I love embedded Oem keys

Was able to take a Dell copy of Windows 8, make an uefi bootable usb key, install onto my Dell, and also onto some acers in my office. It used the embedded keys each time, gave me 8 pro where appropriate, and 8 standard when appropriate. No hassles, activated immediately, no calls to robo activation at Microsoft. Good times.

Have you run Windows Updates on all the machines, if so any issues? From what you say it seems very close to piracy.
 

My Computer

System One

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    CP
Was able to take a Dell copy of Windows 8, make an uefi bootable usb key, install onto my Dell, and also onto some acers in my office. It used the embedded keys each time, gave me 8 pro where appropriate, and 8 standard when appropriate. No hassles, activated immediately, no calls to robo activation at Microsoft. Good times.

Have you run Windows Updates on all the machines, if so any issues? From what you say it seems very close to piracy.

The keys are embedded in the PC not the install media. Each PC is using its own unique product key that it left the factory with. They are also activating exactly the same way they originally did. Nothing is being cheated. The only side effect from using the Dell Branded install media is you may end up with a Dell Logo on the system page instead of an Acer one, etc.
 

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
The truth of the matter is, the same key is used on more than one machine. Unless it's a vlk, i don't think it's allowed.
 

My Computer

System One

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    CP
The truth of the matter is, the same key is used on more than one machine. Unless it's a vlk, i don't think it's allowed.

No it isn't, not on a Windows 8 PC. The product key that's used is read from the BIOS of the PC you are installing it on. Each PC will use it's own unique embedded key. No duplicates what so ever. If the PC didn't come with Windows 8 preinstalled from the factory there won't be any embedded key. In that case you will be asked to enter a key manually.
Windows 7 and earlier did it differently. The key used was on the OEM Branded install media in the form of a certificates file. Even then your Dell install media wouldn't work on an Acer it would only work on a Dell with a custom BIOS.
 

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 just reread this

"Was able to take a Dell copy of Windows 8, make an uefi bootable usb key, install onto my Dell, and also onto some acers in my office. It used the embedded keys each time, gave me 8 pro where appropriate, and 8 standard when appropriate. No hassles, activated immediately, no calls to robo activation at Microsoft. Good times."

Let me get this straight.

He took a Dell copy of Windows 8 (presummably media supplied when he bought his Windows 8 pc). He then makes a bootable USB from it (fine). He then reimage his Acers with this USB image. ... He then said Good times.

So the Acers already have Windows 8 licences from factory? What if the Acers have XP from factory?
 

My Computer

System One

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    CP
yes obviously the Acer's would have had windows 8 from the factory otherwise the license keys would not be embedded.

as an IT guy who does a lot of OS loads I love the fact that the keys are already in the BIOS there is no need to type in a key or activate the key as long as the machine is hardware licensed for Windows 8.

clearly if the Acer's came with Windows XP it wouldn't be cool to just put Windows 8 on there that would be violating the license agreement. I am all about following the rules.
 

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.
as an IT guy who does a lot of OS loads I love the fact that the keys are already in the BIOS there is no need to type in a key or activate the key as long as the machine is hardware licensed for Windows 8.

I'm same. I took abit of good info from this and appologies for misreading your post.

So did you slipstream the OS or used the supplied Media to put on USB?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    CP
If the PC didn't originally come from the factory with Windows 8 preinstalled it would not have an embedded product key in its BIOS. In that case you would be prompted to enter a valid product code during the install. Pparks can clarify this but I do not believe he is reimaging the PC's, he is doing a clean install. It's not recovery media its actual Windows install media. It just happened to be supplied by Dell. My ASUS laptop came preinstalled with Windows 8. When I do an install with my MSDN ISO the embedded product code is auto detected and Windows 8 (core) is installed. That is what my product code is good for. I'm not prompted to enter a code and it activates online as soon as you connect to the internet. To install 8 Pro I have to use the add features option and type in a new 8 Pro product code.
 

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
He didn't actually specified that the Acers were w8 licensed from factory. Any issues with licensing should be apparent once you do a Windows Update, and after the info is been traced by MS, till then it's anyone's guess.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    CP
I created the bootable Windows 8 USB key as follows,

o Diskpart
o List disk (make note of the # of your USB key)
o Select disk # (choose the number from previous step)
o Clean
o Create partition primary
o Format fs=fat32 quick
o Active
o Assign

Then, I took the Dell Windows 8 ISO file, used 7zip to extract the files in the ISO to that USB key.

The key is now ready to boot Windows 8 and install.
 

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.
True but he did say "It used the embedded keys each time, gave me 8 pro where appropriate, and 8 standard when appropriate." If the Acers weren't licensed for Windows 8 from the factory they wouldn't have the embedded keys and there would not have been any auto detection of what version to install. He would have been asked to enter a product code manually during the install.
 

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
If the PC didn't originally come from the factory with Windows 8 preinstalled it would not have an embedded product key in its BIOS. In that case you would be prompted to enter a valid product code during the install. Pparks can clarify this but I do not believe he is reimaging the PC's, he is doing a clean install. It's not recovery media its actual Windows install media. It just happened to be supplied by Dell.
You are 100% correct here. I am not imaging, I am doing clean installs.

In the past with Dell, I would get media with PC's (XP, Vista, 7). These DVD's would install and just auto activate on the Dell hardware. But I couldn't use these disks with other machines as they would recognize they weren't on a Dell and wouldn't work.

