I contacted gateway support and was advised i need to purchase a recovery disc but they don't ship to my location. Windows 8 was preinstalled on the machine and the product key under PC info is 20 characters long but shld be 25. Windows support advise this is a valid product key but for company usage. Is there anyway i can restore the settings that came with the unit? Did a system refresh but that didn't seem to Wrk. Don't know what to do. Please help
I have a ne56 version of the gateway laptop. Recently i started getting a message advising to activate windows 8
- Thread starter JodMar
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Carobthomp
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- Nov 12, 2013
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If you're getting that error, won't be much you can do except for activating it. Most laptops have a product key on a sticker on the bottom of the laptop, if not, and if you don't have a recovery disk/partition you may need to purchase one, or find a way to get a "legitimate" copy of Windows 8, a quick Google search should lead you in the right path for that.
joesklar
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- Sep 17, 2013
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OEM Windows 8 computers do not ship with product keys. The license is embedded into BIOS.
You should be able to activate it anyway.
1: Open CMD as administrator
2: Type slui 4 and press enter
3: Follow to on-screen instructions.
You can make the phone call for free with Skype.
Good luck, keep us posted.
You should be able to activate it anyway.
1: Open CMD as administrator
2: Type slui 4 and press enter
3: Follow to on-screen instructions.
You can make the phone call for free with Skype.
Good luck, keep us posted.
Carobthomp
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- Nov 12, 2013
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I was not aware that the license is in the BIOS, is this done automatically when the OS is installed if it is a self-built PC?
joesklar
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Yes for OEM installations of Windows 8/8.1 there are no COA labels on the systems because the license is embedded into BIOS. It's what Microsoft call a 'Tattoo' and it's all a part of Activation 3.0.
Crazy to think how much Microsoft are changing recently.
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