Active4 years, 1 month ago
I did a fresh install of Win 8 on my PC, I was told the OEM product key will automatically supplied in the installtion. However, it did not happen in my case.. this is the method i used to install Windows 8. Now im stuck with an unregistered Win 8. I'm wondering, now, if there's a way to extract the Product Key from my BIOS?
Edit: my pc came with OEM Windows 8 installed
Community♦
How to get the Windows 8.1 product key from inside Windows. In this scenario, the laptop that came with preinstalled Windows 8 has a fully functional Windows operating system. It doesn't need to be Windows 8; it could have Windows 7. After we boot in Windows, we download NeoSmart's Oem Product Key Tool. The product key system is complicated to understand because Microsoft doesn’t really want typical Windows users to reinstall Windows on their PCs. Instead, they’d rather you use your computer manufacturer’s recovery media.
When we download Windows 7 ISOs, we can install Windows without a product key.The installation will go through, and we will get a 30-day trial of the operating system. With the official Windows 8.1 ISOs, though, we can't skip entering the product key during the installation.Let's see how to bypass this restriction and install Windows 8.1 without a product key. Windows 8 Activator is the best activator out there.A security breach has been revealed in the official Microsoft’s product activation process, which permits pirates to get a legitimate activation of Windows 8/8.1 without spending a dime.
user22105user2210554555 gold badges1212 silver badges3030 bronze badges
6 Answers
See this tutorial for more help:
Windows 8 clean install from iso using the machines own Windows 8 OEM licence
The BIOS does store the OEM key. If you make a clean install on an unparticioned HDD with an MSDN installer, it can detect the key. However, the windows edition of the key must match the edition of the installer (Pro, with or without Media Center Pack, Enterprise, etc.). If the two don't match, the installer will prompt to enter the key and activate Windows.
Here's another interesting tutorial, to install a different version of Windows 8:
Installing Windows 8 Pro over Standard OEM in your new Win8 Certified notebookhttp://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/698920-installing-windows-8-pro-over-standard-oem-your-new-win8-certified-notebook.html
olee22olee22
Download RW-EVERYTHING. Run it. Click on the ACPI Table button at the top. After that click on the MSDM tab. Your BIOS's product key is at the bottom.
When the program opens just remember to close the bottom windows first - having two windows open can cause the program to crash.
I tested this program because I had a hdd crash and had to clone the hard drive to a new one. I did a factory restore on the new drive, and then of course it wanted to be reactivated. This program helped me retrieve the key.
Jan Doggen3,22066 gold badges2828 silver badges4343 bronze badges
That1GuyThat1Guy
The free OEM Product Key Tool from NeoSmart Technologies is probably the most straight-forward way of doing this. Just run the standalone exe and it'll come up in the main dialog like this:
Disclosure: I work for NeoSmart
Mahmoud Al-QudsiMahmoud Al-Qudsi2,74844 gold badges2525 silver badges3939 bronze badges
I had a similar situation.. Brand new Dell M3800 and I immediately scratched all the disk to install Linux on the thing, and as a result I 'lost' the key. Still, I wanted to install 'my' Windows version into a VM (it comes on a USB stick).
So here is what I did:
- dump the USB key (the entire device) to an image file (using
dd
), - dump the ACPI tables using
acpidump
.
As an answer mentions above, the table to look for is
MSDM
; the product key is the last characters in this table.fgefge
From my experience, the OEM product key in the BIOS was never supplied at installation. I recommend those who wish to do a fresh install of Windows 8 on an OEM machine obtain the OEM Product Key first by using this tool (This step is important, because if you perform a fresh install without having obtained your OEM key, it would be extremely difficult to extract the product key from your BIOS). After formatting and a fresh install, enter your OEM product key manually. Immediately after the entry, your Windows 8 will automatically be activated (it does not require online activation). Good luck!
user22105user2210554555 gold badges1212 silver badges3030 bronze badges
There is no product key in your BIOS. As you correctly said, the key is automatically supplied in the installation. Since you didn't install using the OEM's installer, the key was not supplied during the installation. You need to install with the OEM's Windows 8 installation media or with the OEM's recovery method.
