windows 8.1 activation issues

[jawb]

My pc had 8.1 pre-installed on an internal SSD.

An upgrade to windows 10 seemed to cause all sorts of application and operation malfunctions, so I tried the roll back to 8.1 feature.

There were still problems, so I re-installed 8.1 from the pcs installation discs.

There was no activation key on the case so I was given a temporary one to complete the install. I was informed that the system would take care of activation using the valid key in the UEFI.

However that has not worked and I have no valid key for activation. I gather this due to a change by MS.

PCS support is offline till next Monday!

I would be grateful for any suggestions.

I would say that people should avoid SSD discs as a substitute for the old HDD, unless they really know a lot more than I do. Also avoid windows 10, the upgrade utility behaves like a virus. If you are a pc user on 7, then stay on it, 8 and 10 are bad news.

 

[GeorgeHillier]

My pc had 8.1 pre-installed on an internal SSD.

An upgrade to windows 10 seemed to cause all sorts of application and operation malfunctions, so I tried the roll back to 8.1 feature.

There were still problems, so I re-installed 8.1 from the pcs installation discs.

There was no activation key on the case so I was given a temporary one to complete the install. I was informed that the system would take care of activation using the valid key in the UEFI.

However that has not worked and I have no valid key for activation. I gather this due to a change by MS.

PCS support is offline till next Monday!

I would be grateful for any suggestions.

I would say that people should avoid SSD discs as a substitute for the old HDD, unless they really know a lot more than I do. Also avoid windows 10, the upgrade utility behaves like a virus. If you are a pc user on 7, then stay on it, 8 and 10 are bad news.

Using an SSD has nothing to do with the issue. It's that the downgrade software obviously didn't work for you. I've upgraded both of my computers (each of which have an SSD) to windows 10 with no issues, it's just you've been unfortunate. Try give PCS a call, they may be able to sort it out

 

[jawb]

Thanks for the reply - I accept what you have to say.

PCS appear to have installed windows originally on the HDD, before transferring it to the SSD. Maybe that has something to do with the activation problem - I have already spoken to support about this and they gave me the generic key.

After downgrading, I did a clean install, which seems fine, I just can't activate it!

I have used SSD's before for data only and they seem very fast, but do degrade with use.

Obviously you are happy with W10, but I found W8.1 was not designed for the pc with mouse and keyboard. Also there were various drawbacks with file history and system image. I used Classic Shell to get over some problems, but W10 would not run some of my applications.

 

[Stephen M]

SSD degrading is a non issue these days, the modern ones are much better and you would struggle to write and rewrite on them enough to see any problem.

 

[jawb]

I should have thought it was fairly clear from my previous post that I have done a clean install of 8.1 and that is why I need the activation code.

 

[ubuysa]

You are wrong about windows 8.1

What you need to do is do a clean install of Win 8.1 Format hard drive and install fresh. Then 'Upgrade' to Win 10, Use this link:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Once you have upgrade to Win 10 MS registers the hardware and then you can do a 'clean' install of Win 10 if you so wish. I have done this method quite a few times. Win 10 does not need a product key for activation, Win 8.1 does.

True but the Windows 8.1 system needs to be activated in order to activate the Windows 10 install, and the OP can't activate Windows 8.1....

SSD degrading is a non issue these days, the modern ones are much better and you would struggle to write and rewrite on them enough to see any problem.

Agreed, SSD lifespan is fast approaching HDD lifespan, degradation is a non-issue these days.

I should have thought it was fairly clear from my previous post that I have done a clean install of 8.1 and that is why I need the activation code.

Sadly only PCS can help you here. You should have 30 days (I think?) before you absolutely have to activate Windows 8.1 so there's no panic yet. GIve them a call first thing Monday.

I was also under the impression that modern computers had the Windows product key burned into the BIOS.....

 

[SpyderTracks]

Are you using the correct version of Win 8.1? There are several versions but only one that is tied to your PC. If you cannot activate it then it could be that you are trying to install the wrong version!!

He doesn't have a key, that's the issue, the key should be in the BIOS, but isn't activating.

 

[jawb]

I am performing a clean install of 8.1 with the disc supplied by PCS with the PC that I bought from them.

 

[jawb]

Thank you for the suggestion and thank you for reading the thread first. I will call PCS again on Monday and I'll update this with whatever happens.

 

[jawb]

I performed the clean install of 8.1 last Friday and it is now Monday am and the "Activate Windows" message has appeared regularly.

I called PCS support and they inform me that it might take 3-4 days for the pc to pick up the activation key automatically from the BIOS and that I should leave it another 24 hours.

If I still have problems then I have to go to the command prompt and run "slui 4". This is supposed to give me instructions on how to proceed including a telephone number to contact Microsoft for the activation key recovery process.

I'll post what ensues here for anyone who is interested.

 

[jawb]

I thought that I would have a look at "slui 4".

I ran it as administrator and it opened a utility giving a 63 digit installation code and a toll free number to call, so it seems that this might provide a solution if the pc fails to pick up the Activation code.

In the middle of running the utility the "Activate Windows" message appeared and hijacked the process, so I had to run it again.

It is not very clever.

Incidentally there are many sites offering scripts for interrogating the registry files or bios for the activation key, but they seem dodgy and likely to be attempts to activate installations with 'issues'. One or two refer to entries in the windows registry that are not even present so maybe users should steer clear.

