Windows 8 Upgrade Program May Now Require Windows 7 Key
You may need your Windows 7 product key to upgrade to Windows 8.
Prior to the release of Windows 8, Microsoft announced an upgrade program for those who purchased new computers in the months leading up to the release of the new OS. These people would, of course, be buying Windows 7 machines, which would technically be out of date in less than a year. However, Microsoft recognized that it needed a program in place to ensure sales of Windows 7 machines wouldn't nose dive in the six months before Windows 8 was launched. Redmond came up with an upgrade program that would allow anyone that purchased a Windows 7 machine after June 2012 to upgrade to Windows 8 for just $15. However, this week it emerged that folks hoping to upgrade may need to have their Windows 7 product key on hand.
According to CNet, Microsoft is randomly asking some users to enter their Windows 7 product activation key to verify that their machine qualifies for the upgrade deal. Lance Whitney writes that he tried to upgrade three machines, all of which were bought after June 2 of this year. While one computer updated to Windows 8 without incident (all Whitney had to do was enter the name and manufacturer of his computer and the date he bought it), the other two returned a message of apology informing Whitney his computers were not eligible for the upgrade. A week later, he tried again, and was asked to enter his Windows 7 product key as additional verification. This time around, his computers were approved for the upgrade to Windows 8.
Microsoft says the process to determine which users need a Windows 7 activation key and which users don't is dynamic and based on a number of factors. Redmond said if you can't verify your purchase using the online system, you'll need to contact customer support and provide them with proof of purchase.
Have any of you had problems updating to Windows 8 via the upgrade program? Let us know in the comments below.

I don't like Win8 myself and plan on waiting until Win 8 SP1 or Win9, but I feel that some people here hates Win8 simply because other hate it as well.
It's dumb of Microsoft to only show the Metro UI in it's Win8 advertisements. It's obviously turning away many people. This feature has been nonexistent to me though, and I continue my Windows 8 usage just like if it was XP, Vista, or 7.
That was a joke, right?
So true. I own a spare laptop with W8. Its it no way amazing, but It could have been vista all over again. In the end, as long as the system is really stable, I deal with it. Will be nice if compatibility is fixed in SP1.
There are some nice under-the-hood improvements and features in Win8 that, to me, are worth the paltry $40 upgrade. It helps that I don't mind the new Start screen (just nicer, full-screen Start menu as far as I'm concerned), and Metro/Modern UI is fantastic on touch devices (much better than iOS or Android UIs, IMO).
Win8 isn't the second coming, nor is it the antichrist. Not liking it is fine, but throwing these giant hissy fits is a bit ridiculous, I'd say.
If you want to see all programs, just right click on a blank area of the start screen, and choose the popup toolbar item for "All". The only real difference is instead of the start button bringing up a small window showing pinned programs/all programs, they have grown to full screen versions. The little Start icon even shows up if you hover in the bottom left corner of the desktop, it's just not visible all the time.
I got used to it in a couple of days, it's nowhere near as bad as people made it out to be. Since I'm upgrading from XP on my older machine, I think it's worth the $40 upgrade just so I can install more than 4GB on that machine.
$40 may sound like a deal to someone. But I wouldn't buy it @ $40. If it is $15, then it is a no brainer for someone from winXP/Vista. Microsoft should have keep that price. Because $15 is the only price that make win8 sell well. The 4millions sales figure on the first few days is the result of the $15 bypass trick.
I got 2 copies of win8 for $15 each & another 2 for the accidentally given free by Microsoft thing.