How to install pre-Installed windows 8 key on new hard drive. Rebuilding a laptop and the mother board has a key. Not the HDD

[jamesbones626]

I have a used computer with windows 8. Now as i do know the pre-installed windows 8 key is on the motherboard. Its connected with the hardware ID. I do not have the original hard drive, so i do not have the original recover partition or any of that. It will have a brand new hard drive. Now my question is is there anyway to have the preinstalled key automatically installed onto the new HDD. As i know you cannot use the pre-installed key to activate windows. I was going top see if i could download a recovery and boot it on the computer and see if that can automatically download the key for me. But I'm not sure if it will. I have a spare hard drive i was going to try it on to see if it works. If i does i will keep the drive. If it doesn't and nothing will work, I'm going to buy a hard drive with a preinstalled windows 8 on it to save some money.. Thanks! i can give any more info if needed

The computer I'm doing it on is an asus x55a, 4gb ram and i believe its an intel pentium. Im trying to spend as little as possible for it.and it came with windows 8.

 

[Kaarel_K]

I dont know the details on how a HDD key works. But I installed an SSD on my mom´s Laptop that had the Windows key worn off, using this software.
http/www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx
It copys the information on such a basic level the PC booted like nothing had changed. Might work on your case as well.

 

[USAFRet]

Your best bet is to contact Asus and get/buy whatever recovery set they have.

And you cannot buy a hard drive with Windows preinstalled. They don't come like that.

 

[jamesbones626]

Your best bet is to contact Asus and get/buy whatever recovery set they have.

And you cannot buy a hard drive with Windows preinstalled. They don't come like that.

I would buy it off of ebay. I planned on buying a used asus hard drive with windows 8 already on it.

 

[USAFRet]

Your best bet is to contact Asus and get/buy whatever recovery set they have.

And you cannot buy a hard drive with Windows preinstalled. They don't come like that.

I would buy it off of ebay. I planned on buying a used asus hard drive with windows 8 already on it.

Sorry, but I don't see that as a good idea. You have no idea of the validity of the installed OS.
Up to you, though.

Also, it probably will not work. Taking an install done on one machine, and then moving to a whole different PC....often results in no boot.

No matter what the ebay guy says.

 

[jamesbones626]

Your best bet is to contact Asus and get/buy whatever recovery set they have.

And you cannot buy a hard drive with Windows preinstalled. They don't come like that.

I would buy it off of ebay. I planned on buying a used asus hard drive with windows 8 already on it.

Sorry, but I don't see that as a good idea. You have no idea of the validity of the installed OS.
Up to you, though.

Also, it probably will not work. Taking an install done on one machine, and then moving to a whole different PC....often results in no boot.

No matter what the ebay guy says.

Thats a good point. I will have to see what happens. But i mean if it doesn't work i guess i could say it doesn't work and return it. I just really hope i don't have to buy a hard drive or windows 8. Thats just money i don't need to spend. I already have an extra 320gb hdd and windows 8 is already installed. But i do plan on getting a disk drive caddy for a hard drive and putting a 16gb SSD in that. I don't know if i should put the os on the ssd. Because i do want to use it for ready boost like i have on my desktop. But back to my point. I don't want to spend useless money. I plan on selling it and i won't make money if i have to buy windows 8 for 70 (student discount) and a hard drive for like 45. I already had to buy ram.

 

[jamesbones626]

Your best bet is to contact Asus and get/buy whatever recovery set they have.

And you cannot buy a hard drive with Windows preinstalled. They don't come like that.

and i have contacted asus and microsoft and asus said i need to send it in for service so they can get the windows key from the hardware id. Which will cost me just as much as buying a new hard drive or windows 8. and i already have a hard drive. Microsoft said they can't do anything because they are no help. Even if i have the product id (not key) and i also had the pre-activated serial key and they can't do anything with either of that info. (this was for a different computer)

 

[USAFRet]

You're looking to sell this?

Just slap a blank hard drive in it and sell it as is. Let the new owner deal with the OS part.

Or put a Linux OS on it, just to verify the thing actually works.

 

[jamesbones626]

You're looking to sell this?

Just slap a blank hard drive in it and sell it as is. Let the new owner deal with the OS part.

Or put a Linux OS on it, just to verify the thing actually works.

But then I'm not making as much as i would like. i would only be able to sell it for the same price i paid to fix it at that point. The OS is worth quite a bit. Even if its windows 7. Im trying to do this for free so i can have a fully working computer before i sell it. Id rather not spend the money but i will if i have to. I mean ill still make profit but not nearly as much as i would like if i have to buy an OS

I HAVE FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT BUT IT MAY NOT BE A SOLUTION FOR EVERYONE. Though my school (college) they give me a free subscription to dream spark which has access to many programs and such for students teachers and faculty. So i was able to "buy"/download windows 8 and 8.1 (and most any program for that matter) FOR FREE! AND THATS WITH A PRODUCT KEY. for free. So i downloaded windows 8 and 8.1 so i will have 2 product keys for windows! yeah its pretty sweet

 

[USAFRet]

You're looking to sell this?

Just slap a blank hard drive in it and sell it as is. Let the new owner deal with the OS part.

Or put a Linux OS on it, just to verify the thing actually works.

