Windows 8 Activation Issues

[aomega_jp]

The laptop says that the Windows 8.1 license is going to expire.  We have tried to reactivate it and it will not.  I looked in the event logs and we have a message that the license is a KMS.  The laptop has not been reloaded.  The OS it came with is the OS that is on it.  Not sure what happened but any help would be appreciated.

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@aomega_jp

Hello;

Allow me to welcome you to the HP forums!

The "KMS" you mentioned is a standard component of "pirated" Windows versions -- in which they install a software component that bypasses product key activation.

HP does not use that, so someone else installed it, and they only last a few months.

There are different ways to install a "KMS", so I don't know how yours is installed, but here are some instructions that tend to work in general for removing it:  https://www.2-spyware.com/remove-kmspico-virus.html

If your PC came with HP OEM Win8.1 preinstalled, then the original Windows Product Key is encoded into the UEFI firmware of the PC -- which you then should be able to retrieve using this tool:

Once you have done that, you can use the following instructions to change the product key to yours:  http://www.intowindows.com/3-methods-to-change-windows-8-1-product-key/

If NONE of these work, then it's possible whomever installed the "kms" also changed the version of the OS on your PC, and if they did that, the HP OEM product key will not work to activate it.

If that happens, then you would need to order something known as HP Recovery Media in order to do a factory reset on your PC to get the original OS version back:

HP Recovery Media is a set of DVDs and a CD, or USB stick, that will erase the hard drive (removing all data, settings, and applications, reinstall the original OS, drivers, and some HP Utilities. In some cases, you may be able to order a USB stick instead of disks. You have to order these from HP; they can not be downloaded.

You can look online for Recovery Media starting with the linked paged: http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers

Once there, input your Product name or number. On your Software and Drivers Download page, select your Operating System and and Version. Click "Update". If HP Recovery Media is available for your machine, down near the bottom of the page, you will see an entry for Order Recovery Media-CD/DVD/USB. Click the "+" symbol to expand that entry and click on Order Media for details.

Or, if you prefer, you can do the same by contacting HP Customer Service:

If you live in the US or Canada, contact information is on this page: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/phone-assist.html#section1

If you live elsewhere, contact information is on this page: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html

NOTE: After you get through, stay on the line until you are finally able to talk to some one -- it can take a while!

If you have trouble finding a phone number, then try: 1 (800) 474-6836

If HP no longer provides Recovery Media for your model, a couple of other sites you can check are: http://www.computersurgeons.com/ and http://www.restoredisks.com/

When you get the media, if it is a USB stick, insert it into your PC, pressing F9 to get a Boot menu, then select the External USB Hard Drive to boot from it.

[aomega_jp]

Thank you for your help.  I talked with the customer a little more and they did have someone that was shady reload their OS.  I figured it would just be easier to get the recovery media and reload it.