Windows 8 Window 8 activation problem

William Viger said:

Window 8 professional
snip...
I tried to login with my Microsoft account but when I try to Activate my subscription, I need to enter this:
Benefit Access Number, Subscriber ID, or MPN Technical Contact ID

What is that?

Click to expand...

A. Unless you have a very old account with them then the id is an email address that has been linked to that computer i.e. the email you use to talk to Microsoft... note that Asus will also want you to give them an email.

B. lets go back to the basics... If you deleated the computers recovery drive then there is little point in talking to Asus about it... so I'd spend that money on a new laptop harddrive instead. That way the old drive can come out and placed in a desk someplace. This becomes your backup in case something goes shit faced while the new drive will be fast and clean.
Do the normal backups:
1. Run Belarc Advisor to get the keys for any installed software... such as Microsoft office or Adobe... people always tend to overlook these and they are hard to replace once lost.
2.*Don't use “Magical Belly Bean Keyfinder” but get pkeyui (Link Removed) instead because there could be up to two keys stored in that computers bios and pkeyui will show you both of them.
Install;
For the install you need a Microsoft Windows 8 iso (usb install) or disc... imo This page is worth a look at.
For usb install, decide if you want 8 and 7 # or just 8 because you need a format tool that can see the new UEFI % file systems... I use Rufus for this because its free and also supports the very lastest ntsf compression.

* You could skip this step and the Windows 8 install disc SHOULD be able to read the key for you at install without asking but I always like to have it on a piece of paper somewhere before I format a system.
% Any drive of 3t or more than 4 operating partitions should be UEFI but a Windows 7 disc used the old MBR file system.
# Windows does not let you install an older copy (eg, 7) over a newer one (eg, 8.1) so if you want them both a dual boot is the only valid options for laptops with a single physical harddrive... always install the lastest one first i.e. 8 before 7.

"My laptop came with window 8 on it, so if I go back to windows 7, I won't be able to reboot my PC either way..."

If you have to buy software you could buy a Windows 7 install package instead of Windows 8.
You would get a new serial number that you could register for Windows 7.

Then if you really wanted to you could upgrade to Windows 8 using the Windows 8 serial number or dual boot with both Operating Systems.


"For the install you need a Microsoft Windows 8 iso (usb install) or disc... imo This page is worth a look at".

I think the problem here is that the computer has to be bootable to do this.

It shouldn't be this hard, if you have a serial number, you should be able to get the software.

Mike

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I would pick Amazon because they are selling this item themselves and I've always found they will backup anything they sell.

I'm surprised that it costs this much for an out of date install set, but I guess this reflects how people feel about Windows 8 and causes a demand for the old disks.

It makes me mad that I gave away a Windows 7 install package that I had laying around to my nephew.

I still have a Windows XP install disk that has never been registered.

Something we didn't talk about it backing up the data on the hard drive.

If you have data you want to save before reinstalling you can make a Ubuntu disk, boot your computer and copy everything to an external drive or DVDs.

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

You don't need to install Ubuntu it will run your computer from the disk and give you a internet connection, a browser, a File manager and all the basic services even Open Office.

1. The computer does boot but does not have all the files needed to reach the desktop.

2. The op computer came with a working system before he removed the recovery drive… that’s hardly Microsoft or Asus did something wrong but more a case of failing to plan before doing a system wipe = planning to fail. Let's be clear, I feel for the guy and we all hope we can help put the pieces back together again.

3. An Asus recovery disc is not just an Asus copy of windows 8 but also installs all the drivers and third party software as well as resetting the harddrive to how is was when it was purchased… it is matched to that model of computer and while I agree that $50 still seems a lot but they are a business and can charge what they believe their time is worth.

4. The bios can be reached by pressing [f2] or [delete] (depends on the model) on Asus computers and pressing the [ESC] key during startup should bring up the boot orders i.e. USB, Disc or Harddrive.

At this point, I recommend the op try USB re-install as that has the least amount of things which can go wrong… if he has the money to spend on recovery disc or a new harddrive that’s great because the files will be safe but it's not that big a stress as long as he is willing to lose 3rd party data like emails and photos. I agree with MikeHawthorne that Ubuntu could also be used… I have always liked Asus computers myself and ime they get along just fine with Linux.

Hi

The problem is that he can't find anyplace to get the files to do the reinstall USB, Disk or otherwise.
Everyone has been looking for a Windows 8 ISO and there just doesn't seem to be one anyplace.

The only option I've seen that sounds like it might work is to start the upgrade on another computer and when it asks you, tell it you want to install by clicking on "Create Media" and it will write it to a disk.

It says in the article that it can be done on a separate computer.

But there's the chance that it could get screwed up and overwrite the OS on the donor computer.
I somehow did that when I upgraded my old computer to Windows 8, I wanted to install it dual boot and it overwrote my Windows 7 install even though I thought I was putting it on a different partition.

So if you are going to do that be very careful.

Here's the instructions again...

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-create-a-windows-8-installation-dvd-or-usb-drive-505769939

Mike

If I buy:
Link Removed

Are they gonna give me a new activation key ?
Is it gonna work no matter what problem i'm facing right now ?

I really don't want to spend 100$ on something that SHOULD work, I need something that will work.
If you guys say I should buy it because its gonna work, I'll buy it.

