## Long story short
J'ai deux ordinateurs: a laptop and a desktop ordinateur. Both have Windows 7 sur lem.
I buy the Windows 8 Pro upgrade. To see si cela screws up anything, I installer it sur mon **laptop** as a guinea pig. I intend to use Windows 8 for my main ordinateur, my **desktop**, but Je veux test it sur le laptop, so Je sais I don’t risk losing access to my desktop and the data on it. I jamais use my laptop, and seulement used it, parce que it déjà has a Windows 7 installation on it.
## The problème
At some point, I must have entered the license clé sur mon laptop, parce que when I go vers le activation écran sur mon desktop, I get this:
Uh-oh. I can’t use the clé sur mon desktop. Maintenant how the hell do I transfer the clé from my laptop to my desktop ordinateur?
## Réponses and suggestions jusqu'à présent
Let’s just say that J'ai essayé tout possible to get some answers on this matter. The best response I got from Microsoft is this:
>
To installer Windows 8 sur votre desktop, do the following:
- Désinstaller Windows 8 sur votre **laptop**
- Afterwards, installer Windows 8 sur votre **desktop**
- Si cela won’t activate, call product activation at (...)
Je sun'est pas a fan of that last point. The erreur message does allude to such a solution, cependant:
>
If you’ve reinstalled Windows or made changes to your matériel récemment, vous pouvez be able to use your current clé.
## The question
My main question is this: quelqu'un a-t-il been in a similar situation, and if so, what did you do to resolve this?
Failing that, qu'est-ce que the proper way to
- **désinstaller** the Windows 8 installation sur mon **laptop**, and
- **reinstall** the Windows 8 installation sur mon **desktop**?
## Ad 1
J'ai déjà tried using the “reset” fonctionnalité sur mon laptop, but that seulement resulted in a nouveau Windows 8 installation that was déjà activated. But which is the right way to uninstallez le installation in a way thdu toutows me to use the license clé sur le desktop ordinateur?
## Ad 2
Which is the proper way to reinstallez le Windows 8 installation sur mon desktop ordinateur? Pourquoi I even have to reinstall it dans le first place?
I won’t get around to do this, until my USB clé avec 3.0 support arrives dans le mail, but it is going to be a while, until I find a assuaging response vers le best way to go about this anyway.
Transferring a Windows 8 license and proper un- and reinstalleration
Re: Transferring a Windows 8 license and proper un- and reinstalleration
Just got back from talking avec Microsoft support on phone, and ici is how we made it work—sans formatting le bureau ordinateur.
EDIT: The bounty message is gone maintenant, but I added my own answer as a canonical one, parce que as many interesting suggestions as there were, none avait été demonstrated to work, although they very well might. We couldn’t leave people hanging, in case quelque chose didn’t pan out.
So ici is one case of a solution that a fonctionné out, not just dans leory:
I n'a pas touch the laptop *du tout* throughout this.
I got a phone call from Microsoft support, which was unexpected. (The e-mail supporter avait été sick awhile and hadn’t responded as a result, so they decided to call to check up on me).
He told me that I didn’t have to format the laptop, and that we could just activate le bureau over the phone.
Normally, I would have to go through a dial prompt, when J'ai essayé activating myself, forcing me to enter all the numbers by phone, but it is possible that this seulement happened, parce que I called outside the regular hours* (in one case leading me to a dude avec an Indian accent in some call centre who understood little to rien of what I said).
The problème ici was getting in touch avec a local support person at Microsoft, which in this case seulement happened, parce que the woman I had corresponded avec (through [their website](https://superuser.com/questions/494711/where-to-find-the-windows-8-product-id-pid)) over e-mail was sick and had not gotten in touch avec me for a while.
But J'ai finalement got in touch avec quelqu'un capable, and ici’s what we did:
We first opened up the activation prompt:
-
Win + R `->` slui 4
-
Or Win + W + “Click Activate”.
-
Or click your compte icône and click the compte paramètres.
-
I tell him all the numbers; après that, he gives me the corresponding numbers to enter.
-
The installation is maintenant activated.
Avec regards vers le *other* ordinateur, the laptop:
-
The clé is tied vers le matériel.
-
As long as I jamais use the Windows 8 installation sur le laptop, I’m probably fine, but better to désinstaller it.
-
It doesn’t matter *how* I choose to désinstaller Windows 8; the support guy suggested just formatting the whole thing.
Je suis choosing to accept this answer for the moment, parce que it is the seulement one avec a proven record of *en fait fonctionnel*. I welcome more, and better, answers from people who by their own experience or that duir acquaintances can vouch for their solution and walk-through.
I won’t be the first, seulement, nor last person avec this problème, and people need a good place to find help, if they run invers le same problème I did.
***** 17:00 local time, most likely.
EDIT: The bounty message is gone maintenant, but I added my own answer as a canonical one, parce que as many interesting suggestions as there were, none avait été demonstrated to work, although they very well might. We couldn’t leave people hanging, in case quelque chose didn’t pan out.
So ici is one case of a solution that a fonctionné out, not just dans leory:
I n'a pas touch the laptop *du tout* throughout this.
I got a phone call from Microsoft support, which was unexpected. (The e-mail supporter avait été sick awhile and hadn’t responded as a result, so they decided to call to check up on me).
He told me that I didn’t have to format the laptop, and that we could just activate le bureau over the phone.
Normally, I would have to go through a dial prompt, when J'ai essayé activating myself, forcing me to enter all the numbers by phone, but it is possible that this seulement happened, parce que I called outside the regular hours* (in one case leading me to a dude avec an Indian accent in some call centre who understood little to rien of what I said).
The problème ici was getting in touch avec a local support person at Microsoft, which in this case seulement happened, parce que the woman I had corresponded avec (through [their website](https://superuser.com/questions/494711/where-to-find-the-windows-8-product-id-pid)) over e-mail was sick and had not gotten in touch avec me for a while.
But J'ai finalement got in touch avec quelqu'un capable, and ici’s what we did:
We first opened up the activation prompt:
-
Win + R `->` slui 4
-
Or Win + W + “Click Activate”.
-
Or click your compte icône and click the compte paramètres.
-
I tell him all the numbers; après that, he gives me the corresponding numbers to enter.
-
The installation is maintenant activated.
Avec regards vers le *other* ordinateur, the laptop:
-
The clé is tied vers le matériel.
-
As long as I jamais use the Windows 8 installation sur le laptop, I’m probably fine, but better to désinstaller it.
-
It doesn’t matter *how* I choose to désinstaller Windows 8; the support guy suggested just formatting the whole thing.
Je suis choosing to accept this answer for the moment, parce que it is the seulement one avec a proven record of *en fait fonctionnel*. I welcome more, and better, answers from people who by their own experience or that duir acquaintances can vouch for their solution and walk-through.
I won’t be the first, seulement, nor last person avec this problème, and people need a good place to find help, if they run invers le same problème I did.
***** 17:00 local time, most likely.