windows 8.1 key died

I had quite major hardware failure recently. Asus rampage V extreme fried itself, 5960 cpu and one of memory sticks. Bummer really.

Luckily hardware issues are now sorted, most of it under warranty, with net result of me having new motherboard, Asus rampage V extreme 3.1, cpu (same) and memory (upgraded from 2800 to 3000). All starts and to my surprise motherboard also detected RAID0 and kept data intact.

Now windows 8.1 threw its toys out. My key appeared to be blocked and windows requires activation from now on. Microsoft online customer service person told me that my key is "pirated", they can't or won't unblock it (i didn't understand which) and www.mrhightech.com is a bunch of crooks. They suggested to direct me to purchase a new key.

For sake of providing context to my frustration, this would be the second windows 8.1 key that stopped working on me. The first one i bought from one of amazon.com sellers, which had been out of business by the time key stopped working. Microsoft had exactly same stance: i bought pirated key, it is my fault and i have to new key from "reputable" seller. I believed them then as seller no longer existed.

This time reseller is alive and kicking and is UK registered company, so pirating theme is a lot less likely.

I emailed mrhightech.com and awaiting response.

What would you suggest I do in this situation? I have no inclination of paying for third key for the same OS in space of 12 months.

Are you receiving COA stickers or just keys via email? If it is keys via email then buy a copy from a reputable re seller that sells at an appropriate cost and actually gives you a physical copy of the license with a COA. They are selling copies of Windows below the cost @ distribution so very unlikely to be legitimate.

This is what happens when you buy cheap Windows keys, they are cheap for a reason.

My friend had the same issue from that site too but he got a new key within a few hours of the first one being blocked.

If you end up getting a new key,only buy keys which provide a proper retail disc or USB stick. Unless you are buying directly from Microsoft.

As above. You spend all that money on a rig then buy cheap keys which are invariably pirated?

Just buy a legit version and move on.

yes, I got key over email £50 seems reasonable? Is it not coincidental that key got blocked right after hardware change? I have not had success with Microsoft investigating key issues and provide any details of problem or reassurances of how these problems can be avoided. Their response is pretty much buy a new one. Where is a guarantee then it won't be the same with "expensive" key.

Probably time to suck it up and install Linux.

nfsdb said:

yes, I got key over email £50 seems reasonable? Is it not coincidental that key got blocked right after hardware change? I have not had success with Microsoft investigating key issues and provide any details of problem or reassurances of how these problems can be avoided. Their response is pretty much buy a new one. Where is a guarantee then it won't be the same with "expensive" key.

Probably time to suck it up and install Linux.

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£50 sounds on the cheap side, what particular version of windows was it?

Microsoft won't investigate your key issues - why would they bother? they can verify if the key is legit or not in seconds. They must have thousands of people contact them each day for fake keys no longer working.

It's also extremely easy to avoid these problems, you just buy from an official partner. Or buy direct from Microsoft themselves.

As the saying goes, buy cheap buy twice, well in your case that looks to be three times.

nfsdb said:

yes, I got key over email £50 seems reasonable? Is it not coincidental that key got blocked right after hardware change? I have not had success with Microsoft investigating key issues and provide any details of problem or reassurances of how these problems can be avoided. Their response is pretty much buy a new one. Where is a guarantee then it won't be the same with "expensive" key.

Probably time to suck it up and install Linux.

Click to expand...

You should be fine with a retail version. I've got 2 retail versions of Windows 7 and they've both been reinstalled numerous times after various upgrades, even on completely different hardware. I moved one from a netbook to a pc. Think I had to phone the automated line for that and enter a long code of some sort.

You have discovered the true cost of a cheap "license key". It's worth spending money on the best hardware and it's also worth spending money on the OS you plan to run on it.

It was 8.1 Pro, 64bit. I'm unclear if it was single PC or personal or whatever type of license there is. I would try retail or OEM provided it does not go pop after hardware changes.

howiepoohs said:

You have discovered the true cost of a cheap "license key". It's worth spending money on the best hardware and it's also worth spending money on the OS you plan to run on it.

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where do smarty pants buy their windows 8.1 from?

Legit resellers. If you get a key via email then it's never legit.

I don't know what the criteria is now, but worth looking into joining w10 insider program if you can.

Only pirated keys worth buying are like £6 ones and that's just as it's easier than finding a free pirated key, but then it's pot luck how long they last, could be months or forever.

Best key to buy if you can find it is OEM win8, as win8 OEM is actually retail and this very cheap for what it is. They changed it for win8, then went back to old system fir 8.1 and 10.

I keep seeing keys with 90% off on sites like Kinguin, these not genuine then?

Off course not.

Doesn't matter if the key is genuine or not - for normal users (i.e. not volume licence) - no COA = non-legal. Almost every key sold without a COA will be an MSDN one and probably sold multiple times so its a lottery as to when it will stop working.

nfsdb said:

where do smarty pants buy their windows 8.1 from?

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If you mean sensible people, then a legitimate source, like Microsoft directly or via a retailer. I would NEVER buy a key from an auction site as I would strongly suspect it's been used before and not a legal license. Particularly OEMs.

I learned that the hard way a while back with a key from G2A - if the price is cheap and the key is emailed to you with nothing physical sent through (retail box, COA sticker, etc) then it'll be enough to activate Windows once but won't work when you next need to activate such as a hardware change or reinstall. Your Windows key would have been blocked/marked as invalid by Microsoft a few days/weeks after you used it when dozens of people all activated using the same key they were sold. Because your Windows was already activated, it still showed as activated at your end and the key being blocked only showed up when you changed hardware - your changing hardware did not invalidate the key, it just showed up the issue.

In the end, I bought a legit Windows version with a COA sticker, can't remember if I bought it from OcUK or one of the other reputable suppliers I've used in the past that unfortunately I can't name as they're competitors to OcUK. As others said, I tried to get something cheap without asking too many questions and ended up having to buy again.

^^
That's not always the case, it depends on luck. some will last years or longer. Others will be blocked within days..

Fool me once..



Stop buying pirated keys.

nfsdb said:

where do smarty pants buy their windows 8.1 from?

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https://www.overclockers.co.uk/software/operating-systems

Had a quick look at MrHighTech's website and it doesn't look the best. Google Street View shows other shops at the address they quote but no shop front for them. A quick Google shows threads like this:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4905540
Which includes someone apparently from the shop stating that MrHighTech is using their shop address without permission or knowledge.

Looking up details on the website shows everything has been setup by anonymous companies and nothing that helps track down who actually runs the site:
https://whois.icann.org/en/lookup?name=www.mrhightech.com

All in all, I wouldn't touch that shop with a bargepole.

OP, you might get lucky and obtain a refund from them for selling you an illegitimate key, but I would be very surprised if you did. I think you might have to just chalk this one up as an expensive lesson learned and order a legit Windows version from OcUK or a similar large, reputable company.

Unless you have an old legit key for Windows 7 that isn't in use and you fancy taking the opportunity to install it and upgrade to Windows 10 for free? Bit of a pain, but will be cheaper than buying a new copy.