Had to burn a DVD as could not boot from USB (turned out to be a bios issue fixed in a newer version available from Toshiba), and needed a USB mouse as trackpad not recognised until driver downloaded Did not ask for a key during installation and auto activated, presumably due to embedded win 8 OEM key. Clean installed windows 8.1 core onto a new ssd in my 2012 Toshiba satellite p850-321. Ooo, and i used a Windows 8 product key, so glad that worked without any problems. I checked if Windows was activated and it was. During Installation I did not had to input my product key, so I assume it took the embedded key automatically. Before the installation I selected the USB-stick with the EUFI option. Using the tool I downloaded the Windows 8.1 圆4 version in Dutch using a FAT32 formatted USB-stick. I just re-installed my Asus laptop using the mediacreationtool from Microsoft. However I have also got comments like this on the page and many more reporting success on both Microsoft Answers and the Dell Community Forums: Personally I don't have a Windows 8 OEM system to test. The one from the previous downloader didn't. iso from the Media Creation Tool accepted my 2 Windows 8 Pro Retail keys without any problems. Their comments helped shaped the guide addressing most the issues with reinstallation particularly with UEFI and SecureBoot. This guide has 122 comments and has been well tested by Dell users with Windows 8 OEM and Windows 8.1 OEM licenses. Previously they had to be used with a large scope of trial and error but now they don't need to be.Īn updated guide on using the Windows 8.1 Media Creation Tool with the GPT partition scheme and the Dell UEFI BIOS is here: isos are unfortunately edition locked and if a generic key is used to install Windows 8.1 when the OEM key is Windows 8/8.1 Single Language there will be product activation issues later down the line. Recommending generic keys actually may cause some issues as these. This media is different from the Windows 8.1 without update 1 which rejected Windows 8 keys. iso treats both Windows 8.0 and Windows 8.1 keys as equal inputting them automatically from the Dell UEFI BIOS during installation.
No need to use the generic keys with the Windows 8.1 with Update 1 .isos from the Windows 8.1 Media Creation Tool. Pre installed windows 8.x requires the 64 bit media. You can use Generic Key to install and then activate once online. No need to resort to eBay for Windows 8 DVDs.