When I bought my Dell M4800, it came with Win8 installed with downgrade rights to Win7. When I talked to the support rep to request my Win7 DVDs I asked him where the product keys were. He said the keys for both Win7 and Win8 are burned into the BIOS and can only be read by the Windows installer.
Thanks Webster From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of J- P Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2014 7:53 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [NTSysADM] OEM Windows 8 COA?-Embedded in the Bios I got curious myself, so here is the response http://askshyam.com/windows-8-oem-and-coa/ Microsoft performed a good job in redesigning the OEM activation process with what they called OA 3.0 Ie Microsoft writes a unique cd-key in to BIOS of every PC in an encrypted format that can not be read by a normal user when he opens the BIOS screen ________________________________ From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: [NTSysADM] OEM Windows 8 COA? Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2014 01:42:28 +0000 You are referring to clone the drive that is going to be replaced? I suppose that could work if I'm working with the same model laptop. But besides a workaround, is there a proper way to do this? Are the clients SOL? Sounds like it to me. From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of J- P Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2014 5:36 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: [NTSysADM] OEM Windows 8 COA? Clone/Image Also gives you the added benefit of not having to reinstall apps/data/settings. etc... ________________________________ From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: [NTSysADM] OEM Windows 8 COA? Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2014 01:28:17 +0000 Ok fine. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but it still doesn't help me in this case with a W8 PC. I was able to contact the manufacturer to get what I need for the issue today but let's say 2 years down the road when more W8 HDD need to be replaced, how do we address the issue? From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of J- P Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2014 5:13 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: [NTSysADM] OEM Windows 8 COA? I stand corrected; http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder-faq/ Q: Can I retrieve the product key from a non-booting Windows installation? As long as both Windows versions are 2000, XP, 2003, or Vista, you can use the Load Hive function. You will have to slave the drive and point the Keyfinder to the non-booting Windows directory. ________________________________ From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: [NTSysADM] OEM Windows 8 COA? Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2014 20:10:55 -0500 I'm not sure what you have been doing, but I have been using since xp and it always found the keys for me, including ofice keys- and I'm pretty sure in 15 years, I have run across both VL, & OEM- matter of i will try it on an OEM thinkpad I have in a few minutes As for a non-booting pc, that indeed will not help (white-space removed :) grin ________________________________ From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: [NTSysADM] OEM Windows 8 COA? Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2014 00:36:52 +0000 Two issues with that: 1. What if they bring you the computer and it doesn't power up anymore. Can't run jelly bean. 2. I've tried this in the past with xp and 7. They key it finds is a key that never works for me. Its like a volume key the manufacturer uses. I've tried OEM, Retail, VL...none work. Please correct me if I did something incorrectly. From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of J- P Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2014 3:12 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: [NTSysADM] OEM Windows 8 COA? http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/ Jean-Paul Natola ________________________________ From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: [NTSysADM] OEM Windows 8 COA? Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2014 23:06:10 +0000 I believe this has been discussed before but I can't find it in my archives. Since laptops don't come with a W8 COA, what happens when we have to reinstall Windows on it? Where do we get the OEM serial numbers from? Lets pretend the computer is out of warranty and the manufacture won't send us install media and a key.
