Hard Drive Wiped - Need Fresh 8.1 install - Issue?

Hi all,

I had an issue with the hard drive on my laptop and it ended up wiped clean, including the OS.

The laptop, Acer V5-573, came with Windows 8.1 pre-installed, but no recovery disk or anything.
Luckily I used a program to find the product key in the registry before the hard drive got wiped, so I've got my 8.1 key, but it also says something about it linking to a cd key on there, and I'm seeing that there can be an issue installing from scratch as it needs to be the exact installation that's linked with this key.

So if I'm seeing correctly I can't just download 8.1 using the Microsoft tool and put in my key and it work.

Any help much appreciated, thanks.

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JackE

Do you know if the erecovery partition was wiped as well? If not, try the Alt+F10 erecovery as in this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_851960727&feature=iv&src_vid=H2xoMEPfiPQ&v=XvFRTfFGCgY

Jack E/NJ

chivs688

Yep, that Alt-F10 method doesn't do anything unfortunately.

JackE

If you use the digital river generic installation with the tool, the drivers won't be specific to your model. I suggest the easiest route might be to purchase the erecovery media at nominal cost from Acer specific to your model.

Jack E/NJ

chivs688

I've just downloaded 8.1 using the Microsoft Media Creation tool, and just downloaded the .ISO. I just quickly mounted it and ran it to check, and it accepts what MagicalJellyBeanFinder refers to as the "CD Key" when it asked for the product key, and seems to allow me to continue with the installation..

(Although obviously I'm not going to continue with it without running it from a booted USB)

So is this not okay to go through with? Am I going to face an issue?

JackE

Like I said, the drivers in the generic version for such things as the graphics adapter, etc might not be specific to your machine. Some components /adapters might not work correctly or not work at all until you download and install the drivers specific to your model. It can be frustrating and time consuming but it can certainly be done if you're game. After you're up and running, you may get a notice from Microsoft after about a week that your Win8.1 version needs to be registered to continue using it. It usually involves simply calling an 800 number and verification of your serial number --- relatively painless but none the less another complication.

Jack E/NJ

chivs688

Oh, well if it's just the downloading of the drivers from the Acer Support page that's the issue then I don't mind doing that at all. In fact I kind of prefer doing it that way, as then I know exactly whats installed on my laptop, and nothing more than what's needed then.

So am I all okay to go ahead with installing then if I dont mind downloading drivers from the Acer site?

JackE

Yup! You're good to go if you're game. But you're probably gonna miss seeing all that Acer bloatware. 8^) If worse comes to worse, you can always order the media from Acer. Good luck!

Jack E/NJ

thasatelliteguy

As long as your machine didnt come with Windohs 8.1 with Bling.... It's a different license and your key will not activate any version of Windows available for download. In that case, you will probably have to order the media from Acer...

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