So I forgot to deactivate my machines before formatting them a few months ago, and they have the $15 Windows 8 Upgrade keys. So wondering a few things: Can I simply download an 8.1 Pro ISO, and punch in one of those keys, or did MS shut them down? Can I use said keys on another machine (they seemed retail to me, but not sure) by using 8.1 Pro ISO and punching in said key? Also one more bonus question! I have 1 machine that went KMS 8.0>8.0 Windows 8 with Media Center (loophole, was an obsolete machine but I want to give it to a family member and put a real licence on it, such as one of my $15 upgrade keys). I never upgraded that 8.0 with Media Center to 8.1, as I was worried it would revert to Non-Genuine. I HAVE NOT formatted that machine yet. Is there anything I should backup if say, I wanted to reuse that licience (if its reusable)? Thanks.
Those Upgrade keys, although Retail, can be little buggers . The Pro and ProWMC keys are intended to be used after upgrading from 8 > 8.1 or the latter from Pro to ProWMC. A fresh install of Professional could be tricked to accept the Upgrade Offer keys by going into registry Code: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE and changing MediaBootInstall to 0. Lately here was a member that needed to install 8 and upgrade to 8.1 to get it done. Resume: You'll need to test the scenarios yourself. As long as the keys are installed at one machine at one time, chances are good. On new hardware it might need a phone call. Running myself ProfessionalWMC build here, using the key from Free WMC Offer back in 2012. Upgraded mainboard and CPU inbetween, what needed a phone call. AND BTW: Afaik there's no need to 'de-activate' OS so far.
Ah, thanks. So I'd install 8.1 with a generic Pro key, then modify the registry before running slui 3? And is that the same method for the WMC key (that I got for free lol since it came from KMS)?
If you download ISO with new MediaCreatorTool from MS, ISOs accept personal keys now. WMC is different thingy. Installing it directly needs correct activation tokens to be used.
Oh cool, so I can use MS's Media thingie, and does it let me punch in the key during Windows Setup, or do I have to do it before I download the ISO? Obviously thinking of installing with Retail key on a different system then the one I download the Media thing with. Sounds like the WMC keys are difficult, though. Guess that's the price of free lol. If I already activated it, however, can I update it to 8.1 and beyond?
Okay cool, and since it takes personal keys, it accepts those $15/$40 upgrade keys? Now for the $100 doller question - how do I clean install Win8 using a free WMC key ? What do I need to backup? Since it's 8.0, can I backup with Advanced Tokens Manager, format, install Win 8.0 (still have an 8.0 Pro ISO) then backup with that Activation? Or do I have to convert the ISO to a WMC Edition ISO first? *head explodes*