How to Get Windows 8 Pro Upgrade for $15

[StudioK]

Didn't work for me. Asked me for windows product key, so i put it in and it said that i was not eligible.
They must have fixed the loophole or something.

I just tried it this morning and I was not prompted for a license key. I actually entered a real PC model (didn't know about the "Other" option). I used Dell XPS X8500-4726 and said I bought from Amazon. Microsoft gave me the discount code immediately without having to prove anything.

Try again. Best of luck.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

I love threads like this!! Makes being attentive and conscientious worthwhile

Sadly I had pre-ordered my DVD copy a week or two back for the still-low-compared-with-previous-releases price it is.

On the plus side, I have something physical to sell if I want, some time in the future, once the activation period has expired!

Great thread!

 

[doctorevil30564]

I was able to get this by using the following info.

Toshiba brand, Toshiba satellite model, with the purchase date being 7/1/2012 and got approved. Mind you this info was totally bogus, and they didn't verify the info.

I'm not sure if the product license code for a windows 7 system will be invalidated if you run the upgrade checker and purchase windows 8 so what I plan on doing is running vmware player with a activated windows Vista Business OS to run the upgrade qualification program on.

I'm not sure it's possible to use the upgrade to do a clean install like it was with previous versions. I'll check into this and advise after I get the upgrade downloaded.

It is possible to do a "clean" install on a a system with no OS loaded using the upgrade if you use the usb or iso method.

If you're unable to activate and it is giving you the 0x8007007B error message
"The Software Licensing Service determined that this specified product key can only be used for upgrading, not for clean installation"

here is how you fix it so you can use the upgrade serial key to activate.


Open regedit by pressing Windows-q, entering regedit and selecting the result from the list of hits.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/
Change MediaBootInstall from 1 to 0
Go back to the start screen and enter cmd there.
Right-click Command Prompt and select to run it as administrator.
Type slmgr /rearm on the command line and hit enter.
Reboot Windows now.
Run the activation utility afterwards, enter your product key to activate Windows.

This is pretty much the same method that could be done for vista and for windows 7

 

[miramar]

Worked for me too. I looked through an Acer price list for notebooks and chose the most expensive one, used a date of 2 July and the name of the local shop I frequent and the order went through without any request for a product key. Had to use Firefox instead of Safari for this.

Once I paid, the Windows 8 product key was sent to me via email. Downloaded it (about 2.6GB) in Parallels. On running setup, I was given the option of installing now, creating a USB installer or saving an ISO file for burning.

The irony of it is that the entire process was done on my MacBook Pro.

 

[titsmgee]

I just tried it this morning and I was not prompted for a license key. I actually entered a real PC model (didn't know about the "Other" option). I used Dell XPS X8500-4726 and said I bought from Amazon. Microsoft gave me the discount code immediately without having to prove anything.

Try again. Best of luck.

Thanks Studio.
I got it to work. Believe the problem was a mismatch between my IP and the country I selected upgrade for.

Did it on my MBP too.

 

[bthall]

I used 'Other' for PC brand and literally made up a computer model number. I was able to download, make an .iso DVD, and install it on the Win7 partition of my HP Probook 4530s (actually writing this from IE in Win8).

-bth

Bought another copy of the Windows 8 upgrade today. This time it did ask me for a Win7 product key (which I did have). Was able to run the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant and purchase the Win8 upgrade through a Win7 VM (VirtualBox) on my hackintoshed HP ProBook.

-bth