Windows 8.1 Activation on pc without windows

Just wondering if it will be possible to purchase a windows 8.1 license/product key for a pc without any version of windows installed. FYI I have a new hp laptop, which I removed windows 8 from and installed linux.

Henry

Ps: Do not wish to restore windows 8 and then upgrade to much time involved.

Windows 8.1 is an upgrade to windows 8.0. You will need to have 8.0 installed in order to upgrade to 8.1. The upgrade will be done from the Windows Store.

I read that also, but just the other day I found out that windows 8.1 will be available as an update on Oct. 17th and goes to retail on Oct. 18th..Why would a free upgrade for all windows users go to retail?, or is this something new where you can "buy" a free upgrade....It's free, the only reason to go to retail is if your selling it.

Henry

See this: Windows 8.1 release date, news and features | News | TechRadar

I don't think that there is a license to purchase for 8.1 as it is still in beta stage and you can download 8.1 ISO for free and use it until it is available as full and a while longer.

There is a lot of speculation at the moment. At one time I read that the Beta Windows 8.1 will accept the current Windows 8 keys. There was an ISO download available too. If that is true it should also accept your embedded Windows 8 code that you have now. I'm going to test it out on my laptop, assuming I can get a full 8.1 ISO on TechNet when the final version comes out. I'll do a clean install and see if it uses my laptops embedded BIOS product code. If that works then skipping 8.0 and going right to 8.1 should be doable, assuming you can get your hands on an ISO image. I would think that at some point 8.1 will show up for sale for people that have Windows 7 or earlier and want to upgrade. Right now I think you'll just have to wait and see.

October is the date and 8.1 did not accept my keys from W8 to activate it.

Tews said:

Windows 8.1 is an upgrade to windows 8.0. You will need to have 8.0 installed in order to upgrade to 8.1. The upgrade will be done from the Windows Store.

Click to expand...

That's what I've been reading to. I'm thinking that may change over time though. They seem intent on pushing everybody on 8 over to Windows 8.1. At some point they are going to want to entice those still running Windows 7 or earlier to upgrade. It doesn't make sense, not to me anyway, to buy 8 so you can upgrade to 8.1.

alphanumeric, tried the update thru store option with windows 8. preview and it activated. Did not activate on my system when hdd was blank, however it still runs as a preview. On the other hand I also tried windows 8.1 build 9471 and preview product key did activate? Go figure. In Fact I am going to reinstall it because aside from the confidential statement/watermark it is, in my opinion flawless. On the preview version my dvd did not work at all.

Henry

CountMike said:

October is the date and 8.1 did not accept my keys from W8 to activate it.

Click to expand...

Ok, that's good to know. I did the upgrade though the store and haven't tried doing a clean install. Not yet anyway. I saw beta keys available on TechNet/MSDN. I snagged some but never used them.

Hewjr100 said:

alphanumeric, tried the update thru store option with windows 8. preview and it activated. Did not activate on my system when hdd was blank, however it still runs as a preview. On the other hand I also tried windows 8.1 build 9471 and preview product key did activate? Go figure. In Fact I am going to reinstall it because aside from the confidential statement/watermark it is, in my opinion flawless. On the preview version my dvd did not work at all.

Henry

Click to expand...

I upgraded though the store and it activated OK, Windows 8 Pro with Media Center became Windows 8.1 Pro Preview with Media Center. I had issues with 8.1 and went back to 8.0. My WIFI and trackpad kept cutting in and out intermittently.