Eventually, Windows should work like that (except that it would require a product key). With OSX, you didn't have to consider if the disc was the right combination of upgrade/full/home/pro/retail/OEM/64-bit/32-bit.
Otherwise, that's an inefficient use of the storage space on the install media to have core files duplicated in each image. Maybe that's how the multi-edition installs work already. It would be dumb to come up with an imaging system that doesn't support supplemental images. Heck, you can purchase / change editions after the install using the built-in options in Windows, so there's no reason this process can't apply to the install images (copy core image, then copy supplemental/optional OEM customizations, then automatically unlock/modify the specific edition features determined by product key). Supplemental images should apply the other OEM customizations. They should have built it so the image always includes the same core files and you could unlock any edition with the right key. (Alternatively, you can install 8.1 with the generic key and then fire up AIDA64 to find the 8.0 key-you do not need to have an activated copy of Windows in order to read the MSDM entry.)Ĭlick to expand.There's simply no reason for Microsoft to design it with those limitations. And then once installed, you can punch in the 8.0 key that you had harvested earlier. Next, install 8.1 using a generic install key (or modify the media so that there's an ei.cfg, in which case, the installer will automatically use a generic key without asking).
You can do this by downloading the trial version of AIDA64, and going to Motherboard > ACPI and looking for the MSDM entry. So first, you need to read the key from the UEFI. So the 8.1 installer will only accept an 8.1 key, even though the actual 8.1 OS accepts both 8.0 and 8.1 keys. The problem is that the install media, for reasons beyond me, only accept keys for its own version, whereas Windows proper accepts keys for all compatible versions. This is because, encoded in each key, is information of what version for which that key is canonical. Likewise, if it has a 8.1 key in the UEFI, the 8.0 disc won't recognize it, but the 8.1 disc will. If there is a 8.0 key in the UEFI, it will be automatically recognized and used by 8.0 install media, but not 8.1 install media. Microsoft really made a mess of the product keys in the 8.0->8.1 transition. I checked the rest of the product key over and over, compared to the picture I snapped when the utility was running.
It lets me type some characters, but not the final character that I need to type. It won't let me type the last character of the key (it says "1 character remaining").
The generic key I used installed the Pro edition, so I'm pretty sure I can't just re-enter the key in the Activation Wizard.įrom within Windows, I did the autorun from the install media. On boot, it instantly goes to the UEFI loading screen and doesn't respond to any of the F-keys I've tried. I want to delete partitions and reinstall using that key, but there's no way to boot to the install disc anymore (damn UEFI!). I had to Google a generic key so I could install and run a utility to obtain the original product key.
I guessed "F5Y37UA#ABA" - but the site said Windows 8.1 was "not supported" on that device -? HP's site asks for the "product number," which is a bit worn and hard to make out. I tried to find out if there was a trick to it. The closest thing I could do was wait for boot to fail and press F2 to access a menu with 3 diagnostic options for testing memory, hard drive, etc. I could not enter any kind of BIOS Setup menu to find the product key. The product key is built into the BIOS, I know that it's not a straightforward process to reinstall Windows 8.1 - I do have a Windows 8.1 install disc that I made many months ago, and I'm told the product key will determine which version (Pro, Home, etc) installs. Though I don't see any stickers, I'm pretty sure it has an AMD APU. It has a tiny little battery, but it's not exactly a netbook because it has an optical disk drive.
A coworker needed me to replace a bad hard drive in an HP 15-d074nr "notebook." - that's in quotes because the weak internal hardware seems more like a tablet than a notebook.