Installing Windows 8 using an existing key

Question

Is there an option to enter an existing Windows 8 license key in the Upgrade Assistant?

I bought the License during my first try, but it got stuck at 62% when readying devices so I had to restore my Windows 7. Now when I run the assistant again I have only one option to buy a new License (again).

UPDATE: I found out there are to different executables, Windows8-Upgrade-Assistant.exe and Windows8-Setup.exe (I got the second one via a link from the email I received with my key).

Windows8-Setup.exe gives me the option to download Windows8 install and create an ISO or USB Drive but both options fail with this message: "Sorry, something happened and we couldn't finish creating the ISO. Restart Setup and try again."

I'd call Microsoft tech support. You might be on the phone for a while, but you get one or two freebies with a new OS, and they may be able to help. This sucks though. At least older versions let you run the installer all the way through before entering a key. — , Oct 26 '12 at 19:33

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 29 '12 at 01:32

I found the answer here, but here's the brief summary:

-I'm guessing that at some point, you probably downloaded the Windows 8 preview, yes? For whatever reason, when you go to do it "for real," the Windows 8 setup doesn't overwrite the old file, called the "WebSetup" folder. If that folder is still there, you'll get the "Sorry, something happened and we couldn't finish creating the ISO. Restart setup and try again" message.

The location of the folder is at: C:\%UserProfile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WebSetup

where %UserProfile% is the user account you downloaded it under (probably your default account) - this is the folder you need to delete.

Once that folder is deleted, run the Windows 8 setup file (found here, if you haven't, like me, already downloaded it 8 different times thinking it was a corrupted file), and it should prompt you at that point for your product key - which is something it wasn't doing for me.

It'd be helpful if Microsoft knew about this... hope it helps...

(h/t to EightForums, where I originally found and condensed this guide.)

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 26 '12 at 19:12

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No, Key is used till now as you have not registered it the microsoft databases by online activation. You can use your key again. Good Luck !!

answered Oct 26 '12 at 19:12

akshaykumar6

538

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The problem is there is no option whatsoever when running the Upgrade Assistant to enter my key again. – FrankWest Oct 26 '12 at 19:26
@FrankWest, does the upgrade assistant ask you to re-purchase? – James Hill Oct 26 '12 at 19:30
@FrankWest - Use the ISO that you were asked to make and boot to the disk. – Ramhound Oct 26 '12 at 19:32
@JamesHill there is only one option "buy". I also dont remember the assistant asking me if I would like to save an ISO file, because I would have done that for sure. – FrankWest Oct 26 '12 at 19:40

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Frank, you should be able to use an existing product key.

According to this and the images and comments here, you should be prompted to enter a Windows 8 Product Key.

You should be prompted for a key. Try using your Windows 7 key, at which point you should/may be prompted for the upgrade. If that doesn’t work, then you can reinstall Windows 7 with the key, then upgrade directly from there.

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Installing Windows 8 using an existing key

3 Answers3