hi im interested in creating a wmc edition install.wim... I did that all good, im confused about activation tho. im done hacking windows and want metro as my htpc front end. so I plan on buying the full pro 8.1 version and getting the wmc upgrade all legit. I was reading a thread earlier where some guy was asking the same question and there was too much confusion going back and fourth. if I install a custom wmc edition will i be able to install/activate with my purchased pro key? then what about the wmc upgrade key?
NO. To be able to activate your version of WMC (or any for that matter of fact), you should already have the legit RETAIL activation tokens generated for the same PC. Without this, you will not be able to execute any slmgr.vbs -ipk commands even if your WMC is a legit one. Baseline: You should already have a fully legit activated RETAIL copy of Windows Pro to be able to use your WMC key. After that, you can use these tokens to create your custom WMC and then use your key to activate.
thx for the answers. guess ill just do it the normal way, manually lol... ill save my tokens but with all the fancy upgrade and refresh options I doubt id ever need another clean install for a htpc. thx again