Windows 8 Product Key and Dual Boot

holtman
holtman Member Posts: 2 New User

Hi,

 

I have a new Acer Aspire V3-571.  I would like to dual boot it with Ubuntu 12.10.  Unfortunately the factory installed Windows 8 runs with UEFI secure boot and so I will need to reinstall Windows with the BIOS in legacy mode.  To do this I beleive I will need my Windows 8 product key.  Please can you tell me how I can obtain my Windows key.  There is no sticker on the laptop.

 

Thanks

Answers

  • freeza
    freeza Member Posts: 1,316 Skilled Practitioner WiFi Icon

    Good day

     

    As one of Microsofts security feature, any machine released with Windows 8 has no Windows 8 License with Product Key. The Product key is injected in the bios. This means 1 Product key per mainboard.

     

    Regards,

    Freeza

  • holtman
    holtman Member Posts: 2 New User

    Thanks for the clarification.  It seems I own a motherboard with windows 8 "on it", and not a full copy of Windows 8.

     

    Best wishes,

    Holtman

  • sspak9
    sspak9 Member Posts: 19 New User

    thanks freeza... now I know why each new Windows 8 installation always ended up using the same "OEM" windows 8 key and would not let me enter a new windows 8 pro key...

     

    holtman... even if you install fresh copy of windows 8 in dual boot mode with Linux, I think your default windows 8 installation will get automatically activated with the generic OEM product key tied to your computer.  That's what I've been experiencing when I tried to enter windows 8 pro key.  The installation would not accept the new key but would use the default OEM key that came with the computer.

  • stowellt
    stowellt Member Posts: 7 New User

    There's a workaround to do a clean install of WIN 8 Pro.

     

    Add a EI.cfg (that's ei not EL) file and a pid.txt file under /sources in the ISO. ei.cfg should be:

     

    [EditionID]
    [Channel]
    Retail
    [VL]
    0

    and PID.txt (again that's an i not an L) should be:

     

    [PID]
    value=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

     

     

    where the x's are you key.

     

    Using this I was able to do a clean install of the $14.99 Win 8 Pro upgrade MS was offering.  Note: the only way I could get the USB drive to boot was to format it w/ FAT32

     

  • sspak9
    sspak9 Member Posts: 19 New User

    @stowellt,

    Thanks for the great workaround. I'll definitely try this later.  

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