 

[ubuysa]

Stay clear of those sites. Just wait to see if it activates or just ring the number given to you. Hopefully it will all be ok then!

Absolutely agree. It's an odd Windows screw-up, just think of it as a welcome present from Microsoft. It will get sorted.

 

[jawb]

Four days have passed and the Activation key has still not been picked up from the BIOS.

My system is reporting error code 0xC004C003 – The activation server has determined that the product key given to me by PCspecialist is blocked

As instructed by PCspecialist I ran ‘slui 4’ and provided the MS automated call handler with the 63 digit Installation ID. It has to be keyed in and over the phone and needs great care.

Finally the installation ID was rejected as invalid and I was referred to a MS agent.

I could not tell what the MS agent said due to the quality of the line and his garbled delivery – the gist of it was that the id or activation key is invalid and that I must resolve the matter through PCspecialist as the supplier of the system.

All this follows me having to carry our a clean install of windows 8.1 using the PCspecialist windows 64 bit disc supplied with the system, following an upgrade to Windows 10 that caused the system to malfunction.

It really is most unsatisfactory.

 

[Rakk]

Just out of curiosity (and sorry if you stated it already), did the initial installation of Win8.1 work properly and did it seem to be properly activated before you upgraded to Win10.

I'm just asking cos if it was properly activated and working fine then I'd have thought it would have been Microsofts problem to deal with, not PCS, now if it wasn't then it may be either PCS or Microsoft to deal with it.

 

[ubuysa]

As i stated before. it could very well be that you have the wrong version of Win 8.1 as it does not marry with the product key in the bios! Thus, making it impossible to activate.

I too think this is a possibility, though one would have hoped that the Microsoft tech the OP spoke to on the phone could have told him whether this was the case.

One sentence in the original post keeps nagging at me:

There was no activation key on the case so I was given a temporary one to complete the install. I was informed that the system would take care of activation using the valid key in the UEFI.

Who gave the OP the temporary key? I've never heard of temporary keys, you either have the valid key or you don't. I do know from bitter experience with Windows 10 and an invalid (but honestly obtained) key. Once Microsoft's servers associate your hardware with an invalid key they don't seem to want to forget it. So if the temporary key was not the right product key it's likely that Microsoft's servers are permanently associating the OP's hardware with this invalid key and refusing to recognise the real one.

If PCS provided this mysterious temporary key then the problem is theirs, but if it came from somewhere else........

 

[jawb]

The original windows 8.1 installation by PCS worked fine. Problems with the W10 upgrade and 8.1 roll back were not related to the activation issue.

That has only arisen since the clean install of 8.1 using the PCS OEM disc supplied with the system.

Hope the above is clear.

 

[jawb]

I too think this is a possibility, though one would have hoped that the Microsoft tech the OP spoke to on the phone could have told him whether this was the case.

One sentence in the original post keeps nagging at me:

[/COLOR]

Who gave the OP the temporary key? I've never heard of temporary keys, you either have the valid key or you don't. I do know from bitter experience with Windows 10 and an invalid (but honestly obtained) key. Once Microsoft's servers associate your hardware with an invalid key they don't seem to want to forget it. So if the temporary key was not the right product key it's likely that Microsoft's servers are permanently associating the OP's hardware with this invalid key and refusing to recognise the real one.

If PCS provided this mysterious temporary key then the problem is theirs, but if it came from somewhere else........

The "temporary key" (my terminology) was supplied by PCS support. My earlier postings describe how the PC did not have a label with the activation key and how I was informed by PCS that it was encoded in the BIOS and should be picked up automatically. The key given by the PCS support agent was to facilitate the completion of the Windows install and accepted the process so that the system restore from the OEM DVD supplied with the PC went through without any hitches.

I did not expect any subsequent issues as the install seemed to complete OK and the support agent gave the key as a solution to the system restore.

 

[ubuysa]

The "temporary key" (my terminology) was supplied by PCS support. My earlier postings describe how the PC did not have a label with the activation key and how I was informed by PCS that it was encoded in the BIOS and should be picked up automatically. The key given by the PCS support agent was to facilitate the completion of the Windows install and accepted the process so that the system restore from the OEM DVD supplied with the PC went through without any hitches.

I did not expect any subsequent issues as the install seemed to complete OK and the support agent gave the key as a solution to the system restore.

After a fair bit of searching I've discovered that there is such a thing as a "temporary install key" which, as you say, allows the installation of Windows 8.1 but which cannot be used to activate Windows 8.1.

I would have expected Windows to have activated by now if the product key was stored in the BIOS. Since it hasn't I'd suggest you call PCS and insist that they give you a valid product key for the version of Windows 8.1 that you bought.

 

[jawb]

Further developments.

The PCS support team were unable to activate windows.

The agent used remote control and a utility to read the injected activation key from the BIOS. However the activation process then rejected the activation key.

I am now advised to reinstall windows from the DVD and provide the injected activation key when asked for it.

The support agent had not encountered this problem before. Normally windows can be successfully activated by this method.

The key provided previously by support was described as a 'kind of universal key' that was used to load windows initially. It certainly does not seem to have helped much in my case.

 

[jawb]

A clean install of 8.1 using the DVD rejected the new activation key (the one read from the BIOS) "The key does not match any of the windows images available for installation".

Back to PCS support.