David SchwartzDavid Schwartz57.4k66 gold badges8888 silver badges133133 bronze badges
protected by Community♦Jun 17 '13 at 5:40
Thank you for your interest in this question. Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).
Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?
Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged windows-8 or ask your own question.
If you’re planning on doing a reinstall of Windows but can’t find your product key, you’re in luck because it’s stored in the Windows Registry. It’s just not easy to find, and it’s impossible to read without some help. Luckily, we’re here to help.
As you can see in the screenshot above, the product ID is stored in the registry but is in a binary format that can’t be read by humans unless you are some sort of Cylon. You aren’t, are you?
RELATED:Beginner Geek: How to Reinstall Windows on Your Computer
We’re not really sure why Microsoft went to great lengths to make it difficult to see the product keys for their software, especially since they are stored right in there in the registry and can be read by software, if not by humans. We can only assume that they don’t want anybody to re-use a key from an old computer.
FIGHT AGAINST A DEADLY CULT Free Hope County in solo or two-player co-op. Welcome to Hope County, Montana, land of the free and the brave but also home to a fanatical doomsday cult known as Eden’s Gate. Stand up to cult leader Joseph Seed, and his siblings, the Heralds, to spark the fires of resistance and liberate the besieged community. Recruit Guns and Fangs for hire to help defeat the cult. A WORLD THAT HITS BACK Wreak havoc on the cult and its members but beware of the wrath of Joseph Seed and his followers. Far cry 5 download key.
The great thing is that you can even recover a key, even from a computer that won’t boot anymore. All you need is access to the disk drive from a working computer. Keep reading for more.
Three Places You Might Find the Key
RELATED:Where to Download Windows 10, 8.1, and 7 ISOs Legally
The key you need will be in one of three places:
- Stored in software on your PC: When you (or your PC manufacturer) installs Windows, Windows stores its product key in the registry. You can extract this product key, and–often–enter it when reinstalling Windows on your PC. Crucially, you’ll need to grab it from your operating system before you begin reinstalling Windows or it could be deleted if you format your hard drive.
- Printed on a sticker: Some PCs use a technology called “System Locked Pre-installation,” or SLP. If your PC uses this, the product key on your PC–the one stored in the registry, and the one key-viewer applications display–will be different from the actual key your PC needs. The actual key is on a certificate of authenticity (COA) sticker on your PC or its power supply. The one in the registry and key-viewer application is a red herring. This system was common for Windows 7 PCs.
- Embedded in your PC’s UEFI firmware: Many newer PCs that come with Windows 8 or 10 use a new method. The key for the version of Windows the PC comes with is stored in the computer’s UEFI firmware or BIOS. You don’t even need to know it–assuming you’re installing the same edition of Windows the PC came with, it should automatically activate and work without you needing to enter a key. It’ll all happen automatically.
Be sure to use the same version and edition of Windows the computer came with. In other words, if it came with Windows 7 Home Premium, you can’t install Windows 7 Professional.
If the Key Is Stored in Your PC’s Hardware
Let’s start with the simplest situation. On newer Windows 8 and 10 computers, the key isn’t stored in software where it can be wiped, or on a sticker where it could be smudged off or removed. No one can glance at your computer’s sticker to steal its product key. Instead, the key is stored in the computer’s UEFI firmware or BIOS by the manufacturer.
You don’t have to do anything special if you have this. You should just be able to reinstall the same edition of Windows the PC came with and it should just work without even asking you for a key. (Still, it may be best to find the product key using one of the below methods and write it down before reinstalling Windows–just in case.)
If you want to find the UEFI-embedded key and write it down, you can do so quite simply. Just open the Start menu, type “powershell”, and run the Powershell application that comes up.
