Solved Upgrade not accepted

Trying to get a friends W8 installed. After having 8 installed since release and now having intrusion ware problems he decided to re-install. It's a long story but we wound up with a formatted disk then installing 8. All went OK except he didn't get logged on to Microsoft (password problem). We attempted the updates and about an hour later was told updates failed, reverting to pre-updates. This was a blue screen that took another couple of hours. It then said that this was an upgrade and doesn't qualify for install. I am not at my friends computer now; only trying to figure out how to help him. The wording I'm sure isn't verbatim, but I'm sure you get the idea. How does W8 know it is legitimate when the previous OS is removed? You used to be able to stick a previous version in the CD drive for authentication.
Edit: This just came from my friend: "As soon as you left, an activation screen came on.
Entering product key number, brought on a failure message, The product key can only be used for upgrading and not a full install.
So ?"

See this tutorial. Follow the steps carefully and make sure you read the EULA:

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/13375-clean-install-windows-8-upgrade.html

my2cents said:

See this tutorial. Follow the steps carefully and make sure you read the EULA:

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/13375-clean-install-windows-8-upgrade.html

Click to expand...

I just found out he gave his Windows 7 away. Could that be the problem?, me thinks it is. We did follow the instructions in the link.

Edit: Also just found out he has an old XP full, so should be able to upgrade from that.

Although having win 7 installed would be the proper way to upgrade, that tutorial, if followed correctly, should enable one to install the Win 8 upgrade to a "blank" hard drive. Moreover, that procedure has been thoroughly tested, so if it is not working for you, I don't know what else to suggest. Read it again and see if you missed anything. Good luck.

Edit: Also just found out he has an old XP full, so should be able to upgrade from that.

Click to expand...

Must be at XP SP3 (or later) for the upgrade to work.

AllanP said:

my2cents said:

See this tutorial. Follow the steps carefully and make sure you read the EULA:

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/13375-clean-install-windows-8-upgrade.html

Click to expand...

I just found out he gave his Windows 7 away. Could that be the problem?, me thinks it is. We did follow the instructions in the link.

Edit: Also just found out he has an old XP full, so should be able to upgrade from that.

Click to expand...

Welcome to EF.

Yes, I think that would be a problem if someone loaded his old 7 on another machine. The server wants to see his 7 for upgrading, especially if he has a MS account.

Also, you may want to check the EULA to see if it's OK to give away and load 7 on a different machine. It may be in violation.

mytwocents will get you through your install. Good luck in your endeavor.

@Hippsiegypsie

Thanks for picking up that possible Win 7 EULA violation. I was concentrating on his opening statement:

After having 8 installed since release and now having intrusion ware problems he decided to re-install.

Click to expand...

I made a further assumption that the OP was trying to use a valid Win 8 upgrade disc because of this statement:

The product key can only be used for upgrading and not a full install.

Click to expand...

Based on the above, I pointed him to the tutorial; however, I ignored the Win 7 comment because it didn't make sense to me based on the above statements. Anyway, thanks for commenting on the Win 7 EULA concern. The OP should be able to handle it from here.