No Media Center after 8.1 update

philnolan3d

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Location
Phillyk, PA
I got Win Media Center free when they were offering it with 8, then kept it through 8.1 Preview. Now that I'm on full 8.1 my Media Center is gone. I tried to add it again with Add Features but it said my product key is no good. I do see the original email says it has to be activated before jan 2013 so that may be why the key no longer works. There is an option to buy it again for $10, do I have to do that for 8.1?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Core 2 Quad 2.4GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce GTX 470
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Win8 Pro x64, Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz, , 8GB RAM
    PSU
    Antec
    Cooling
    4 80mm fans
If you previously used it, it should have already been activated at least once? When I upgraded to the preview though the store I kept my Media Center. I ended up with 8.1 Pro + MC. I am also able to add MC after a clean install of 8.1 Pro. My keys are the limited time offer free keys. It sounds like you updated from the Preview to the Final. That originally wasn't going to be an option and Microsoft wanted anybody running the preview to reinstall clean to get the final. They latter relented after complaints. It sounds like the transition was as smooth as it should be and you hit a hitch in that process. I think your Media Center key is still good its just that your current install won't accept it for some reason. I bet if you reinstalled 8.0 or 8.1 it would be usable again. The only other thing I can think of is maybe you miss read it or miss typed it. An 8 can look like a B etc depending on the font used and the lighting conditions when your reading it.

EDIT: For what its worth I've used one of my Media Center keys after the use before date and it worked fine and activated no problem.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
I know I didn't mistype it since I just copy/pasted it from the email they sent. If I have to pay for it again I probably wouldn't bother since I didn't really use it much. I figured the DVD support might be useful though in the event that I was watching a tutorial on DVD or some disc had videos on it that needed the DVD playback to be available or something.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Core 2 Quad 2.4GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce GTX 470
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Win8 Pro x64, Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz, , 8GB RAM
    PSU
    Antec
    Cooling
    4 80mm fans
I think its gust a glitch from going from the preview to the final. I'd hang on to the MC key it may still be good.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
you could download VLC player .it does it all and is very good at doing so and its free open source software .its what I use since my WMC key also fugged on me to
VLC media player,

VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVD, Audio CD, VCD, and various streaming protocols.


VideoLAN - Official page for VLC media player, the Open Source video framework!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1.1 enterprise
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hinze57
    CPU
    AMD FX 6100 6core 3.30gHz
    Motherboard
    gigibyte ga-78lmy-s2p
    Memory
    4gig ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radon hd5000 Series
    Sound Card
    onboard realtek hd
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" viewsonic/ 22"Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    128gig ssd Kingston
    80gig WD 10000 rpm spinner
    Case
    micro
    Keyboard
    microsoft curve 200
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless M215
    Internet Speed
    high speed 20
    Browser
    ie 11
    Antivirus
    windows defender
    Other Info
    updated enterprise apr 2/14
Hi PhilNolan3d,

You could try it again and when it stops and says the key is no good, reboot your computer. I think it's a bug with Media Centre. It should install upon reboot. I had the same problem and that fixed it for me! Good luck.

Snarks:cool:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Centre RTM
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    Intel i7-4770 Quad Core
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GeForce GTX 660
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster Recon 3D
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell Generic
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    256 GB SSD Boot drive with 3 TB Data drive
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbit
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Norton 360
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