I hate eight!

ComputerJoe

New Member
Messages
7
I have seen two computers, one a Acer, the one right now is an HP whose boot has been screwed. The owners failed to make a recovery disk. No matter what Fkey I press I can not get to the recovery partition. Well the HP I am currently working on did drop into the recovery partition once. I choose to completely replace the OS, back to factory, it started and I went home fully expecting to have a workable PC when I got back. Well I was wrong, nothing changed. I tried booting from a 8.1 disk I downloaded from Microsoft. The repair option there failed me as well so I dropped to a command prompt and ran some bootrec repair options so now I get a "no boot disk has been detected" message. This SUCKS! If I cannot boot any windows 8, 8.1, even 7 I cannot run the utility to get the product key from the EUFI CMOS.

I did read the system32/logfile/srt txt file after trying to repair it with the Microsoft 8.1 DVD. It had an error that I was using the wrong VERSION disk. How the hell do I know what VERSION I need?

I HATE 8!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows8/8.1
If you have the correct install media you don't need to know what the key is. All you need to know is, is it Core, Pro or Single Language. If the COA Sticker just says Windows 8 it's likely Core or Core Single Language. If it says Pro its Pro. My MSDN ISO's are multi edition, Core and Pro. On my laptop it reads out the OEM Core key and installs 8.1 automatically with no prompt for a key. If I use this media, Create installation media for Windows 8.1 - Windows Help and install 8.1 same deal no prompt for a key. If I install 8.1 Pro though I get asked to enter a key. Your OEM installs are likely not Pro so it's 8.1 or 8.1 SL. If you can't boot into the current install you will just have to guess and try one. If you get prompted for a key you guessed wrong. The Media creation tool media will read and use Windows 8.0 keys and Windows 8.1 keys, even OEM embedded keys.
 

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've made 8.1 disks from Ms iso's for 8.1N, 8.1single language, and 8.1. None of these work on the HP. I've read there are versions with Bing are different. How do you know what version you need the the thing won't boot? There are no Certificate of Authentic sticker on windows 8. The link tells you to go to system information to determine 32 or 64a bit and to info to find out your windows version which does no good if you can't boot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows8/8.1
I can't run the vb script from a dos prompt in repair mode booted from a disk I am not sure is the same flavor of windows as HP installed. But thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows8/8.1
My laptops have stickers on the bottom. They don't tell you much other than it's Windows 8 that's installed though. The "With Bing" version could be tricky to find. It's not listed on MSDN, not for me anyway. It sucks when you can't boot into Windows to do anything. Wish I had so other ideas but I don't at this time.
 

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
Well the Asus laptop or the HP Pavillion has nothing on the sticker identifying which widows version they have but both are low budget machines.

That last link is for windows 7 repair and does not help with this windows 8/uefi crap.
Thanks all
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows8/8.1
I can boot a win 8 DVD and browse the recovery and os partitions from a dos prompt. Seems there might be a file that would indicate which version of windows it has installed.

This all is horse crap! Why isn't there one disk for all versions of 8 and when you enter your product key in the appropriate one is installed.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows8/8.1
Well another hp all in one desktop windows 8.1 w/bing came across my bench.
This one could boot to windows. I burned two USB drives, one for me.
Anywho the all in one USB drive successfully installed windows on the pavilion desktop.
There seems no way to burn a DVD set like Microsoft's online ISO downloads.
The Asus will have to wait for another Asus to come by.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows8/8.1
I can boot a win 8 DVD and browse the recovery and os partitions from a dos prompt. Seems there might be a file that would indicate which version of windows it has installed.

This all is horse crap! Why isn't there one disk for all versions of 8 and when you enter your product key in the appropriate one is installed.

I have found 8 a ton easier as far as recovery and license keys.

I have used the MSDN disc which has both 8 and 8 pro and that has always worked for me.

With the new Microsoft download having an 8 standard and 8 pro should take care of nearly any machine.

Call HP or Acer and give them the serial number, they should be able to tell you what OS was on there.

I did find supporting articles saying 8.1 with Bing doesnt have media available from Microsoft. Save yourself from your OEM

I agree, way too many flavors. Make 1 media disc and it should work for everything. I have been fortunate to not encounter this 8.x with Bing yet.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
The new Microsoft download also has the Single Language version, that's another OEM version that can be hard to find. It's not listed on MSDN, not for me anyway. The media creation tool is a plus plus in my books. No key required to download and it will use OEM keys for install and activation, even OEM embedded keys and Windows 8.0 keys. Same deal with my MSDN ISO's. It gets a :thumb: from me.
 

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
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