Will microsoft help me?

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Z

Zen Jr

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when i bought my pc off ebay in july it worked fine up until last month where <Mod Edit> went wrong.. i got my pc on ebay for $379 with i3-3240 3.4GHz 1TB HDD 6GB ram and windows 8 where then microsoft had the windows 8.1 update for windows 8 users for free. bought a gpu around the same time i did my pc i got a gtx 550ti..

anyways last month my gpu messed up and took some other things with it 1 being my wireless adapter. it stopped working but i fixed it after doing reinstalling windows which i will talk about. sorry if i bore you but thank you to the people that read this and will help me out and share their opinions.

another thing it took was windows itself.. so my gpu messing up caused my wireless adapter and my version of windows 8.1 to mess up.. i heard thats what happenes when a gpu messes up or dies it usually messes something up kinda like a im taking you down with me type things. i started getting a blue screen and it stayed there for about i think 10-15 minutes i went to go eat and when i was back and it was in the process of rebooting itself so i thought the blue screen thing fixed itself but i was wrong when my pc was passed my gateway splash picture or logo whatever they call that i got a diaognostic type thing saying my version of windows might have corrupted files that can mess things up real bad so it told me to reinstall.

i reinstalled it no problem easy peasy took about 20 minutes to reinstall then it booted up and i had my windows 8.1.... or so i thought.. i said it needed to restart again because it installed some drivers so i rebooted and then BAM gave me the same <Mod Edit> again some files in this version of windows might be corrupted and had to reinstall i did a total of 3 times each being 20 minutes or around that time so in total i spent around an hour trying to fix windows and those so called corrupted files...

finally all goes well and im installing and then i get to this part where it says please select the version of windows you are installing but there wasnt any option no windows 8 or 8.1 so i was stuck with no version of windows for a couple of days until my friend gave me a cd where he burned a non genuine version of windows 7 (he claims its better) so i've been using that for the past 2 days but i really dont like it because 1 its not a genuine version of windows and 2 i want my windows 8.1 back not windows 7.

its also giving me problems and not letting me install certain .net firmware and directx that some of my steam games need and a MOBA game named smite that i play..if i talk to microsoft will they help me out and find me some type of solution to get my legit windows 8.1 back or will they give me windows 8.1 or 8 because thats what my computer originally came with..what do i have to do? i dont want to be stuck with a fake version of windows forever and im really not trying to pay $80-$140 for another version of windows which my pc somehow decided to erase.. i would if i could but me and my family are having money issues with the new house we bought and so forth... thank you to probably that 1 person that actually reads this if not anybody at all
 
Solution
Wolfshadw
While that's true about OEM versions and the installations, the concern I meant to point out was that OEM versions do not include Microsoft Technical Support. So you won't be getting any help from Microsoft, anyway. In your situation, you would normally get tech support from the seller of the PC, but I'm guessing that's not an option either.

I did some research and I'm not finding anything concerning a "IPIMP" PC, but I did find the "IPIMB-AR" motherboard used in Acer PCs. That motherboard does support Windows 8/8.1 so there should not be any issues with re-installing the OS. Normally, at this point, I'd figure on a faulty motherboard, but since you're currently running on Windows 7, that seems unlikely.

The only recommendation I can...
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Wolfshadw

Wolfshadw

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Walls of text are generally skipped over as they are not very readable. That's partly why I modded your post.

As for what Microsoft will do, no one can really say. As soon as you mention that you have a pirated version of Windows 7 installed, you likely won't get any assistance. For the record, Tom's Hardware does not support software piracy in any form. Your only saving grace in this forum is that you stated you're trying to get your (supposedly) legal version of Windows working.

If you have an actual Microsoft Windows 8 DVD, use that to format and install Windows onto your system. Then use your Windows 8.1 upgrade. At this point, if you are still having issues, you should then contact Microsoft.

Note: If these are OEM versions, Microsoft will not assist you as Tech Support is not included with OEM versions of the Software. If you are not sure if you have the Retail Version or OEM version, contact the seller of the system to find out.

If you do not have an actual Microsoft Windows 8 DVD, then it's likely not a legitimate version and you will need to purchase a new Windows OS.

-Wolf sends
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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1. whitespace and punctuation are your friends

now, on to the 'problem'
2. Your GPU messed up and took out the OS? Does not sound right to me.

