Solved help needeed ! win 8 updated to win 8.1 pro no backup

Hi
Greetings to everyone !
Happy new year to all!

i just got the acer iconia w700 from a seller who had this tablet with win8 oem which he'd updated to win 8.1 pro
He did not know how to retrieve the new key for win 8.1 pro and before sending the tablet to me - he ran the recovery win 8 oem dics to wipe out personal info
]now when i got the tablet it failed activation with win 8 key [i guess] blocked
Error code : oxC004C003
the activation determined the specified product key has been blocked

Can't activate the win 8.1 pro since he never gave me the updated ssd backup [with win 8.1 pro activated ]
Now looking back - i am not sure if the win 8.1 pro was even activated !

Now what to do ?

please advise

I wonder if it came with Win8 oem, or Win8 oem Pro?

If you try running ShowKey (from here), does it give you an 'OEM Key' which is different to the one mentioned? What is the 'OEM Edition' if there is one?

NB DON'T post your Product ID or Product Key or OEM Key or any sort of Key on here.

well i ran recovery again and installed all the drivers from the acer site - the key is still showing as blocked and it prompts me to go to pc settings to activate using a new key [ buy a new key ]- i just press start switch to get to start screen and ignore for now
This windows 8 thing is quite complicated if anyone works on the pc without knowing the intricacies of win 8 ecosystem
May be that the upgraded win 8.1 pro might still be in the bios - but i will not take the pains to do win 8.1 pro install at all - that's a lot of hassle

It's sort of veiled warning from MS to only use the OS the unit came with - "Do not upgrade or attempt to upgrade if you are not an expert"
And here's the best part - installing a new OEM win 8/8.1 pro is also as much complicated to say the least if not impossible

I will soon be installing the win 7 HP on this [acer iconia w700] if it creates more issues in future - thanks for all the help - appreciated!

Follow David's advice - without that info, you will just be grasping at straws.
An OEM (firmware) key cannot be blocked unless under very unusual circumstances.

hi
thank you for your support
i ran this software and it gave the following results

windows product key information:
product name : Windows 8
product id : xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-AAOEM
installed key : xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-QC736
Oem key : xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-HQTBP
Oem edition : win 8 RTM professional OEMM

now this is complicated - i have two keys now - one installed key QC736 [which is blocked by activation] and the other Oem key
so what i need to do ?
Further what is meant by : Win 8 RTM professional OEMM
i know for sure that seller had upgraded to win 8.1 pro before re-running the recovery disc without taking the backup
please advise what to do - really complicated ?

hi
thank you for your support
i ran this software and it gave the following results

windows product key information:
product name : Windows 8
product id : xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-AAOEM
installed key : xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-QC736
Oem key : xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-HQTBP
Oem edition : [Win 8 RTM Professional OEM : DM]


now this is complicated - i have two keys now - one installed key QC736 [which is blocked by activation] and the other Oem key
so what i need to do ?
Further what is meant by : [Win 8 RTM Professional OEM : DM]
i know for sure that seller had upgraded to win 8.1 pro before re-running the recovery disc without taking the backup
please advise what to do - really complicated ?

It's not really complicated - someone installed the wrong key that has you confused. The Win 8 RTM Professional OEM : DM key is the correct key.

Install a fresh copy of Win 8.1 Pro, and that key will be automatically read from the firmware and activate once online.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/18309-windows-8-windows-8-1-iso-download-create.html

great! i will try and update u guys!

well i tried with win 8.1 pro iso downloaded from internet , created a bootable usb and tried no go i goes thru setup and then gives the error [i do not rememeber the exact error] but i take it it's looking for the exact build which i do not have or need to get the win 8.1 pro untouched recovery from somewhere Finally i gave up - bought the win 7 HP system builder key from another online ms certified retailer , as the luck 'd have it it worked better with win 7 HP then it did with the win 8 , So happy but win 8 onwards i simply hate them now and understand now why win 8 was a failure and so is the windows 10 , was lucky that win 7 hp worked flawless thank you guys ! for your support