Swapping Windows 8 keys - is it possible?

alexncfc

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Location
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Hi all, I had a question I wondered if you could help with.

Back in early 2013 I purchased Windows 8 Pro for my old desktop PC (Athlon 64 @ 4200, 3GB RAM) and installed it using the provided key. The reason I got it was not really because I wanted it as such, but it was about £15 so I couldn't miss that deal! I installed it, but never used it much to be honest (main OS on the machine is Windows 7)

In June last year I got myself a new machine, a laptop - nothing special, but it does the job. It came with Windows 8 (non-pro) and I've since upgraded to Windows 8.1.

Now I use my laptop far, far more than my desktop. And I was wondering if I can upgrade my laptop's version of Windows 8 to Pro using the key that I purchased back early last year? Also, if I do this, could I then use the key that my laptop currently uses should I ever want to install Windows 8 on a desktop machine in the future? Or would it just make the laptop key useless?

Obviously another question is, is it worth it? The only thing I am remotely interested in is Hyper-V for Virtual Machines, which isn't available on my laptop due to it not being Pro, and doesn't run on my desktop PC due to the dated CPU. Nothing else in Pro really interests me.

Many thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire V5-571
    CPU
    Intel Core i3-2365M @ 1.40Ghz
    Memory
    6GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS547575A9E384 - 750GB
    Internet Speed
    4-6 Mb
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft (Windows 8.1)
PC's that come with Windows 8 pre installed from the factory have their OEM key embedded in the BIOS. That OEM key is not transferable to another PC and cannot be used on another PC. Normally to upgrade from core to Pro you buy a Pro pack which is just a product key. You go to add features and enter the Pro Pack key to unlock the Pro features. You could try your Pro key in add features but don't be surprised if it gets rejected. http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/6673-add-features-windows-8-a.html Even if it works you may find it won't activate as it was already used on another PC. If that happens you would have to try to activate by phone. You will also have to remove the previous install on the other PC that is using the same product code. You can only use that product code on one PC at any one time. If add features doesn't work you'll likely have to boot from the DVD and see if you can upgrade from there. As a last option you could try doing a clean install. The problem with that though, is your DVD may see and use the OEM embedded key automatically and install CORE by default. You'd be right back to square one again. Before you do anything I would advise reading the EULA for your 8 Pro to see if it is transferable to another PC.
 

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
Thanks for the quick response.

I did try putting the desktop's Windows 8 key in to the "Add features to Windows 8" dialog, and it did a check and then said "This key is valid" and prompted me to continue, but I didn't, so I'm not sure if it would go any further. As you say, it may well fail as it's already been activated on the desktop.

All sounds like a lot of effort for very little, so maybe I will give this a miss. Just a shame that some nice features (Hyper-V, GPedit) aren't available in bog standard Windows 8.

To make the desktop version I have even more unappealing, due to the CPU not having the relevant instructions, I can't upgrade it to 8.1 which makes me even less likely to use it (although I guess I can just re-install with the 32-bit version)

Thanks again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire V5-571
    CPU
    Intel Core i3-2365M @ 1.40Ghz
    Memory
    6GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS547575A9E384 - 750GB
    Internet Speed
    4-6 Mb
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft (Windows 8.1)
No problem. Yeah, it won't try to activate until its actually done updating to Pro. You won't know if it activates or not until the first time you boot into Pro. Some members had issues when they updated to Media Center through Add Features. Their key was accepted but it latter failed activation. Once you update you can't easily go back either, that's why I gave you the heads up. You pretty much would have to reinstall to go back to Core if you couldn't get it to activate. I had one Media Center key fail activation but it activated by phone no problem though the automated system without ever having to talk to a real person. That key likely failed activation because I moved it from one PC to another. I rolled the original PC back to Windows 7 and reused the MC key on another PC.
 

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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