Windows 8.1 Activation

Activation

The technologies for Windows activation have not changed significantly in Windows 8.1 compared with Windows 8. The user interface has changed, as well as some of the conditions for activation. Changes you should know about are:

• Windows Activation status is now shown in PC Settings.
• Windows Activation is no longer a separate interface in Control Panel.
• Updating from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 via Windows Store does not change the product key or activation state.

Product Keys

Even though the update path does not change the activation state, there are product keys specific to Windows 8.1. If you want to install Windows 8.1 from media or via download, you must have a Windows 8.1 product key.

Customers with an updated Windows 8.1 PC who need to reinstall Windows should reinstall Windows 8, activate, and then repeat the update to Windows 8.1.

• Once in Windows 8.1, a Windows 8 product key can be used to activate, as long as it is otherwise valid for activation. So a key that has not been used to activate a different PC should activate automatically.
• Add Features is still available on Windows 8.1. When Windows 8.1 is released, there will be Pro Pack and Media Center pack keys available for purchase.

Activation Interface

Locate the new Activation interface in Windows 8.1. You can find it with the information about your PC in the PC Settings interface. To access it, click PC & Devices, and then click PC info.

In addition to this view, System Properties in Control Panel continues to show the product key and activation status. Clicking an option there to change the activation state will now take you into PC Settings.

As in Windows 8, when the PC is not activated there will be a new top item in PC Settings for Activation. An example is shown below where Windows was installed with a key that had no remaining activations. Setup completed, but activation cannot proceed. Clicking Error details returns the error.

This interface will show activation status and options as you have seen in Windows 8. If you find that a customer is having a problem activating, find out their install path and current Windows version. Existing troubleshooting procedures continue to apply.