HP Windows 8 Recovery CD

[KrippleKing097]

Hey guys. I recently broke my HDD, replaced it, and tried to install windows. I was able to get windows (unactivated) on the pc and when I tried to activate it, it I got an error saying that " this product key cannot be used to activate a retail version of windows."

When I bought the PC windows 8 was preinstalled on my computer, so there wasn't a product key or recovery discs, so the product key I used was taken from my BIOS.

Contacted Microsoft, they told me to contact HP. Contacted HP, they said I need to pay $50 for recovery discs. That's basically half of what it would cost if I were to buy windows 8.1 off of the Microsoft website.

I think that it's BS that they are making me pay for something that I basically paid for when I bought the laptop.

So my question is: is there a way to get windows back onto my HDD (legally, of course), without having to pay for this? I did have, and my BIOS can confirm that I did have windows, well, my product key can as well.

If I'm out of luck, I guess I'll just go with Ubuntu until I decide that I need a new PC...

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

You need to install from OEM installation media, not retail installation media. Once you install from the correct media, Windows will either find the key in your BIOS and activate without even asking, or you'll have the option to use your key that you retrieved from BIOS to activate after installation. If the BIOS key isn't read automatically by the OEM installation, you may need to perform the installation using a generic key.

I've dealt with HP support before and agree that their cost for recovery media is quite unreasonable.

 

[KrippleKing097]

You need to install from OEM installation media, not retail installation media. Once you install from the correct media, Windows will either find the key in your BIOS and activate without even asking, or you'll have the option to use your key that you retrieved from BIOS to activate after installation. If the BIOS key isn't read automatically by the OEM installation, you may need to perform the installation using a generic key.

I've dealt with HP support before and agree that their cost for recovery media is quite unreasonable.

hey, thanks for helping out again. Were you able to get the price reduced, or did they eventually just let you download it?

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

I'm not paying HP for their recovery media. Using the key that is embedded in HP's BIOS I reinstalled from an OEM Windows 8.1 installation DVD I already had on hand.

Here's a Microsoft link that will guide you through creating your own reinstallation media for Windows 8.1 if you need:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media