haven't looked into that.

Thanks mrjminer for all the help, and I must apologise for my inability to follow your direction.

The 7 Lenovo PC's have pre-installed onto them Windows 8.1, when I look at the system properties it shows there current Product ID is OEM. They only come with a Lenovo hardware drivers CD

Being a charity we've purchased 7 Windows 8.1 pro licences from the Microsoft volume license center, and want to install or upgrade the PC's to the Pro version for use on our network.

So, bear in mind Lonovo hasn't included a Windows 8.1 recovery disk, and there is no OEM sticker attached to the PC's themselves.

Are you saying that I need to first install the original Lonovo OEM version of Windows 8.1 again (which we don't have a installation disk for, and that isn't the Pro version), before I can install my volume license version of Windows 8.1 pro.

Can I just add, that when I go to my account on the Microsoft volume license center , I notice that when the charity purchased the 7 Windows 8.1 Pro licenses, there are also other versions of Windows 8 Pro, see below

Windows 8 Pro, Windows Pro K, Windows Pro KN, Windows 8 Pro Language Pack, Windows 8 Pro N, then there's Windows 8.1Pro, Windows 8.1 Pro Language Pack.

Also, I notice under system properties there's a link that says 'change product key' , could this function be used to bring the existing Lenovo OEM installed version, up to a compatible version that would then accept our 8.1 Pro Volume license center version.

Thanks for the all help again

 

[Underclocked]

XHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKB generic install key for 8.1 pro.

Try admin command prompt and enter "slmgr.vbs -ipk YOUR KEY" without quotation marks. after installing.

 

[mrjminer]

Thanks mrjminer for all the help, and I must apologise for my inability to follow your direction.

The 7 Lenovo PC's have pre-installed onto them Windows 8.1, when I look at the system properties it shows there current Product ID is OEM. They only come with a Lenovo hardware drivers CD

Being a charity we've purchased 7 Windows 8.1 pro licences from the Microsoft volume license center, and want to install or upgrade the PC's to the Pro version for use on our network.

So, bear in mind Lonovo hasn't included a Windows 8.1 recovery disk, and there is no OEM sticker attached to the PC's themselves.

Are you saying that I need to first install the original Lonovo OEM version of Windows 8.1 again (which we don't have a installation disk for, and that isn't the Pro version), before I can install my volume license version of Windows 8.1 pro.

Can I just add, that when I go to my account on the Microsoft volume license center , I notice that when the charity purchased the 7 Windows 8.1 Pro licenses, there are also other versions of Windows 8 Pro, see below

Windows 8 Pro, Windows Pro K, Windows Pro KN, Windows 8 Pro Language Pack, Windows 8 Pro N, then there's Windows 8.1Pro, Windows 8.1 Pro Language Pack.

Also, I notice under system properties there's a link that says 'change product key' , could this function be used to bring the existing Lenovo OEM installed version, up to a compatible version that would then accept our 8.1 Pro Volume license center version.

Thanks for the all help again

I am not 100% sure for your exact requirements. I don't know if you can do an upgrade from an 8.1 retail using a full 8.1 Pro (ie: not just an 8.1 Pro upgrade license -- which are different than the full 8.1 Pro licenses; it sounds like your licenses are for full 8.1 Pro). You may have to do a fresh install using 8.1 Pro disks from the start, in which case the installer will require you to enter your key, and your VLK should work. You would need the 8.1 Pro version, not the Pro N or Pro KN, since your license is not for those.

That is my best guess if your VLK doesn't allow you to do an upgrade from vanilla 8.1 to 8.1 Pro. Beyond this, someone else will have to chime in, or you'll have to contact MS.

 

[P Mac]

I come to this thread in the hope that an old dog can learn new tricks:

Last week I offered an internal customer to update their Dell Venue tablet to Windows 10 from 8.1 pro x64 (to take advantage of the 'free' upgrade)

I downloaded W10 from Dell Support Web and they suggested its flavour. It went well until the next day; cold reboot and Windows 10 failed to grab the key from eufi: no activation. Phoned Microsoft to try and manually activate it - you've guessed it, no key to hand so got politely told where to go here. Phoned Dell and they got £40 ish out of me as they sent me a pen drive of the OEM W8.1 pro x64 that was supposed to automatically activate as the key is now embedded in the motherboard or something like that. Even though I have since learned from 3rd party software what my product code is, my product code it is now blocked.

How do I go about unblocking this?
What initially caused it?
Is changing the txt file in the OEM pen drive to VL a workaround?

 

[Ichinisan]

I come to this thread in the hope that an old dog can learn new tricks:

Last week I offered an internal customer to update their Dell Venue tablet to Windows 10 from 8.1 pro x64 (to take advantage of the 'free' upgrade)

I downloaded W10 from Dell Support Web and they suggested its flavour. It went well until the next day; cold reboot and Windows 10 failed to grab the key from eufi: no activation. Phoned Microsoft to try and manually activate it - you've guessed it, no key to hand so got politely told where to go here. Phoned Dell and they got £40 ish out of me as they sent me a pen drive of the OEM W8.1 pro x64 that was supposed to automatically activate as the key is now embedded in the motherboard or something like that. Even though I have since learned from 3rd party software what my product code is, my product code it is now blocked.

How do I go about unblocking this?
What initially caused it?
Is changing the txt file in the OEM pen drive to VL a workaround?

You can uninstall Windows 10 if you do it soon enough. Does the computer still have C:\Windows.old on the HDD?

 

[P Mac]

yes it did and yes I tried, used Windows 10 refresh and advanced features, tried into disk management but was blocked; used bcd edit or whatever that 3rd party app is called, other logical partitions denied.
Be it right or wrong I'm now in possession of the OEM pen drive. To me, it's as if putting w10 on the tablet invalidated my license key for 8.1 itself.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Pretty much every HP business system that we sell has come with the recovery media. Mainly a HP branded OS cd and a drivers cd. And on machines that come with 8 Pro that are downgraded to 7 also come with both 7 and 8 os cds.

Interesting. I bought a Lenovo laptop, that is listed on the box as "Windows 8.1 Pro", but comes pre-installed with Windows 7 Pro (via downgrade rights). It included four discs, but they were all labeled Windows 8.1, and none were labeled Windows 7. And the installed Windows 7 Pro OS, lacks any kind of recovery disc creator.

 

[lupi]

I recently had an issue of trying to install Win 8 using the bios key on a new HD. Found a link to a win 8/8.1 installer at MS that worked (and installed win 8.1 even though the laptop was an 8.0 key) after the initiall installer I found myself form MS didn't work. Also had to make sure I had a couple bios settings changed to allow the install to recognize/access the key.

Was simple when it worked, took a couple hours troubleshooting to get to that point.