Windows 8 Pro won't activate

Activation problem after Media center update

I also am having activation problems with Windows 8 with Parallels.
I first installed Windows 8 Pro in Bootcamp and activated without a problem. After the boot camp install was working I installed Parallels Desktop 8, and used the existing boot camp install of Windows 8. Initially the installation of Windows in Parallels showed that it was not activated. I tried the phone activation from within Parallels and successfully activated the install. All worked well, I was able to use Windows 8 either natively in boot camp, or in Parallels in the Mac OS environment. It showed as activated in both environments.

I then installed the free Media Center upgrade to Windows 8 while in the native Windows 8 boot camp install. After that it showed as not activated in either native boot camp or in Parallels.

I spent well over 3 hours with Microsoft 1st level technical support with the technician using remote access to the machine to fix the activation. We went through repeated cycles where he activated in one environment (native boot camp or Parallels virtualization) only to have the other environment no longer activated. After 3 hours, of which at least 2 and a half were with the tech, he gave up and wanted to assign it to a level 2 technician. That technician was to have called the following night, and after 3 days I have yet to have a follow up with Microsoft.

I'm sure the technician burned through every possible reactivation available for my original license keys, and seems to have used new keys now that also don't even show the phone options. I saw him use the phone activation option several times.

Does anyone have a better idea of how this should work, because I don't have a lot of faith in Microsoft, and getting to actually talk to someone who has a clue seems to be an effort in futility.

Does the slmgr /rearm work? From what I've read online, the /rearm is only a temporary "fix" that will time out. The timeout from what I read becomes increasingly. Does that work - long term? I'm a little afraid at this point of trying much as my system is currently at least activated in native boot camp mode (it took some pleading with the first tech not to give up at the point where nothing was activated) and I don't want to "break" that activation.

Help!!! does anyone have a clue how this is supposed to work? Really, if Microsoft would spend more time making a quality product instead of worrying about activation I wouldn't have bought a Mac in the first place!!
 
Update: working after hours with MSFT support

OK, here is an update. It took almost 7 hours with Microsoft support with them having remote access to the machine to finally get this working. Ultimately, as others have posted it took 2 keys. However, interestingly it shows the same key for activation in both virtualization and native boot camp boot.

A little more detail:

As was noted earlier, the original install was Windows 8 Pro in Boot camp. That went smoothly and activated without problem. I then installed Parallels Desktop 8, and used the existing Boot Camp partition for the Windows virtual machine. That didn't originally show as activated, but using the phone activation from within Parallels fixed that. It then showed as activated in both the native boot camp and Parallels virtualization environments. All was well.

I then used the free Media upgrade key provided by Microsoft. I upgraded while natively booted in Windows 8 in bootcamp. It then showed as not activated in EITHER the native environment OR in Parallels.

The first 3 hours of support from someone in India went round and round with activating in one environment and then having it not activated in the other. We went through several iterations of this activating in one environment and then killing the other. The support tech used new keys (allegedly, he never gave me a key) and multiple phone activations. In the end I at least had it activated in native mode but not in Parallels. He was supposed to have escalated it a 2nd tier technician that was supposed to have called me back. No call came, and painful series of attempts to get help. Uggh.

Today I called back, and was connected to someone in the Phillipines. He was definitely more knowledgable than the first person, although likely still not the most knowledgable. He did identify though that it was showing as Windows 8 and not Windows 8 Pro with Media center. The keys didn't match and all kinds of other problems.

Finally, I ended up having to REINSTALL the original Windows 8 Pro, and activate with the original key all in native boot camp. I then again upgraded to Media Center while on the phone, this time it worked.

The computer was then shut down and booted into Mac OS and Windows 8 was launched in Parallels. It was then not activated. He then activated with a new key and it was then activated in both environments. Interestingly though, it shows the Media Center upgrade key and not the new key even when in Parallels. Odd. Anyway, it has now gone through multiple re-boots in both environments and remains activated. So far so good.

I then reinstalled many of the applications drivers, etc. This included reinstalling boot camp drivers in Windows and then the Parallels tools into Windows 8. This is when I identified the source of another problem I had. After installing the boot camp drivers, the multi-touch trackpad worked properly in Windows, meaning that the 2-button right click, and two finger scroll worked. I confirmed it worked with both the internal trackpad and an external Magic trackpad. After installing the Parallels tools into Windows, the internal trackpad now only works for basic functions and no longer supports two finger actions. I attempted to reinstall the Apple driver, but it didn't fix the problem. Anyone have an idea how to fix this?

Anyway, I now have Windows 8 Pro with Media Center activated in both environments. I have mostly recovered from where I started, less about 15 hours of my life wasted.

The take aways are:

Windows Media Center upgrade is not just an application - it actually upgrades your install to Windows 8 Pro with Media Center. This is apparently a SKU that can't even be purchased, yet Microsoft can create licenses for. You end up with a new product license key, and your old key won't match. This is apparently why Microsoft's web site is now mysteriously broken and won't issue new keys anymore. Questions to support techs about this are evaded intentionally it seems. If you have a key and want to upgrade use extreme caution. If you want to activate in both environments, you will likely require another key and/or many hours with Microsoft customer support. The simple phone activation that worked initially with the Windows 8 pro install failed with the Media center key - possibly because Microsoft was unintentionally giving away full product keys. For legitimate use though with using the very same disk image natively and in virtualization, you will have problems.
If I had to do it over again, I don't think I would have updated to Media center. I know I won't be updating my other Windows 7 machines to win 8, possibly ever.
Parallels should make these issues clearer as well. The released version of Windows 8 has been out for months now, with previews available a long time before that. This issues should have been identified and made clear.

