1

Possible Duplicate:
How to remove Media Center from Windows 8

Microsoft were recently giving away FREE serial keys to add Media Center to Windows 8 Pro, but I missed the boat. A friend offered to give me one of the spare keys they'd gotten for free from MS, and so I decided to give it a shot. The "Upgrade Windows" screen said the key was valid, so I proceeded and Windows quickly installed Media Center to my copy of Windows 8 Pro.

Unfortunately, on reboot, it then decided that the key had been activated too many times (arg! so much for a "spare" key!), and now my copy of Windows 8 Pro is no longer activated... at all!

enter image description here

I've tried re-entering my valid serial for Windows 8 Pro, but Windows had apparently decided I have a copy of Windows 8 Pro with Media Center, which is different than plain old Windows 8 Pro -- and so my old key wasn't valid.

enter image description here

I've gone into Add/Remove Features of Windows 8 and uninstalled Media Center, but Windows still considers itself to be this new version of Windows 8, no longer covered by my valid Windows 8 Pro key. (Why can't I "downgrade" back to Windows 8 Pro, seeing how I never actually upgraded to Windows 8 Pro with Media Center...?)

I wouldn't mind buying an upgrade key from Windows 8 Pro to Windows 8 Pro with Media Center, but even that is proving difficult:

enter image description here

What can I do to remedy this situation?

Community
  • 1
Django Reinhardt
  • 4,434
  • 8
  • 52
  • 85

1 Answers1

1

I activated it successfully over the phone... Phew!

Django Reinhardt
  • 4,434
  • 8
  • 52
  • 85
  • That's cool :) Sometimes, web activation fails due to any number of reasons. The key is to do it again :) – pratnala Feb 05 '13 at 13:19
  • And didn't I suggest the phone numbers for activation above? :) – Karan Feb 05 '13 at 19:35
  • @Karan You did! you should have put it in an answer :) Why was this closed as a duplicate when it's clearly different, btw? – Django Reinhardt Feb 06 '13 at 03:57
  • @Karan And why did you vote to close this question as an "exact duplicate" when it's clearly not? – Django Reinhardt Feb 06 '13 at 19:08
  • When you asked what you could do to remedy the situation, the link showing how to remove Media Center *is* a valid answer (and clearly, others agreed with me). It was only later that you commented saying removal of (any?) apps/settings was not tolerable. If you disagree, you can always flag for it to be reopened. – Karan Feb 06 '13 at 19:16