Solved Can an activation be taken back?

I tend to this small five person office; (one of a few).

Boss purchased W8Pro, one retail license. He wanted to see it, so I started the install (which requires the key entry right up front) and went about other work. Cautioned him about not letting the activation happen over the internet, but he missed it. After using it for an afternoon, he doesn't want it. Another person on staff wants it.

Completely different machines. How do I take back the initial activation, and be able to install on another pc??

I know! I should have pulled his router cable. Hindsight is great.

Have you tried activating Win 8 on another PC yet? Do you receive any error in the activation process?

Hello pscowboy,

You should be able format it on the computer it was activated on first, then be able to use it on the other computer. The retail Windows 8 EULA allows you to transfer to another computer/owner.

No.

The slmgr has an uninstall option, but I think that was meant to remove pirate keys.

I'm assuming we have to get it removed from the MS server in order to successfully install on another pc?

You will not be able to remove it from the MS server. All activations will always be kept track of on the MS servers. That only removes the key from that computer to be able to either use another key or leave unactivated instead.

No worries though, you are fine to do what I posted above to use it on the other computer.

Brink said:

Hello pscowboy,

You should be able format it on the computer it was activated on first, then be able to use it on the other computer. The retail Windows 8 EULA allows you to transfer to another computer/owner.

Click to expand...

Pardon me for butting in, but for my education could you elaborate.

What do you mean by format it on the computer.

Hello Dellboy,

Basically just format the computer the Windows 8 was first activated on to remove it.

Afterwards, you will be free to install and activate it on the other computer.

If you have any difficulty activating - a phone call to MS will probably do it.

Brink said:

Hello Dellboy,

Basically just format the computer the Windows 8 was first activated on to remove it.

Afterwards, you will be free to install and activate it on the other computer.

Click to expand...

Now I comprehend, thank you.

You will be able to reactivate it on the 2nd computer without issue (and if you do, call MS). if you try to leave it on the first computer, the first computer will eventually check in and then go to a deactivated status and inform you that you are likely using non-genuine Microsoft software.

Dellboy7 said:

Brink said:

Hello Dellboy,

Basically just format the computer the Windows 8 was first activated on to remove it.

Afterwards, you will be free to install and activate it on the other computer.

Click to expand...

Now I comprehend, thank you.

Click to expand...

You're welcome.

I follow. Thanks Brink.

Figured it wasn't too bad of a deal.

You're most welcome pscowboy.

Hi not bashing or anything, but reformatting the old PC (that contains Windows 7 Retail) and reinstalling it on another PC, resulting in the new installation to fail during activation process.

I had to do a phone call and literally yelled at them because they refused to help me initially.

Next time I transfer the copy, I'll just activate and phone call straight away instead of reformatting the old one first. Delayed me by so many minutes.

Hello ddadda,

That's always a possibility to have to do a phone activation when the key had been previously activated on another computer. Usually, it will activate online as normal, but it also just depends on how often, how recently, and how many computers the key was activated on to trigger a red flag to require phone activation.