Blocked Product Key for Windows 8 Pro 64

sreilly24590

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I have been working on a Dell XPS One 2720 that had a failed 32GB SSD drive as well as a corrupt 2TB HDD. I removed the SSD and replaced the Seagate 2TB HDD with a WD 2TB Black drive. We ordered and received the restore media from Dell for that system and I reinstalled the system. Trying to activate fails with the message that it's locked. Buy another license link fails as well although I have no intention of dealing with Dell again. MS is of no assistance either referring back to Dell. Dell said any other calls, system out of warranty, will cost $120. Conversations with them so far have been worthless. So now it looks as if I might need to purchase a new product key but I haven't a good feeling that it's not likely to work. As this system doesn't belong to me, belongs to the Scottsville Volunteer Rescue Squad (svrs.org), I've already invested more time than I ever expected. Any advice would be very welcomed as I'm at my whits end with this project.

Thanks,
Steve
 
Solution
I would like to start off by saying my friend was going through the same issue weeks of calling Microsoft with crappy customer service and no help from lenovo the manufacturer of the computer, he brought his lenovo ideacentre a520 to me I have never worked on this computer before I took my linux iso usb booted from it, pulled up the terminal ('cmd') typed in the command i listed above (I edited it to leave out his key number') and within 20 seconds i had his product key from his MSDM file took a picture on my phone then loaded up a windows 8 iso, then put in his original key number and his windows was activated took all of 15-25 minutes no kidding.
Open a run dialogue by clicking the start menu and selecting run or search. Type in

slui 3

Exactly as seen above. Hit enter. Enter your current product key. If you are unsure of the product key because you did not record it before hand, or if entering it and attempting to activate using the slui 3 method does not work, then you almost certainly will need to purchase a new OS license and that WILL work.
 

sreilly24590

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Agreed but still it didn't activate even though it was re-installed using the Dell USB Media that we bought directly from Dell that was ordered using our service tag number. There couldn't have been a more straight forward procedure that has been a total wreck. What I didn't buy was their overpriced parts and service. So will a new Windows 8 Pro 64 bit product key work and finally get us back in service? I have a screen shot that shows the Windows Activation "locked" key message but don't see a way to attach or include.

Steve
 
Yes. A retail purchased Windows license should work on ANY system that meets the hardware requirements.

Is there a particular reason or feature of the Pro version you feel makes it necessary?

Unless you absolutely need one of the following features, which generally most users don't excepting very high end power or corporate users, or have some need for more than 128GB of memory, the standard version of Windows 8 is much less expensive and will work fine for the majority of users, even business users.

These are the only real differences between the versions.

Windows Server domain, Encrypting File System, Hyper-V, and Virtual Hard Disk Booting, Group Policy as well as BitLocker and BitLocker To Go.


Back to the original subject though, just out of curiosity, did you happen to enter a product key during the installation process, or did you click on "skip this step"?
 

sreilly24590

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I was never asked for a product key ans wasn't aware of the issue until I opened the PC Settings screen to update Windows. The reason for Pro was that all of our networked systems are some version of Pro. That also includes all of the Albemarle County Fire Rescue systems. One other feature not mentioned, I think, is Remote Desktop. I was simply looking to replace what was installed prior but then will upgrade to windows 10 most likely.
 

BigBrian509

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First off if you need to recover a lost/blocked product key, The easiest and quickest way I have found is through hacking your bios with a linux iso and some terminal commands to find the original product key for any windows 8 and up, since Dell or Microsoft are no help and sounds like you need the original product key to activate it. I would recommend Linux Mint 17.3 to new comers after getting to the desktop of it open a terminal and type in the following commands:

ls /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM

Which will give you the MSDM table from your BIOs you are looking for.
In there you will find your license key! :D

To get it, you need to read the contents of the

/sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM file.

Here's an example:
After your "mint@mint" ID type the command and after typing MSDM press enter and your computer will print out the following, then look for your 25 digit product key simple and easy.

Mint@mint:~$ sudo xxd /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM
0000000: 4d53 444d 5500 0000 0313 4850 514f 454d MSDMU.....HPQOEM
0000010: 534c 4943 2d4d 5043 0100 0000 4850 2020 SLIC-MPC....HP
0000020: 0000 0400 0100 0000 0000 0000 0100 0000 ................
0000030: 0000 0000 1d00 0000 4639 XXXX XXXX XXXX ........F98**-**
0000040: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ***-*****-*****-
0000050: XXXX XXXX XX ****T

The *** are the contents of the license key, in ASCII text.
 

sreilly24590

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I appreciate the reply but have tried several programs that were suppose to get the same information and none showed a MSDM file. They showed plenty of others but not the highly sought after MSDM. I've jumped through hoops and downloaded every possible suggestion without luck. If I were charging $2 an hour to do this I could have built a great computer from scratch not to mention downloading iso files of various Windows version that should work. Even trying an older Windows 7 Pro OEM I have here won't install. Looking at the hard drive I seem to now have 4 protected partitions I can't seem to get rid of and a 1.80 TB partition that I can clean. Acronis Disk Cleanser seems to die on the other partitions. At least let me recover the new WD 2TB Black drive I installed new.





 

BigBrian509

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Jun 26, 2016
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I would like to start off by saying my friend was going through the same issue weeks of calling Microsoft with crappy customer service and no help from lenovo the manufacturer of the computer, he brought his lenovo ideacentre a520 to me I have never worked on this computer before I took my linux iso usb booted from it, pulled up the terminal ('cmd') typed in the command i listed above (I edited it to leave out his key number') and within 20 seconds i had his product key from his MSDM file took a picture on my phone then loaded up a windows 8 iso, then put in his original key number and his windows was activated took all of 15-25 minutes no kidding.
 
Solution

sreilly24590

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Oct 18, 2011
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What I finally did just to get the system back was wipe the drive completely and install a spare OEM Windows 7 Pro 64 version I found going through my software. It installed without a hitch and activated just fine. So it cost me a 2TB HD and a OEM version of Windows 7. It then offered the upgrade to Windows 10 Pro which I allowed. I just wanted to be done with this as I've been dealing with this since the 1st of May. It isn't my system, belongs to the volunteer rescue squad I run with, and it was consuming way too much time and effort. I appreciate the response and encouragement but it was going on far too long. I may, just for my education, try your suggestion on a small HD I have here to see if I can get this to work as explained.

Thanks again.