3. non-genuine version of Windows 7 "(he claims its better)"
You'll get zero assistance wit h that here

4. "if i talk to microsoft will they help me out and find me some type of solution to get my legit windows 8.1 back "
You 'bought' the OS from the ebay guy, not microsoft.
a. From installing the non-genuine Win 7, you almost certainly wiped out whatever record of the original Win 8/8.1 license key. There is nothing to find.
b. There is no expectation that a used ebay PC has a legit Windows license. Very often (usually?) they do not.
c. For any used PC, your first action should be a full wipe and reinstall. For your protection.


Going back to the original issue...the supposed bad GPU. How would that have wiped out the OS?
 
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Z

Zen Jr

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like i mentioned before i reinstalled a total of 3 times and i didnt fix the corrupted problem which lead to windows 8.1 somehow erasing itself off my motherboard i heard a case similar to this except it had nothing to do with a gpu and it was a laptop instead of a desktop. but it did have to do with an acer motherboard which is what i have which is an acer ipimp-ar gateway pc... i might be wrong about my gpu taking the os with it but it did take down my wireless adapter which i fixed by digging through forums and forums on how to fix it.. i dont know how it happened but if it isnt possible for a gpu to take down a os then i really dont know not an expert at guessing it did say i had some corrupted data that can potentially harm my computer so maybe a very important file that had to do with windows got deleted?

and what am i supposed to do it was a last resort thing and my friend provided me with it. was i supposed to leave my pc without any type of os? dont know if its just in my head but im feeling like im being called a liar.. but aside from that it wasnt a used ebay pc it was a brand new ebay pc which the guy had like 5 of the same ones for some reason so im guessing he worked at one of those unknown stores or had a lot of money to be buying the same pc with the same specs and selling it on ebay, and yes when i got it had a legit os aka windows 8 which i think around august if i remember correctly i upgraded to 8.1 for free with the new updated provided to windows 8 owners. what should i do? should i then go for the free os called linux i think it is though it barely support any steam games that i have.

also what do you mean by retail versions or OEM? thank you for taking your time to help me.
 
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Z

Zen Jr

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Dec 17, 2014
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oh i see what OEM is now. im guessing thats what my pc came with.OEM is where you can only install it to 1 motherboard where full retail would be as long you take it out from that one you can install it anywhere else..guess microsoft wont be helping me then. i check on pcpartpicker.com and saw they have windows 8.1 (OEN) for like $90 which isnt that bad at all so i guess if all goes well i'll get some money and rebuy an OEM version of windows 8.1 since the old one deleted itself im guessing that shouldnt give the new one any problems installing.
 
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Wolfshadw

Wolfshadw

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While that's true about OEM versions and the installations, the concern I meant to point out was that OEM versions do not include Microsoft Technical Support. So you won't be getting any help from Microsoft, anyway. In your situation, you would normally get tech support from the seller of the PC, but I'm guessing that's not an option either.

I did some research and I'm not finding anything concerning a "IPIMP" PC, but I did find the "IPIMB-AR" motherboard used in Acer PCs. That motherboard does support Windows 8/8.1 so there should not be any issues with re-installing the OS. Normally, at this point, I'd figure on a faulty motherboard, but since you're currently running on Windows 7, that seems unlikely.

The only recommendation I can make is to format your hard drive, try and install Windows 8 again, and then upgrade to Windows 8.1 again. Since you've stated that you've already tried that three times, my only conclusion is that one of your install DVDs is corrupted. I'm not sure where to download a legitimate Windows 8.1 ISO to burn to a DVD, but with a valid product key, you should not need to purchase a new copy of Windows (but it might be easier all around).

-Wolf sends
 
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Z

Zen Jr

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Dec 17, 2014
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ok man thanks for all the help i really do appreciate.. when something like your os messes up its no joke because its cost a lot of money at least in my case... but im glad i learned about those OEM versions that are cheaper.

like you mentioned, me contacting the seller isnt an option anymore especially since this pc was purchased in july. i will probably just end up buying a new windows 8.1 OEM to save my all the trouble what pisses me off is that i probably could have written down my product key that could have also saved me the trouble but how was i supposed to know this was going to happen.

anyways really thanks for the help and for your time i really appreciate it.
 
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