Windows 8 product key

[Baseballkid3497]

I ordered a copy of the windows 8 and it came today. When I went to install it on my new build everything went fine, but now that i'm trying to get everything situated i go to activate my windows and when I enter the product key it'll give me one of two messages
1.) This key didn't work. please check it and try it again. or try a different key.
or it says something among the lines of
2.) This product key was only meant for an upgrade and not a clean installation of windows.
my only concern is I bought this for my computer because it was meant to be a clean installation on my new build and i don't own another copy of windows. Do I need to uninstall it? Please let me know what you guys think, please and thank you!

 

[givmedew]

If you bought the upgrade version then you need to have an older version of windows installed. You could have gotten an oem version for fairly cheap but now you will need to buy an older version of windows. You could buy an oem version of windows xp for pretty inexpensive.

Not sure but you could probably install it just from installing a trial version of windows vista or 7 you can do a clean install you just delete the partition then hit next and you will have a clean install.

Good luck.

 

[Baseballkid3497]

Well I bought the student discount because I'm only a sophomore which may have been the upgrade

 

[givmedew]

Does your school offer an MSDN program? Like I said try installing the trial version of windows vista or windows 7. By trial that means just use a normal install disc and do not input a key.

 

[givmedew]

One other thing do you have a laptop or any other computers? You could put your drive in another computer and use the restoration discs to install an OS then put it back into the new computer and use your windows 8 disc. Like I said for a clean install just delete the partition and hit next. It will remember that you had an OS installed.

 

[m715]

If you bought the upgrade version then you need to have an older version of windows installed. You could have gotten an oem version for fairly cheap but now you will need to buy an older version of windows. You could buy an oem version of windows xp for pretty inexpensive.

Not sure but you could probably install it just from installing a trial version of windows vista or 7 you can do a clean install you just delete the partition then hit next and you will have a clean install.

Good luck.

I recently installed a student version of WIN 8 and the hdd had an unregistered version of WIN 7 Pro on it. Didn't really think about it at the time but had no problems installing so looks like your right...

 

[theELVISCERATOR]

Try a double install, over the top and see if it wont accept the key on 2nd go.

 

[givmedew]

I recently installed a student version of WIN 8 and the hdd had an unregistered version of WIN 7 Pro on it. Didn't really think about it at the time but had no problems installing so looks like your right...

Thought so, glad it worked out for you just keep the windows 7 install dvd around incase you need to do a clean install onto a different drive. If you don't have the dvd and need to install onto a new disk just ghost it and then do the re-initialization or whatever it is called in Windows 8 where you can reset the install.

 

[hafa]

This thread might help.

 

[m715]

This thread might help.

Thanks, good info there...
Post #4 is has a nice summary:
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7366750&postcount=4

...So in summary:

1) Retail box hides that it has upgrade media in it.
2) The same product is clearly labeled online as 'upgrade only'.
3) The OEM 'builders' software is clearly labelled as for builders who are reselling, NOT end users.
4) Microsoft Windows 8 licenses don't have an option for building your own, only 'upgrading from previous Windows' or 'was installed on my PC when I bought it'.
5) The Microsoft license specifically states that you will ONLY be able to upgrade with the retail copy of Windows 8, and that it will VOID the license to the older copy of Windows you are upgrading from.
6) Therefore, a valid copy of Windows 8 that I can buy and install and use on my own newly built machine does not seem to exist!

7) None of the above matters because Super Nade indicates by simply clicking 'Custom Install' one can bypass all discussion of upgrades and install Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro retail upgrade copies as if they were 'Full' versions.
8) God bless overclockers.com.

It took me a while to type up, but I hope it will help others who fall into the same conflicting information whirlpool that I did. I'll report back with how it goes tomorrow.

 

[Janus67]

This guide is for Windows 7, but it may work for Win8 (no idea, but worth a shot):

http://www.mydigitallife.info/clean...t-key-on-formatted-or-empty-blank-hard-drive/