Solved Refurbished Laptop: Is the Key still good?

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@Jimbo45. No one is talking about using a product key from 1 system to another.
The notebook has a key in the bios. This makes it licensed & legit. No issue at all...
If it has 8/8.1 Pro, then it also has downgrade rights for win7 pro...

The way I read it, the OP wanted to do a clean install using the embedded OEM BIOS key. In the end that PC will have the same version Of Windows 8 that it shipped with and be activated online with the same product code it was originally activated with from the factory. It's an old thread anyway by the way. I did the very same thing on my laptop with no issues. I would have to modify my Windows 8.0 ISO to stop it from automatically using the embedded OEM code. You don't get a choice. I had to use add features to upgrade to 8 Pro as it would not prompt me to enter a code during setup. As far as I know my TechNet ISO's are identical to Retail media you buy off of the shelf. My TechNet product codes are listed as Retail. I could also install 8.1 with a generic key and activate with my 8.0 OEM key. All perfectly legal and allowed.