No Windows 8 product key stickers = legitimate customers pay. Class action lawsuit?

THE CASE OF THE MISSING PRODUCT KEY:
I'm pissed... No really. :fou: I bought a Toshiba C855-S5118 from Walmart a little over a year ago and the hard drive crashed. Naturally, I replaced it. So now I'm trying to reinstall Windows 8 with a "borrowed" disk and it wants my product key. I flip over the laptop: It's not there. Looked in the battery compartment: NOTHING.

Now, I know I didn't remove it (I'm not friggin stupid). So after some Googling, I discover that computer manufacturers are now omitting the product keys on new laptops. Conveniently, I can't find the damn disc. :ange: So I call Toshiba...


1 HOUR & 45 MINUTES LATER...
Toshiba was no help whatsoever. After being transferred around and talking to 4 agents, I can't get no satisfaction. Even after giving them my serial # and furnishing my store receipt, they STILL wouldn't tell me what my original product key is, so I demanded to speak to a supervisor. I pleaded my case to him that I was a legitimate owner and he just recited the same scripted answers the last 3 Indian agents told me. That there are only two options:

• 1) Send it in for an out of warranty repair (yeah right), or
• 2) Buy a recovery media from them for only $39.95. (Even though I'm a legitimate owner).

SO WHERE ARE ALL THE LITIGATION ATTORNEYS?
If you ask me, this is nothing short of a SCAM. It's just one more way to juice legitimate customers out of $40 for a recovery disk and I'm surprised there isn't a class action law suit yet. This could be a goldmine for a lawyer. Who would have thought... Your hard drive crashes, and they TAX YOU for it??? I call it pouring salt on a wound! Yeah, I know I'm a buffoon for losing my disks, but given this is a relatively new OS, I was completely unprepared for this, like so many others suckers that came before me.



I sure would really like to get my hands on "SW Media - USB-SATELLITE-C855-Windows 8 64bit Professional-EN", whatever that means. Can't find the disks anywhere online.

ONE SMALL STEP FOR PC... ONE GIANT LEAP BACKWARDS
Not to start a Mac vs Pc debate, but it's bull like this that makes me wonder how PC isn't dead yet. Did you know that on a Mac, restoring is a simple as holding a key at startup? Even with a new HDD, it will connect to the internet and download/install all the software you need. No serial, receipt, product key or anything. Apple takes yet another leap into the future while PC... (dare I say it?)... "pulls another Vista"... All I know is that this is NOT OK.

 

When I was reinstalling Windows 8 on my Asus to a SSD, all I did was load in a Win 8 DVD and kind of "next"d my way through, it never asked for a key and when I got to the desktop it was activated; and no, I was not using a preactivated disk that came with my laptop.

I believe in UEFI machines, the key is actually stored in the BIOS to prevent having to use unique keys for each laptop, probably saves a few pennies from the sticker, or, something.

Edit: Don't jump the shark so quickly there. The no-media thing has been a problem since the early days of vista (depending on the manufacturer).

 

The only way I was able to do it was run a key finder while my machine was working.

Normally Windows only showed a 20-digit "user code" and not the 25-digit "product key", but the key finder was able to extract it.

Installing with that code was a much more difficult hassle though, including requiring a call to microsoft.

If you have you 20-digit code, you should be able to call Microsoft.

 

Asus is now owned by Dell, and they has always employed a SLP method of activation. They are the exception to the rule.

 

Since when? Googled and wikied it and didn't find that info anywhere.

 

?? ASUS is one of the Major OEM / ODM's and has never been sold to Dell or any other corporation, it went as a public about 20 years ago though. I am not sure where you got that tidbit from as they actually design and manufacture a number of Dell components including motherboards for the Precision and old Vostro Series laptops

As to the whole EFI embedded key it is called a SLIC table in windows 7 and an MSDM table in 8. and is integrated into almost every manufacturers systems,

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/hh673514.aspx

http://www.eightforums.com/windows-8-news/14217-windows-8-moves-bios-based-product-keys-3.html

http://superuser.com/questions/513904/how-to-extract-win-8-oem-key-embedded-in-the-bios

 

...wait what? Dell has enough money to own itself and anything else they bought/owned beforehand (SonicWall surprised me actually), but I doubt anything else.

I wouldn't be surprised if Asus made motherboards for Dell though (I guess they do actually, haha), but most of it all comes from the same place in (insert your favorite eastern country here).