But then I'm not making as much as i would like. i would only be able to sell it for the same price i paid to fix it at that point. The OS is worth quite a bit. Even if its windows 7. Im trying to do this for free so i can have a fully working computer before i sell it. Id rather not spend the money but i will if i have to. I mean ill still make profit but not nearly as much as i would like if i have to buy an OS

I HAVE FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT BUT IT MAY NOT BE A SOLUTION FOR EVERYONE. Though my school (college) they give me a free subscription to dream spark which has access to many programs and such for students teachers and faculty. So i was able to "buy"/download windows 8 and 8.1 (and most any program for that matter) FOR FREE! AND THATS WITH A PRODUCT KEY. for free. So i downloaded windows 8 and 8.1 so i will have 2 product keys for windows! yeah its pretty sweet

You cannot sell that. Read the licensing agreement.

 

[USAFRet]

Specifically, from MS:
https/www.dreamspark.com/Institution/DS-EULA.aspx

3. DREAMSPARK SUBSCRIPTION RIGHTS.
b. Installation and Use Rights.
"The DreamSpark Subscription and software may not be shared, transferred, resold, assigned or used to develop or maintain your own administrative or IT systems."

(emphasis mine)

 

[USAFRet]

But then I'm not making as much as i would like. i would only be able to sell it for the same price i paid to fix it at that point.

Welcome to the world of PC repair.

Again...you cannot sell that DreamSpark license.

 

[jamesbones626]

Specifically, from MS:
https/www.dreamspark.com/Institution/DS-EULA.aspx

3. DREAMSPARK SUBSCRIPTION RIGHTS.
b. Installation and Use Rights.
"The DreamSpark Subscription and software may not be shared, transferred, resold, assigned or used to develop or maintain your own administrative or IT systems."

(emphasis mine)

Son of a bitch...I actually tired looking for that in the agreement too! i couldn't find it because there was just so much there. Okay back to square one...I am still thinking what if i can get a recovery boot spacifically for my asus x55a. Do you think it would find the product key if i booted it from that recovery and did an install from there

 

[jamesbones626]

But then I'm not making as much as i would like. i would only be able to sell it for the same price i paid to fix it at that point.

Welcome to the world of PC repair.

Again...you cannot sell that DreamSpark license.

Just curious, what would be the repercussions for selling it? and how would they find out if i did sell it?

 

[USAFRet]

But then I'm not making as much as i would like. i would only be able to sell it for the same price i paid to fix it at that point.

Welcome to the world of PC repair.

Again...you cannot sell that DreamSpark license.

Just curious, what would be the repercussions for selling it? and how would they find out if i did sell it?

Repercussions? Your buyer ends up with a deactivated install. They do actually track that stuff. That is one of the reasons the TechNet Subscription concept got axed.
People would obtain a TechNet sub for $250. Includes multiple keys of just about everything. Used for inhouse testing.
They would then sell those keys.

The same license key being used in Los Angeles, Latvia, London, and Long Island is not being used for 'in house testing'.

 

[USAFRet]

Your least expensive option is to obtain the actual recovery software from Asus. This brings it back to actual factory spec.

 

[jamesbones626]

But then I'm not making as much as i would like. i would only be able to sell it for the same price i paid to fix it at that point.

Welcome to the world of PC repair.

Again...you cannot sell that DreamSpark license.

Well lets say this. I have a computer for my girlfirend that may or may not have a non genuine windows 8 because i may or may not have lost the key. Now what if i put it on her computer and let her have it?

Just curious, what would be the repercussions for selling it? and how would they find out if i did sell it?

Repercussions? Your buyer ends up with a deactivated install. They do actually track that stuff. That is one of the reasons the TechNet Subscription concept got axed.
People would obtain a TechNet sub for $250. Includes multiple keys of just about everything. Used for inhouse testing.
They would then sell those keys.

The same license key being used in Los Angeles, Latvia, London, and Long Island is not being used for 'in house testing'.

 

[USAFRet]

Well lets say this. I have a computer for my girlfirend that may or may not have a non genuine windows 8 because i may or may not have lost the key. Now what if i put it on her computer and let her have it?

Well, lets say this:
"a. Access to the DreamSpark Subscription software.
Only those individuals specifically authorized under this agreement may access and use the software. "

 

[jamesbones626]

Well lets say this. I have a computer for my girlfirend that may or may not have a non genuine windows 8 because i may or may not have lost the key. Now what if i put it on her computer and let her have it?

Well, lets say this:
"a. Access to the DreamSpark Subscription software.
Only those individuals specifically authorized under this agreement may access and use the software. "

Alright. Well lets just say I'm not dealing with dreamspark. Would i be able to get the recovery from asus for free? Or maybe even online? I found a couple places that had the software but I'm not sure if its exactly what i need.

 

[USAFRet]

Well lets say this. I have a computer for my girlfirend that may or may not have a non genuine windows 8 because i may or may not have lost the key. Now what if i put it on her computer and let her have it?

Well, lets say this:
"a. Access to the DreamSpark Subscription software.
Only those individuals specifically authorized under this agreement may access and use the software. "

Alright. Well lets just say I'm not dealing with dreamspark. Would i be able to get the recovery from asus for free? Or maybe even online? I found a couple places that had the software but I'm not sure if its exactly what i need.

Free? Probably not. Might be <$50, though. You'd have to ask them.