Solved Can't find Media Center to add it

[okhomer]

Great. Thanks.

EDIT: After running a windows update it now says 9200.win8_gdr

 

[area 66]

so now try to add the MC , it should work

 

[okhomer]

I have since tried to start over by reinstalling Windows 8 and figuring out how to activate it a different way than I did the first time it is still not showing up in any of the different ways to add media center.

 

[Brink]

How are you activating it?

 

[okhomer]

How are you activating it?

This lastest time I activated it by using option 1 on http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/8855-product-key-number-change-windows-8-a.html

Other times I have done it by running an elevated CMD window and execute slmgr.vbs -ipk "YOUR_PRODUCT_KEY".

 

[okhomer]

So I think I might know what might be happening. My co-workers and I have noticed that we have a copy of PRO and Enterprise and both have the same Key. Our University software store said that the keys are the same. I believe that we need to have a PRO key for this to work. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[SIW2]

Yes, you would need a Pro key.

Not sure how you are getting it to activate with anything else - I don't suppose you know what kind of key you have there - other than what the store told you.

 

[area 66]

okhomer, you work as an IT, you have the software and the key in front of you , we don't see it, but as an IT you should be able to know what you have on hand. We try to help you but we are only speculating as for me at least I'm not even sure you have a retail copy of Windows pro, and you need one for activate MC. Is it an official DVD from MS ? is it something download and burn on a DVD , and from where ? Where come the thing you try to install ? You said it's an University, may be an educational version theat MS provide to your University for evaluation, may be something not eligible for MC, Unless we have those basic info, I don't think we can help.

 

[okhomer]

area 66. Thanks for all you help up to now. Our department orders all our software from our university software licensing office. I am not sure where they get their software from. It is not an official DVD from MS. At first we ordered the enterprise to test with some windows 7 tablets we had and then found out that you can get media center on the enterprise version. So we then ordered the PRO version. On the label of both DVDs they have the same software key. This now brings us back to here where I can not install media center. I do have a copy of the free key from MS to install media center.

 

[area 66]

I will try tomorrow on a VM if I can use a Pro key on an Enterprise , but if it's like Windows 7, it will not work, so I don't think a Pro or an Enterprise can have the same key. But I will know for sure tomorrow. Now you are on a University, I have no experience with educational OS, I wonder if your University don't have a kind of Volume Licensing, with only 1 Key for Pro and Enterprise version, because your OS behave like an Enterprise, but it show Pro on computer management, this is a strange case, very interesting.

 

[okhomer]

area 66... Did you have a chance to try the pro key on enterprise?

 

[area 66]

I will do it now, yesterday was a nightmare, especially this Vista laptop a guy try to fix himself......lol

 

[okhomer]

Well for start it was Vista.

 

[area 66]

installing in VM right now, Vista was not really the problem, the guy have a problem with is router, instead of reboot the router he mess up everything in the laptop, so it cost him $ 100 instead of a free phone call, if he have call me I will have say try to reboot the router, lol

give me 15 minutes to install Windows 8 ent in VM

 

[area 66]

as I suspected it's not working, but I do notice that my Technet Enterprise run in demo with a key already enter and it stay in demo until I change the key , so you may have the same problem with your Pro if it come from Technet, and the key the guy give you are probably demo key only, so you can't install MC, it's easy to see, if you have a watermark in the bottom right corner saying Windows 8 pro 9200 build , this is the demo

 

[okhomer]

I do notice that there is that watermark until I run slui.exe 3 to activate it. Once that is done that watermark goes away. I am assuming that activating it takes it out of "demo" mode? I am trying to see if they have any other keys that I can use and try.

 

[SIW2]

I think we are all interested to find out what you have there.

 

[area 66]

if you have the watermark it's clearly an Enterprise as the Pro from technet don't have the watermark, as the fact it show a pro in the computer property is out of my understanding as I can't repeat it in my lab ... For me you have a Enterprise, what ever it show

They may be also the possibility that's a Pro VL and the MC is not available on them.

I would suggest you get your Windows the regular way if you want to use MC as this thing seems it will never work. No that I don't try

 

[SIW2]

They may be also the possibility that's a Pro VL and the MC is not available on them.

Well spotted - that sounds like it could be the reason.

 

[area 66]

I don't have Pro VL, so I can't experiment it......