Solved Lost product key after performing system refresh in 8.1

[jg8dgjoierjgfd]

A while ago I had to do a system refresh because my wifi completely stopped working, but for some reason my product key got deleted when I did that, and ever since then I've had this popup appearing every few hours, and I also can't upgrade to windows 10 now because of it. When I click the "go to pc settings" button, it shows that I already have a product key, but when I click activate, it just says "Windows can't activate, try again later", and if I enter the same product key, it also doesn't work. How can I fix it?

 

[KYHI]

Did the PC come with windows 8/8.1 ??
Or did you upgrade the PC to windows 8/8.1 ?

 

[jg8dgjoierjgfd]

It came with Windows 8.1 installed.

 

[Superfly]

http://www.eightforums.com/windows-...3-please-read-activation-troubleshooting.html

 

[broe23]

If you chose to be a part of the Windows Insider program, that can be what is stopping you from installing Windows 10.

 

[jg8dgjoierjgfd]

Actually, I just remembered I disabled automatic windows updates, since they failed every time and I had to restore from a system image because the "reverting changes" never finished, and it wouldn't boot after I powered it off, so that's why I can't upgrade to windows 10. I'm going to do a clean install of 8.1 then use that to upgrade to 10, as soon as I can figure out how to download the installation media (when I use the media creation tool, I get "server execution failed" and can't download it)... Unless, is there a way I can install 10, but use my 8.1 product key to activate it?

 

[broe23]

Link for the ESD-ISO to create either a USB or ISO image. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

 

[KYHI]

and a link to the MS ISO Download > Tech Bench

 

[jg8dgjoierjgfd]

Ok, I'm downloading windows 10 now, but can I use my 8.1 product key to activate it if I do a clean install?

 

[broe23]

If Windows 8.1 is installed, it will give you three options.

 

[jg8dgjoierjgfd]

Ok, here's my current situation.

I have a legitimate version of windows 8.1, with a product key that used to work but now doesn't after doing a system refresh, possibly due to some sort of corruption of system files
I want to activate my copy of 8.1 so I can upgrade to windows 10
I downloaded an ISO of windows 10, but my 8.1 product key doesn't work with it
I'm now trying to do a clean install of 8.1, so I can use my key to activate it, then use the activated 8.1 to upgrade to an activated windows 10
Microsoft's 8.1 media creation tool isn't working, and I can't find an ISO of 8.1 that I can download from anywhere else, and my computer came with 8.1 already installed, so I don't have an installation disk either.
When trying to install 8.1 from here, I get "This product key cannot be used to install a retail version of Windows 8.1"

If I can't get anything else to work, I'll try loading a system image from when the product key was still working, and see if I can run the windows 10 installer from there.

 

[broe23]

Lost key. Your only choice is to pay for Windows 10.

 

[Ztruker]

If the computer came with with Windows 8 or 8.1 then the key is embedded in the bios and should be read from there when you reinstall.

 

[broe23]

I am thinking that they used a non-OEM version Ztruker. I have Pro on both machines, and due to different key than 8 that came with them. 10 required me to keep 8 activated. The only issue that I have come across is to reinstall our Brother Laser software and do a Repair on Office 2013. Other than that, it was smooth sailing.

 

[jg8dgjoierjgfd]

I ended up restoring from a system image from when the product key was still working, then installed and activated windows 10 from there.