With the new embedded keys, it doesn't matter if the media came from Dell, HP or Lenovo, as long as the PC itself has the embedded Windows 8 key in the BIOS, you can reload Windows from whatever media you have, you won't have to enter a key and you will be automatically activated. You can use Technet media, or MSDN media, or whatever media you happen to have. It will read the key from the BIOS, install and activate the version you are licensed for.





My ASUS laptop came preinstalled with Windows 8. When I do an install with my MSDN ISO the embedded product code is auto detected and Windows 8 (core) is installed. That is what my product code is good for. I'm not prompted to enter a code and it activates online as soon as you connect to the internet. To install 8 Pro I have to use the add features option and type in a new 8 Pro product code.
Yes, exactly correct. I've had to do the same thing.
 

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.
I created the bootable Windows 8 USB key as follows,

o Diskpart
o List disk (make note of the # of your USB key)
o Select disk # (choose the number from previous step)
o Clean
o Create partition primary
o Format fs=fat32 quick
o Active
o Assign

Then, I took the Dell Windows 8 ISO file, used 7zip to extract the files in the ISO to that USB key.

The key is now ready to boot Windows 8 and install.

I used the Windows 7 DVD Download Tool to make my Bootable USB Windows 8 install thumb drive. It can be finicky with some ISO files but works most of the time. Installs are so much faster from a USB thumb drive that I can't imagine going back to using a DVD. a lot easier to carry around and no worries about scratching the disk.
 

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
He didn't actually specified that the Acers were w8 licensed from factory. Any issues with licensing should be apparent once you do a Windows Update, and after the info is been traced by MS, till then it's anyone's guess.

You are correct, I apologize for the confusion. The key words were the "embedded keys" which are in the BIOS. If the Acers didn't come with Windows 8, those keys would not be embedded. I made the assumption people would follow here.
 

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.
I created the bootable Windows 8 USB key as follows,

o Diskpart
o List disk (make note of the # of your USB key)
o Select disk # (choose the number from previous step)
o Clean
o Create partition primary
o Format fs=fat32 quick
o Active
o Assign

Then, I took the Dell Windows 8 ISO file, used 7zip to extract the files in the ISO to that USB key.

The key is now ready to boot Windows 8 and install.

I used the Windows 7 DVD Download Tool to make my Bootable USB Windows 8 install thumb drive. It can be finicky with some ISO files but works most of the time. Installs are so much faster from a USB thumb drive that I can't imagine going back to using a DVD. a lot easier to carry around and no worries about scratching the disk.


I historically have done it with the Windows 7 USB downloader tool as well. However I found that with Windows 8 and UEFI and GPT, that tool wouldn't create the UEFI bootable USB key...thus it would only boot in legacy mode rather than UEFI mode with Secure Boot.
 

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.
OK, for what its worth I had no problems doing a UEFI install on my ASUS laptop to GPT partitioned disk. Mine was an MSDN ISO, I'm not sure if that makes any difference though. My desktop PC's don't have UEFI.
 

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 mostly used the MSDN CD's as well. I couldn't get my Acers, or HP's, or Dell's which were set for UEFI and Secure Boot enabled to boot the USB key created by the Windows 7 USB DVD download tool. Perhaps it's because I used a Windows 7 box without UEFI or Secure Boot when I created the media.

The USB key kicked out of that tool would boot, but only if i enabled legacy boot. And when I did that, I got standard MBR partitioning on the hard drive rather than the GPT style with 4 partitions.

Thanks for the feedback on your experiences with the tool. It's good to provide info for others going down this same road.
 

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.
No problem, UEFI is new to me so I'm just taking thinks as they go. I half expected to have problems after seeing other peoples experiences and problems with it. Just lucky I guess. :)

EDIT: Now that I think about it, my laptop was originally offered with Windows 7 preinstalled. I'm thinking ASUS updated it for Windows 8 and added the UEFI. It's pretty basic. It doesn't really stand out from any other BIOS menu I've used in the past. Hard to say but maybe that made my install easier?
 

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
Was able to take a Dell copy of Windows 8, make an uefi bootable usb key, install onto my Dell, and also onto some acers in my office. It used the embedded keys each time, gave me 8 pro where appropriate, and 8 standard when appropriate. No hassles, activated immediately, no calls to robo activation at Microsoft. Good times.

Have you run Windows Updates on all the machines, if so any issues? From what you say it seems very close to piracy.

That's called a new feature of new Windows PCs of cooked in Windows license keys. That PREVENTS piracy.

Also quite a joy to do a clean reinstall of Windows on one of the newer ones...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
I just reread this

"Was able to take a Dell copy of Windows 8, make an uefi bootable usb key, install onto my Dell, and also onto some acers in my office. It used the embedded keys each time, gave me 8 pro where appropriate, and 8 standard when appropriate. No hassles, activated immediately, no calls to robo activation at Microsoft. Good times."

Let me get this straight.

He took a Dell copy of Windows 8 (presummably media supplied when he bought his Windows 8 pc). He then makes a bootable USB from it (fine). He then reimage his Acers with this USB image. ... He then said Good times.

So the Acers already have Windows 8 licences from factory? What if the Acers have XP from factory?

With the Fujitsu Windows 8 DVD, installing on an non-embedded product key PC, you need to type in a product key.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
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