Retrieve Windows 8.1 Key from BIOS/CMOS for Reactivation?

[KalebJohns]

Hello, everyone. I've got a weird issue that I'm a bit confused on how to handle this. Bear with me as I try and explain what's going on.

I purchased a really nice HP Ultrabook from a friend, came with Windows 7 installed, plentiful RAM, and a nice mSATA/HDD setup. The laptop originally came with Windows 8 (not 8.1) Pro on it, and I want to put that back on it. I can't upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8/8.1, as he activated this laptop through an illegitimate KMS activator, AutoKMS.exe.

With Vista and 7, COA's included the keys on stickers placed somewhere on the laptop. Since this is a Windows 8 laptop, there is no COA, thus no visible key to use to activate 8 when installed. As I seem to understand, the product key is somehow "attached" to the BIOS/CMOS/something hardware related.

So, is there a way to "extract" this key from the BIOS/CMOS/whatever? Or is it set up that after installing Windows 8, I try and activate it and it automatically activates itself? I'm confused on how Microsoft thought this was supposed to play out. Thanks in advance.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/support-topics/windows8-support.html

You will have to contact Hp because , this forum doesn't provide help with illegal software.