Windows 10 activation issue

[yagabu]

My hard drive failed completely and was unrecoverable. I replaced the HD and reinstalled Windows 8.1 and it activated correctly. Windows prompted me to upgrade to Windows 10 which I tried and after it installed it refused to activate saying it doesn't have a valid digital license. It give the error code 0x803F7001. When I tried to activate over the phone it said that it was already activated on another device. Then it connected me to a Microsoft agent and he said that the Windows OEM key installed with the PC is not valid for it to activate Windows 10 and I needed to contact HP for a proper KEY for it to allow activation.

Since the PC is out of waranty there is basically no way to contact support without paying which I feel is wrong in this situation. This is the first time I am trying to upgrade to the Windows 10, and I have the BIOS Windows 8 Product Key from the machine.

I can not find any help on how to solve this issue.

Greg

[Jay_101]

Hi,

Replacing only the HDD should not cause Win 10 to fail to activate. Did you install and activate Win 10 prior to the HDD failure?

Frankly, Microsoft should just fix the problem.

I am surprised Microsoft did not accommodate you . They want to install Win 10 on as many devices as they can before 7-29-2016.

The Win 8.1 product key is in the BIOS. Go back to Win 8.1 and check out this site for tools to find the Win 8.1 product key in the Registry.

Do a clean install of Win 10 by going here and following directions.  Use your PC's product key per Belarc during the installation. As always, back up data before doing a destructive OS installation.

Jay

[IT_WinSec]

Hello @yagabu

Thank you for posting in the HP Support forum. Welcome !

I'd be happy to assist you. Let's start with some clarifications:

>> I replaced the HD and reinstalled Windows 8.1

Re Win installation - how ? Your own copy of Windows 8.1 with your own license ?

OR you used HP Recovery media which restored the Windows 8.1 copy that came initially with the HP PC ?

>> Windows prompted me to upgrade to Windows 10 which I tried and after it installed 

How you tried ? Please, elaborate. How you installed it ?

- Installed via Windows Update ?

- Installed via Microsoft ISO download ? Upgrade or clean installation ?

Looking forward to your reply. If you find my post usefull, click below on the white Thumb Up+ button to give Kudos.

[yagabu]

I used the windows 8 media creation tool from microsoft to create a Win 8 flash drive. When it installed on the new HD it picked up the Bios Key and activated right away.

I tried to do the Windows 10 update through windows update. After it installs it says it fails to activate with the error code listed above.  As I stated, Microsoft activation site claims that the Win 10 was already activated on another device. However it was not.

Greg

[Jay_101]

Hi,

Did you activate the Win 8.1 reinstall prior to upgrading to Win 10?

Jay

[yagabu]

Windows 8.1 activated automatically on installation.

[IT_WinSec]

Hello @yagabu

From what I know, you have OEM Windows key embedded in the hardware/BIOS but installing from Microsoft ISO / Media creation tool and using that OEM key is not officially supported.

I did some extra reasearch and here is what I got (courtesy to HP employee):

Before you begin, please note:

HP Ships Microsoft Windows® on many PCs and all of them have a valid license for the version of Windows that HP included on the device. If a different copy of Windows is installed on the PC, such as from these ISO images, a new license for Windows may be required in order to  activate the newly installed version. Licenses for these can be purchased directly from Microsoft.

 

Microsoft makes Windows ISO download images available on their web site

Links for each are:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows8

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7 

So, to begin with, something went wrong at that stage. There are reports online for using the embedded OEM BIOS key to get Win activated. However, this is not proved and not officially supported.

If your HP computer came with OEM Windows (preinstalled), the only edition that should be used is OEM - when HDD fails or Windows fails, Windows is reinstalled with HP recovery media. Info >> http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03489643

HP Recovery media can be created from working HP PC. If you lack such a recovery media, it can be purchased from HP or some 3rd parties (cost is about 25-30 USD).

Your options are to get recovery media, recover back to Windows 8 using it and then :

- keep using Windows 8/8.1

- or upgrade to Windows 10 eventually

Different option is to now purchase Windows 10 license online from Microsoft Store and use that key.

HP Support might be able to provide you with some different workaround now, but I cannot guarantee or promise.

===

Option 1) You can contact HP support to see if they can offer you original recovery media for this computer (a.k.a. recovery DVDs or USB). Info >> http://support.hp.com/bg-en/document/bph07143

Here is how you can contact them :

>> http://support.hp.com/us-en/contact-hp

>> http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-phone-assist.html

Option 2) If there is no recovery media at HP, you can try to contact

http://www.best2serve.com/page/rcd_landing   OR   http://www.computersurgeons.com/

Once you get the recovery media, here are instructions how to perform the recovery:

>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC3sUc3lr3E

 Please, let me know if this works.

Tips for upgrading to Windows 10 eventually >> http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04730900

[yagabu]

That seems like a very unfair solution from HP, forcing people to buy recovery media when it is not even needed. If you have a valid product key and the software is activated then you should be able to upgrade the software.

If this is the case then I will stay with windows 8.1. This seems like an unfair practice by Microsoft and the PC manufacturers to foce people to spend money even when they offer something free, there is always a catch somewhere.

I am just waiting to see what the windows 10 catch is.

Greg

[Jay_101]

Hi,

Microsoft should fix this without any questions asked. HP can't fix this. Nothing wrong on HP's side of the equation.

1. You have a valid BIOS product key for Win 8.1.

2. Win 8.1 was activated prior to upgrading to Win 10.

3.  You are installing the corresponding Win 8.1 upgrade to Win 10 operating system.

4. You did not change many components. A motherboard change would cause problems. A group of component changes at once could cause problems. But this would have caused problems activating Win 8.1.

You can't install Win 10 Pro on a Win 8.1 Home system without a proper upgrade product key.

Jay

[yagabu]

Thats what I would think, but they redirected me to HP saing it is their problem. This is the run arround now to get people to break down and spend money. Either I pay for recovery media or phone support from HP or I purchase a win 10 license from Microsoft. Either way it is a loose - loose situation for the consumer. If you offer something free, you should stand by it. I know there are people who try and take advantage of the system, but if you look at the situation and the terms then their should be no issue. If I could, I would call HP and even speak to one of their reps, but I can't even do that without paying. This is an unfair situation.

Greg