Trouble with my first PC build [Software windows installation]

Kollie8ice

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Jul 11, 2015
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Hi all,

So I have just completed building my first PC, and I have some trouble with installing software.

At first, I have an old pre-built laptop with Windows 7, which I thought I could uninstall the product key from there, and use the key for this new build. After creating a bootable USB for Windows 7, the product key didn't work, and then I found something that said pre-built laptop's product keys cannot be used for other builds.

So with that, my new computer is left alone, with a startup from the hard drive leaving me to the Windows 7 installation page (where you have to enter the product key).

Now, I have bought a Windows 8.1 Full Edition Retail pack, with CD's and product keys. Once again, my new built computer does not have any optical drives, so I created another bootable USB from the Microsoft page. This time however, when I set my boot order to the USB, it gives me an 'error code 0x00000f' and how my PC needs to be repaired.

I was under the impression that this happened as Windows 7 is already installed and I'm trying to install Windows 8 ontop of it.

Was there a way to wipe my hard drive of Windows 7 even though product key hasn't been entered? I have tried looking through the UEFI for options to format or clear my hard drive but none was found.

My motherboard is an ASRock H97M Pro4, which said it is 'Windows 8.1 ready", and my HDD is a Seagate 1tb.

Thank you very much!
 

Kollie8ice

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Jul 11, 2015
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Yup, booting the Win8 USB first gives me an error straight away :(
 

imthebigchief

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Nov 26, 2014
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On the Windows 7 installation disks I've used, you can tell it to skip the license number thing until after the setup is finished.

However, you may be stuck if you attempted it, and it rejected the license number. And it will always reject the license number if you are using a a different disk than the one you are supposed to be using. You can't use an OEM disk with a Dell license number, or a Dell disk with an HP number, etc.... You can do things to fix that after it is done, but it will not accept it during setup.

If the license things are not the issue, then the UEFI bios is probably the cause. Can you go in and set it to "Legacy"? And, assuming so, will it stick with Legacy for more than one boot? UEFI is a good idea for security, but it is terrible for trying to do anything else that needs to be done before the system boots.

The other thing to try, if you are absolutely certain that this is what you want to do, is to remove the dive, connect it to another computer, and wipe it. Then when you put it back in, there is no other choice but for it to try to install something. But, if you do it, you don't have anything to go back to, so do so at your own risk.
 

Kollie8ice

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Jul 11, 2015
18
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4,510
Thank you everyone for the reply!
I have read each one and after retracing all my steps, I decided to create a bootable USB for Win8.1 again (for like the 3rd or 4th time).

This time, I am not too sure what changed, but it installed well. I have just installed an LAN/Internet driver via USB, and now upgrading to Win10.

Thank you once again for taking the time and helping a first-time PC builder out :)