finding w8.1 product key through alternative means?

[Sangetsu0412]

Hello,
I recently received a broken w8.1 computer. The HDD was in raw format and repairing through standard means was no avail. So I used getdataback ntfs and recovered my friends data. I'm now trying to recover the w8.1 key through nirsoft produkey but i get a message : error 1009: The configuration registry database is corrupt.

Anyone has another idea on what to do? I only have data + windows in a separate folder on my own HDD

 

[Saga Lout]

Any chance of popping that disk back in with a new hard drive as well and use the manufacturer's recovery option at boottime, then upgrade to Windows 10? With some luck there may be a hidden Partition with enough information on it to make it fly

 

[Sangetsu0412]

the initial problem was a discflaw after rerolling from w10 to w8.1, it gave an isStorAV.sys error and IRQ errors. chkdsk (via the recovery option) gave away many bad sectors and bad blablabla. Using the fixoption finally led me to taking the hdd out and using getdataback to get that data back... getting the P-key is still trouble. I heard about a powershell script but that one only works with working windows, nirsoft, also "working" windows...

I have an official w8.1 iso I got from microsoft and I just need the key to reactivate .

 

[Sangetsu0412]

By this answer i mean the disk itself contains no partitions and is thus unreadable without 3rd party software.
Testdisk also fails to find the partitions in order to rewrite them

 

[Saga Lout]

We don't do "bump" around here. We're a global Forum and we aren't always here for all the 24 hours in a day.

That no-one has come up with an answer reinforces my view that if you can't get your hands on the key, you'll need to buy a new one.

 

[BadActor]

Would the key be embedded in the motherboard (Bios)? Can you try installing Windows 10 and see if it activates?

https://www.pcsteps.com/4198-get-windows-8-1-product-key-bios/

 

[Saga Lout]

I tried a DVD ISO of Windows 10 on a Windows 7 machine which had failed the upgrade at 99% five times. I know - I'm stupidly patient!
It starts of like an installation asking whether you want to upgrade or install and whichever you choose, the genuine Product Key is dismissed with a "the wrong key for this version" message.

So it would seem it doesn't look for a tattoo in the BIOS and doesn't even look in the original system. It still expects the installer to provide it.

 

[Sangetsu0412]

apologies for the bump-thing. I'm on a tight schedual. I managed to recover all data needed by my friend, I'll install an original w8.1 to make sure the key might work. I know that installing windows 10 on a windows 8.1 laptop won't activate the key since they would mismatch (microsoft news). We'll see from there.

 

[ChaoticWolf]

Try going to CMD and typing in "wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey"
It should display the product key for the operating system

 

[Sangetsu0412]

Hey Chaotic, I can't use it since i can't get into the original system since it's in raw format.

Copied hdd via getdataback for ntfs to my own hdd but when i run checks for key it's corrupted . Running that command gives similar error and only my own windows computer key.
I'm still trying

 

[ChaoticWolf]

Try using the Magical Jellybean Keyfinder
Again might not work though, I don't know, this problem you're having is quite confusing. If you try loads of solutions and don't get any luck, your best option is to buy a product key. They're not THAT expensive. They're affordable id say. They don't cost a pile of cash

 

[Saga Lout]

Magical Jelly Bean is free but won't do this job without its sister programme, Recover Keys, which does costs some money. It can find keys on broken systems buy your disk seems to be way far gone.

Worth trying though and definitelly cheaper than a genuine Windows licence.

 

[Sangetsu0412]

In the end I had to give up, MJB also failed to produce the key, reinstallation of w8 also failed to produce the key...

Thank you all for the input.

KR

sangetsu