My suggestion at this point: DONT UPGRADE WINDOWS 8 to MEDIA CENTER Edition! If you have Window 7, stay with it and don't upgrade.
 
Tried the suggested regedit fix to no avail...

Hello all - this is my first post on this forum~ hope I can help.

A little background:

I own a full version of Windows 8 Pro, purchased on DVD.
I installed it using boot camp on my MacBook Air successfully.
I then activated it (through boot camp) - This could be a mistake as mentioned earlier in this thread.
I then installed parallels, and the system refuses to activate, giving the error 0xC004C008 (key exceeded unlock limit)

So far same as others...

Then tried the regedit trick...
After regedit and sucessful slmgr /rearm and reboot, the system still showed as unactivated, however the activation button was now able to be tried again.
Retried activation, and received the same error 0xC004C008.
Double checked registry value of MediaBootInstall, still 0.

Now without seeing any other options suggested online, I will attempt the long phone call to MS, possibly begging for them to use another key, and update you all later.
 
Just do a phone activation - no problem

OK - hopefully all fixed over here~

I ran "slui.exe 4" from the run command window.
This starts the phone activation program.
Chose my locality for the phone call, then dialed them up.
The automated activation system over the phone failed after I keyed in the activation sequence.
Then I was connected to customer service, where I gave the same activation sequence verbally to the agent.
He immediately gave me a confirmation code to input.
This worked without issue.

I just rebooted the VM with no problems. I will check a boot camp boot later and post again if there are any more issues.
 
I am running Mac OSX 10.3 and have been running Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac for several years. Suddenly it's asking me to type in my Activation key. I then did this having located the key via my Parallels account but it simply refuses to accept the key telling me that "this key cannot be used with Parallels Desktop Build 7.0.15.107" I keep trying to reinstall Parallels via the CD but it claims my version of Mac isn't up to date. Then I go round and round in those computing circles which get one nowhere.

Help please!
 
dr.bob said:
you will find the solution here. it works on all types of installs especially with the upgrade cd.

http://www.thegeekscafe.com/tech-blogeeks/65-tech-blogeeks-os-category/microsoft-os/windows-8/194-steps-to-activate-windows-8-pro-upgrade-after-a-clean-install-or-new-hard-drive.html

good luck
bobc
Click to expand...


This is not true. It does not work on all types of installs. For example, on my 2012 iMac with Boot Camp, Windows 7 with media center was upgraded online to Windows 8. There is no "OOBE" directory and thus no 'MediaBootInstall' to edit from 0 to 1.
 
michthom said:
I found a link in another thread to this article:

1. Open regedit by pressing Windows-q, entering regedit and selecting the result from the list of hits.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/
3. Change MediaBootInstall from 1 to 0
4. Go back to the start screen and enter cmd there.
5. Right-click Command Prompt and select to run it as administrator.
6. Type slmgr /rearm on the command line and hit enter.
7. Reboot Windows now.

I followed the steps listed, and rebooted. I didn't need to activate my copy of Windows Pro 8, it seems to have "unblocked the pipes" and straight after reboot I see "Windows is activated" in:
Control Panel > System and Security > Action Centre > Windows Activation
Click to expand...



This worked for me with Windows 7 Pro 64bit - same error, same code, same fix. All is copacetic.
 
I feel for those who are struggling with this. My experience was more benign:

> Installed Boot Camp Windows 8 Pro from DVD ISO.

> Upgraded from Boot Camp Windows 8 Pro to 8.1 Pro through the Windows Store (No problems).

> Installed Parallels 9 (set up to use Boot Camp).

> Noticed that Windows was not activated in VM or direct Bootcamp.

> Followed Parallel's instructions to activate in VM. Would not accept product key- had to do it by phone.

> Shut down VM and rebooted direct into Boot Camp. At first it said "not activated" but after about 20 seconds it resolved as activated.

> Today I went direct into Boot Camp, and it showed as "not activated". Rebooted into OS X and VM where is showed as "activated".

> Rebooted direct into Boot Camp and it now shows as activated.
 
Last edited:
I had this experience last week, and thought I was good. This morning I was asked to Activate Windows, and when I entered my product key, got a message that I had reached the limit. Tried the phone activation -- same thing. Tried a chat with an MS tech, who said it was a Parallels problem (almost certainly wrong). Is there a regedit edit that can re-set my copy of windows so I can just enter the $220 product key and be done with it?
 
To Re-Activate your product id when windows 8 pro won't let you is easy with these simple steps.

1. Hit ctrl + esc to get apps screen.

2. Right click on a blank part of the screen to get all apps at the bottom and click on all apps.

3. Click Control panel and then choose System to see your product id at the bottom of screen.

4. write down your product id number in this format ####-####-####-####, ex

ex, 1234-2345-3456-aa45

5. repeat steps 1 and 2 and locate command prompt, right click on command prompt and click

down at the bottom, run as administrator.

6. Once command prompt window is open do the following.

Type slmgr/ipk (your product id) and hit enter.

7. A window will pop up stating that your activated.

8. To check that it is, in the command prompt type slui

9 Once you've done all this, Re-start your computer and the "windows is not activated message should no longer appear.

Note: I'm not sure if this will work with other versions of Windows.
 
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