 

i was wondering if i can actually distribute a privately uploaded windows 8 iso which is both OEM and retail installable, as a matter of fact i have a dreamspark iso and an upgrade downloaded iso, for which only the dreamspark one worked on my OEM windows 8 machine......

 

1. Make a bootable Windows 8 USB key.
2. Create \sources\ei.cfg as OEM : Windows Setup Edition Configuration and Product ID Files (EI.cfg and PID.txt)
3. ...
4. Profit.

The key is pulled from the hardware during installation.

 

Not too sure, I can ask

 

Why is reinstallation so easy for some with W8 preinstalled on their computer, and impossible for others? I just don't get it.
To me it looks like a complete trial and error, I've seen complaints so many times but still no explanation.

Storing the license in BIOS is an awesome idea, but why won't it work for everyone?

 

because you have to reinstall the same version as was licenced to that system AND not use an OEM or upgrade copy that does not bypass looking for the table. SubZeros post has a nice link explaining that and even how to modify the install configuration if necessary.

it almost always boils down to they downloaded the wrong edition or had a wrongly configured ISO image.

 

I think the other user meant Alienware not Asus... but in any case Win 8 keys are embedded in the BIOS. No key should be necessary.

If all else fails try this: Install Windows 8 without a Product Key - Super User

 

I noticed the same think that the sticker with the product key is gone.. If your notebook goes into the manufactures' shop for repairs under warranty or not, they will format the HDD and install the Original Operating System with recovery partitions again and upon first boot up you'll go thru the whole process of setting your pc up again just like it came out of the retail box, white box or brown box or open box, you'll have the option to save files or not. . I have Full Retail Edition of Windows 8.1 with the Product Key sticker on a plastic credit card in a slot in the Retail Box, thus the issue of the license # recovery is a moot point for me.

Cheers
3Fees

Diet--I have gone Vegan- Vegetarian fir now,,,:hi2:

 

Kuu is very right.

The idea of the BIOS encoded activation key is not a new concept. Or at least it isn't for Alienware (can't speak for the other OEMs). With my M17x R2, there is a Windows marker in a special table within the BIOS. This tells the Windows Installer that the system was obtained from an OEM and includes an OEM license for a Microsoft operating system installed. Microsoft still included a product key sticker with the systems cause there were instances where the system board needed replacing, and therefore the BIOS chip was swapped out. The new one did not always come with an updated BIOS with a valid Windows Marker encoded.

Educate yourselves: You receive an error message when you try to activate Windows Vista or Windows 7 on a computer that was obtained from an OEM

OP, one thing to remember is if you install a different version of Windows 8 than what came with your system, it won't match up with the Windows marker in your BIOS. That may be why it is rejecting the activation. Double check if the borrowed disc is a retail copy or OEM copy. And for fact, you may not be able to install a non-Toshiba OEM version of Windows 8 on your system. Microsoft may have added that little catch into the encoded Windows marker.

 

Win7 used bios marker "this is brand X pc" with a generic key for each OS version. Never was the key itself in bios.
Win8 has bios marker "abcde-12345-defgh-56789-ijklm..." which is a unique license code for each machine.

Changing a Win7 motherboard to another did not deactivate windows 7 as long as the bios marker was correct (considering laptops this was simple). With Win8 a new key has to be burned into bios of replacement motherboard after replacement.

The sticker in Win7 machines was/is the unique _your_ key. The fact that it was activated in the factory using another method is a different thing. That sticker is no longer needed, since the unique license key is now in bios.

Most difficult part related to Win8 is that there is no official .ISO files easily available. Makes it that much more difficult to hunt for the correct version. I find it immensely stupid that Win8.1 disc doesn't install with Win8 key in bios but if I enter it afterwards it works anyways... if I manage to use correct .iso file in the first time.

 

Many OEMs (not all) have a process to generate an install media from the recovery partition. Did we check for this before swapping drives?

 

The disk used to install doesn't really seem to matter - I was able to reinstall Windows 8 (non-Pro) and have it automatically activate via the BIOS product key using a retail Windows 8 Pro disk. In fact, in my case it's a huge PITA because I discovered that there's actually no way to do a clean install of Windows 8 Pro directly

 

What about adding Professional to ei.cfg, and/or adding the stock Pro key ti pid.txt, wouldn't that start the installation of Pro?

If you remove the Core version from the iso with DISM then there's no way it could be installed.