Then, enter the following command and press Enter:
How To Get Serial Key From The System Windows 8 7
You should be rewarded with your embedded license key. Write it down and store it in a safe place.
Read the Key From the Certificate of Authenticity Sticker
If you have a Windows 7-era PC, there’s a good chance the PC’s key is a single key the manufacturer uses for all their PCs. Thanks to “System Locked Pre-installation,” you’re not allowed to use that key to install Windows. If you try, you’ll get error messages about the key being invalid.
To check, you’ll need to look for a certificate of authenticity sticker on your computer. The COA sticker verifies that the computer came with an authentic copy of Windows, and that sticker has a product key printed on it. You’ll need that product key to reinstall Windows–and, if the manufacturer used System Locked Pre-installation, that key is different from the one your PC came with in software.
Examine your computer to find the key. On a laptop, it may be on the bottom of the laptop. If your laptop has a removable battery, it may be under the battery. If there’s some sort of compartment you can open, it might be in there. It may even be stuck to the laptop’s charger brick. If it’s a desktop, look on the side of the desktop’s case. If it’s not there, check the top, back, bottom, and anywhere else it might be.
If the key has rubbed off of the sticker, there’s not much you can do. You can try contacting your computer’s manufacturer and explaining what happened, but we can’t guarantee they’ll help. Microsoft would always be happy to sell you another key, though!
Use NirSoft’s ProduKey to Recover Product Keys (Even if You Can’t Boot the PC)
The easiest way to get access to your product key is with a third-party utility, and there’s nobody better at those than NirSoft. Their utilities are always crapware-free, and are always really useful. The only issue with this particular utility is that some antivirus will detect it as a false positive, because some malware might try to steal your product key.
Note: the NirSoft keyfinder won’t always work for OEM computers, depending on how they decided to activate the licenses. If your OEM installed your computer and used a single key for all their PCs, this won’t work. It also doesn’t work for Office 2013.
All you have to do is download ProduKey, unzip it, and then run it to immediately see all of your product keys. It’s as simple as that.
If you want to recover a key from a dead computer, you can hook up the hard drive to a working PC, and then run ProduKey and use File > Select Source to point to the external Windows directory. You can then grab the keys from that computer easily.
You can also use a Linux live CD to pull the Windows directory off the other computer and onto a thumb drive, or just grab the registry files if you prefer. If you need help, we’ve got a guide to pulling data off a dead computer.
Find the Windows Key Without Any Software (Advanced Users Only)
Assuming you can boot your computer without any problems, you can easily create a simple VBscript that will read the value out of the registry and then translate it into the format that you need for reinstalling. We’re not sure where this script came from, but reader raphoenix posted it on our forum a long time ago, so we’re sharing it here for you. Iobit uninstaller serial key.
Copy and paste the following into a Notepad window:
You’ll need to use File -> Save As, change the “Save as type” to “All Files” and then name it productkey.vbs or something similar ending with the vbs extension. We’d recommend saving to the desktop for easy access.
Once you’ve saved it, you can just double-click and the popup window will show you your product key.
Pro tip: If you use CTRL+C when the popup window is active, it will copy the contents of the window to the clipboard, and then you can paste it into Notepad or somewhere else.
The product key system is complicated to understand because Microsoft doesn’t really want typical Windows users to reinstall Windows on their PCs. Instead, they’d rather you use your computer manufacturer’s recovery media. But the recovery media is full of the bloatware you don’t want on your PC–that’s why so many geeks often opt to reinstall Windows on their new PCs.
READ NEXT- › How to Migrate Your Nest Account to a Google Account
- › Will Your Favorite iPhone Apps Work on iPad?
- › How to Troubleshoot Web Pages That Won’t Load
- › What’s New in Windows 10’s 19H2 Update, Arriving Fall 2019
- › How to Make Nearly Any Dumb Appliance Smart