Thanks you!

Hi

Yes you will get a new activation key with the disk.
This image is on the Amazon page.

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Have you considered doing the partial install on another computer and getting an ISO image that way?

Do you already have a Windows 7 activation key?
What were you using when you were installing Windows 7 the first time?

If you do there's no problem getting a Windows 7 ISO image.

http://www.w7forums.com/threads/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads.12325/

They are free to download and authorized by Microsoft.

Should you find that you do have any problem registering it. a call to microsoft will fix it.
They aren't that hard to get along with if you can tell them what's going on and you have a unused serial number.

Mike

I've try to burn the .iso file but i'm having a problem while I do it, my CD is only 700MB and the iso is 3165MB, so I can't do it... Is the anything I can do before I need to buy new CDs ?

Ok I found a CD that had enough space, so now I have the .iso on my CD.
This is the same exact thing I made couple month ago to get window 7, but I had this error that took me a lot of time to solve, I'll try the CD on my alternate PC see if its work, if it does, I'll do it on my main PC.

Thanks you!

Hi

Just want to make sure that you did burn the ISO to the "DVD" using ImgBurn.
It's not the ISO that you want on the disk, it's the Windows Install Files that are in the ISO file.

http://www.imgburn.com/

Select Write image file to disk!



Just put the disk in your DVD, CD drive, select the ISO file and tell it to write it to the DVD.

The reason for this is that ImgBurn creates a bootable disk with all the Windows install files on it.
When you put it in the drive the computer will see it and give you the chance to select boot to the disk.

Mike

William Viger said:

snip... If I buy:

Thanks you!

Click to expand...

You get a disc and a key for $100- which is 1 disc more than you have now.
You should already have an oem key on your system which will kick in when you install a windows 8.

To be clear, it's your money so spend it any way you like... good luck m8.

Okay here I am now, the .iso file worked fine, I have window7 on my computer, the issue is drivers now.
I tried to download ethernet drivers to be able to go on internet, but when I download these:
Link Removed
I get this error: Cannot install drivers. No Intel(R) Adapters are present in this computer.
So i'm on my alternate PC right now, trying to fix this, I've searched on google but everything I found was about motherload, but I can't find what motherload is on my PC ...

Thanks you so much for the help, I know i'm not the best in this, but when it will be fixed and that my PC will work, I'll be able to reboot my PC anytime I want..

1. Go to the Asus k55a Link Removed support page and get their windows 7 drivers.

2. Install the chipset driver 1st as that will detect the motherboard and then do the audio, lan, wireless etc but DON'T much around with Bios tools… seriously, flushing a Bios is chancy and should only be done as a last resort.

3. Asus does allow you to use intel for your (vga) graphics card which may or may not be better than their one but be aware that using intel will make some of the 3rd party software stop working… most people (including me) consider this to be an acceptable price to pay for better gaming but perhaps that’s not your thing.

When I get to the wireless one, I start by opening the setup and thats what I get: The installation XML file is either missing or corrupted. The setup application will exit!

...

To Mike Hawthorne and USSNORWAY.....great job sticking with the OP and this thread. Job well done you 2.

They are really doing a great job, I hope I'll be able to fix everything soon!

Oh my god, I just found the driver I needed, for now everything is working well, I'll let you know if I get any problem,
but seriously thanks you USSNORWAY and Mike for your support, you guys deserve an Oscar.

Regards,
William

That’s great m8, two last considerations;

1. You still have a oem windows 8 key stored in the bios of that machine which kicks in automatically should you decide to return to 8 at some future time.

2. Consider spending some money on a good back up program… I personally use "Link Removed" because it makes the whole process of backing up a drive idiot proof. I can use it to back up a client's c drive onto a usb and even make that usb bootable, should disaster strike.

Hi

I'm really glad to hear you got it fixed.
I too recommend that you get backup software and make an image of your C:\ drive while everything is working.

I'm cheap, so I use Paragon Backup and Restore because it's free.

I've had to use it twice when I couldn't fix my own computer and it saved me both times.

What ever you use, make sure that you do the "Create a Bootable Repair Disk" part.
You can't save the backup in the partition you are restoring so if you don't have more then the C:\ Windows drive, buy a external USB hard drive and save it to that.

Then what ever happens yo should be able to be back up and running in an hour.

Mike

Ok so I downloaded Paragon,

I get to : Save to local / network drives.
or: Save data to FTP locations.
or: Burn the data to CD, DVD or BD.

which one do I use ? I'm kind of confused here

Hi

I just downloaded the new version of Paragon Backup and Restore 2014 free addition myself.

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/br-free/download.html

It appears that is works differently than my old version.

The new version will create a bootable recovery partition on your hard drive like you would have on a new laptop.
I'm in the process right now, installed the software and, I have created the partition using it.
But I have a lot of cleaning up to do before I create my backup of my boot drive.

I'll get back here after I have sorted it out and made a backup myself this may take a day or 2.

But you can download the program from the link above and install it on your computer.
When you download it just tell it to save to your desktop.

Then run that file from the desktop to do the installation it you have more than one hard drive I'd install it to the one that doesn't have Windows on it, if you don't just let it install in the default location.

Once I've done the whole process myself I'll come back describe the how it worked.

Mike