Windows 8.1 OEM disk installing retail version.

radzer0

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Just got off the phone with microsoft and they said the MSDM key is valid. But the install im trying to activate on is a retail install. Its an original oem microsoft disk not a download from an oem sleeve. Any ideas on this one for me? I only ever see this on toshiba laptops. Never on other brands.

Any ideas for me on this? It also only appears to happen on super cheap toshiba laptops. Most without even having a cdrom.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 64bit
I didn't think there were OEM discs. I'm curious to see replies myself.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
Well what i consider oem is the copys you buy at amazon, newegg, etc etc that list as oem. Sleeve with a key on the outside. "System builder" as they are called sometimes now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 64bit
Oh, gotcha now, threw me off with the "OEM" thing. So the key you have won't activate? Have you tried the phone activation?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
It says the key is invalid in windows than when I call up microsoft they tell me the key is valid but I installed a retail edition that I need to install a OEM edition. No clue what this issue is at this point. Its stupid how they are supposed to pull the key from the bios but usually they dont. I believe microsoft changed something recently too as this has now happened on 3 computers here. Different oem disks even.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 64bit
It wouldn't be in the BIOS if a home build, only in BIOS from manufacturer installed systems. Did you go through the automated phone activation where you have to read off a long string of numbers?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
Its not a home build. But thats the only way to get a OEM disk. Its a toshiba laptop. Oem disk when you type in the actual key from the bios it tells you it has no supported images.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 64bit
I'm still a bit confused, sorry. So you are trying to use a disc install on a machine that has already had OEM 8.1 installed? It is not going to activate off the old BIOS key, you have to use the new key from the disc.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
Im trying to make a windows 8.1 oem disk install a oem load. I have an OEM key that microsoft says is valid but they are saying my load is loading in a retail version. Im trying to make the oem disk load a oem windows.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 64bit
I don't think that is going work. I'll let somebody else chime in. Wiped/lost the old recovery partition?

Have to use the disc key.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
Microsoft is telling me to use an OEM disk and the code should work. Recovery partitions are a joke on windows 8. There about as functional as trying to get into safemode once the machine wont boot into windows.

Im dealing with multiple machines with this issue. Funny thing is just a week ago these disks worked fine with the bios keys. So I have no clue what microsoft started messing with getting ready for the windows 10 launch.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 64bit
It will also show the toshiba boot screen when booting the disk so it knows what brand it is. It just wont take the damn key. Oddly enough another windows 8.1 dell next to it didnt even ask for the key with the same disk. What is this bullshit anyways?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 64bit
What is this bullshit anyways?
not sure what your issue is.. But most OEMs embed the product key in the pc's firmware..
with System Builder OEM software the product key can only be used (activated) on 1 PC and can not be transferred to or used on another pc..

You can download and create windows 8.1 setup media that will read windows 8 / 8.1 oem and retail product keys > Create installation media for Windows 8.1 - Windows Help

if you have a Pro product key - download windows 8.1 Pro OS
is you have single language product key - download windows 8.1 single language OS
if you have standard core product key - download windows 8.1 OS
if you have the Bing Edition product key - there is no download > oem only OS

That is where windows recovery comes into play.. can clean install windows with system drivers and product key in a matter of minutes.. No Joke..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Got a little more info for those who end up finding this post.
System builder is NOT oem. Its OEI. Cant find explination on the difference but apparently windows 8 and 8.1 all the vendors still call it oem yet its not. True OEM copys have the bing crap on them. I ordered a dell recovery oem disk that is supposed to have all images just to have on hand.

Toshiba that im dealing with turns out to have the bing crap, no clue for the HP as its a higher end all in one. So atleast one of the 2 problem machines ive figured out.

Also some PN's.

Windows 8.1 w/Bing
32bit - X19-57134
64bit - X19-57272
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 64bit
The "with Bing" is the issue. That's a custom SKU/version. Your OEM key will only get used automatically if you install the Windows 8.x Single language with Bing edition. Which is very hard to find. It's not listed on MSDN, and not included in the Media Creation Tool downloads. That's why Microsoft is saying get it from the OEM, AKA the laptop manufacturer. As far as I know retail Disks will read and use 8.x keys and 8.x Pro keys. They will not use the SL keys or SL with Bing keys. The Media Creation Tool will let you download the SL edition but not the SL with Bing. I do believe the SL with Bing is only offered on inexpensive devices with small screens. Only the OEM's get to install that version. If you do buy a disk from HP etc, check to see if its branded, when you use it. What I mean is, is it full of HP logo's etc. Open the system page and see if there is an HP logo there, and if the Support web Site etc is listed on that page. If it is they have added custom OEM info to the disk. there should be a $OEM$ folder in the sources folder. Delete that $OEM$ folder and it should kill all the OEM branding. Then that image can be used on any PC. The OEM key in the BIOS will still be used so no activation issues there. Test it out and see, if it works it will save you having to find multiple images for each manufacturer. I do it in reverse. I add an #OEM$ folder to my install images and customize it for each PC I own. I add the OEM logo and some system info for the system page. I also add a PID.txt file with my product code for that PC. The PID.txt file also lets me bypass the OEM key and install 8.1 Pro.
 

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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