This is my laptop: HP 250 G1 My laptop came with Windows 8 x64 OEM Pre-Installed. Key integrated inside BIOS. A while ago, I downgraded to Windows 7 x64 with a fresh install from USB key with UEFI disabled and using Legacy mode in BIOS settings. I did not make an image/recovery image before doing so. And I activated with Windows 7 Loader by Daz. (Did this override the Win8 pre-installed key in my BIOS?) Now I want to go back to Windows 8. I'm willing to do a clean install. The image I have for Win8 is "en_windows_8_x64_dvd_915440.iso". Do I just have to uninstall Windows 7 Loader by Daz (hoping this will revert the Win7 Loader by Daz key back to pre-installed one?), then mount the Win8 .iso on a USB key, enable UEFI in BIOS, and reinstall Win8, and it will use the OEM key inside the BIOS the laptop came with?
Installing Windows 7 does not change your bios. If you format the HD, you get rid all of Windows 7 and are free to install Windows 8 without any legacy interference. I would suggest getting a newer .iso than the MSDN initial issue to save you from having to install so many updates. You could get Murphy78's 20-in-1 .iso easily found on the internet. It has all of the updates up through February.
That thread doesn't answer my question. I reformatted my laptop in Legacy mode with Win7 and activated with Loader by Daz. Did this overwrite the Win8 key that was pre-installed in the BIOS? Thanks for the .iso suggestion. Even though I used Win7 Loader by Daz, the Win8 key that was in BIOS when I first got the laptop is still in tact? And if I reformat my laptop with "Murphy78's 20-in-1.iso", it will use the key in BIOS?
Okay, And so if I reformat with "Murphy78's 20-in-1.iso" in UEFI mode, it will use the pre-installed key inside the BIOS that came with the laptop, and will also remove Windows 7 from Legacy mode?
Does not answer my question. If I reformat with "en_windows_8_x64_dvd_915440.iso" in UEFI mode, will it use the pre-installed key inside the BIOS that came with the laptop, and will it also remove Windows 7 I installed in Legacy mode?
As far as I can tell, no Windows installation, whether it's an untouched ISO or a highly modded 20-in-1 one, will change your UEFI/Legacy settings. That is for you to do, if/when needed. I've only used the 20-in-1 with the pre-activated option, as my machine had no Win 8 keys (secure boot?). If you can get your system reliably backed up, you should try a few different installs and see what plays.
Yes, when you boot into the dvd, choose custom install instead of upgrade, then delete all your partitions, and choose the empty drive to install to. Your BIOS key should be inserted automatically, so don't worry about that. One thing to be aware of is you need to have your flash drive formatted as FAT32 in order to install in EFI mode.
Actually yes it did answer your question if you took the time to read it and learn what it was talking about. Maybe you should learn a bit about what you are doing before making major changes to your computer. And you should thank the other folks on here who all gave you good answers even if you couldn't understand what they were talking about.
Agreed, but if you read the whole thread posts you'll notice he wants straight answers, he doesn't want to learn reading and conceptualizing before further actions are taken. He needs to learn the hard way, sometimes people/we need that...