I did a fresh install of Win 8 on my PC, I was told the OEM product key will automatically supplied in the installtion. However, it did not happen in my case... this is the method i used to install Windows 8. Now im stuck with an unregistered Win 8. I'm wondering, now, if there's a way to extract the Product Key from my BIOS?
Edit: my pc came with OEM Windows 8 installed
Download RW-EVERYTHING. Run it. Click on the ACPI Table button at the top. After that click on the MSDM tab. Your BIOS's product key is at the bottom.
When the program opens just remember to close the bottom windows first - having two windows open can cause the program to crash.
I tested this program because I had a hdd crash and had to clone the hard drive to a new one. I did a factory restore on the new drive, and then of course it wanted to be reactivated. This program helped me retrieve the key.
See this tutorial for more help:
Windows 8 clean install from iso using the machines own Windows 8 OEM licence
The BIOS does store the OEM key. If you make a clean install on an unparticioned HDD with an MSDN installer, it can detect the key. However, the windows edition of the key must match the edition of the installer (Pro, with or without Media Center Pack, Enterprise, etc.). If the two don't match, the installer will prompt to enter the key and activate Windows.
Here's another interesting tutorial, to install a different version of Windows 8:
Installing Windows 8 Pro over Standard OEM in your new Win8 Certified notebook http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/698920-installing-windows-8-pro-over-standard-oem-your-new-win8-certified-notebook.html
The free OEM Product Key Tool from NeoSmart Technologies is probably the most straight-forward way of doing this. Just run the standalone exe and it'll come up in the main dialog like this:
Disclosure: I work for NeoSmart
I had a similar situation... Brand new Dell M3800 and I immediately scratched all the disk to install Linux on the thing, and as a result I "lost" the key. Still, I wanted to install "my" Windows version into a VM (it comes on a USB stick).
So here is what I did:
dd),acpidump.As an answer mentions above, the table to look for is MSDM; the product key is the last characters in this table.
From my experience, the OEM product key in the BIOS was never supplied at installation. I recommend those who wish to do a fresh install of Windows 8 on an OEM machine obtain the OEM Product Key first by using this tool (This step is important, because if you perform a fresh install without having obtained your OEM key, it would be extremely difficult to extract the product key from your BIOS). After formatting and a fresh install, enter your OEM product key manually. Immediately after the entry, your Windows 8 will automatically be activated (it does not require online activation). Good luck!
There is no product key in your BIOS. As you correctly said, the key is automatically supplied in the installation. Since you didn't install using the OEM's installer, the key was not supplied during the installation. You need to install with the OEM's Windows 8 installation media or with the OEM's recovery method.
