fiza Posted December 12, 2013 Posted December 12, 2013 I have just purchased an Asus Transformer. This comes with Win 8.1 and it is possible to upgrade to Win 8.1 Pro using an upgrade key. I dont want to pay £99 for the retail version when we have already got volume licences. I have tried to input my VL MAK key to do the upgrade but it says it is invalid as the installed version is retail. So is it possible to convert a retail version of Windows 8.1 to a volume licence version so that I can upgrade the Asus without shelling out £99?
Arthur Posted December 12, 2013 Posted December 12, 2013 I think the easiest way to upgrade would be to reinstall Windows 8.1 Pro from the VL ISO. 1
fiza Posted December 12, 2013 Author Posted December 12, 2013 I think the easiest way to upgrade would be to reinstall Windows 8.1 Pro from the VL ISO. I have never done this on a tablet before. Has anyone attempted this on a tablet? Do you mean a complete reinstall, boot from CD etc? The Asus doesnt have a CD and I dont think you can boot into anything other than the OS.
LeMarchand Posted December 12, 2013 Posted December 12, 2013 It's possible to upgrade the Acer W501 from 8 Home to Ent with lots of faffing around with BIOS/security settings, UEFI, and USB hubs/keyboards/CD drives. Would imagine the ASUS has a similar (but hopefully less complex!) method.
fiza Posted December 12, 2013 Author Posted December 12, 2013 Do you have KMS installed at all? Yes we do.
Firefox Posted December 12, 2013 Posted December 12, 2013 This should be simple enough through the KMS console. depending on the version you're using the commands are slightly different. We're using 3.1 and I believe its:- 1) locate the device reporting as retail 2) right click and choose "install product key" 3) Select the option "Automatically select a KMS Client Key (GVLK)” 4) Provide the relevant credentials 5) Update licsense status 6) right click the device again and you should have an option "Volume Activate"
fiza Posted December 12, 2013 Author Posted December 12, 2013 This should be simple enough through the KMS console. depending on the version you're using the commands are slightly different. We're using 3.1 and I believe its:- 1) locate the device reporting as retail 2) right click and choose "install product key" 3) Select the option "Automatically select a KMS Client Key (GVLK)” 4) Provide the relevant credentials 5) Update licsense status 6) right click the device again and you should have an option "Volume Activate" Tried that - didnt work. I think I know why. As the Asus has currently got Windows 8.1 there is no corresponding version in Vlsc as this only shows me windows 8.1 Pro. If I had windows 8.1 Pro on the Asus already then I could probably do the conversion.
Arthur Posted December 12, 2013 Posted December 12, 2013 I have never done this on a tablet before. Does the tablet have a USB port? If so, you could use Rufus to create a bootable USB flash drive from the ISO.
fiza Posted December 12, 2013 Author Posted December 12, 2013 Does the tablet have a USB port? If so, you could use Rufus to create a bootable USB flash drive from the ISO. My only worry would be if I manage to brick the OS and cant get back to the factory windows install. It would £300 down the drain!!
Firefox Posted December 12, 2013 Posted December 12, 2013 Do you have to input the 8.1 key at point of install? or like the server editions do you get a 3 day grace? Could you not just install 8.1 over the top (unlicensed) then once it's complete license from KMS? (As you can tell I've never installed 8.1 lol) 1
fiza Posted December 12, 2013 Author Posted December 12, 2013 Do you have to input the 8.1 key at point of install? or like the server editions do you get a 3 day grace? Could you not just install 8.1 over the top (unlicensed) then once it's complete license from KMS? (As you can tell I've never installed 8.1 lol) I didnt have to input any key. I dont think you can licence 8.1 with KMS. You would need 8.1 Pro.
sted Posted December 12, 2013 Posted December 12, 2013 (edited) kms only works with pro/enterprise i believe and depending on what kms server os you have may not work as it wont understand the windows 8/8.1 slic tables telling it there's a base license to upgrade from. If there arnt many might just be easier to slmgr /ipk key them Edited December 12, 2013 by sted
Firefox Posted December 12, 2013 Posted December 12, 2013 @ Fiza, Sorry I meant get hold of a 8.1 pro disc and install over the top (assuming that's possible) once installed then license with KMS @ Sted, You can use a 2008 R2 KMS server to license 8.1 and 2012 R2
SteveM555 Posted December 12, 2013 Posted December 12, 2013 (edited) I have done this with an ASUS Transformer, It now runs 8.1 Pro from a Volume License ISO. Before it will recognise the ISO as bootable you need to make it UEFI supported or it will NOT boot no matter what you try (as the VL ISOs are not UEFI, or at least ours wasn't!) See more below on how to do that: Create Windows 8 universal UEFI enabled DVD/ISO - Kasper Kristensen Once you have modified the ISO you can either burn to DVD and use an external drive, or use USB memory sticks. There is no direct BIOS options upon boot, so you need to do an "Advanced Restart" from within Windows 8 PC Settings which should give you the option to boot external device. Make sure to use the 32bit 8.1 ISO as x64 wasn't supported on our ASUS Transformer. Also, all of the drivers are on the ASUS website for 32bit Windows 8 so these shouldn't be a problem. Once you have a working Transformer on 8.1 Pro you can create a backup image through Windows and apply it to other devices. Hope that helps! Edited December 12, 2013 by SteveM555 1
fiza Posted December 12, 2013 Author Posted December 12, 2013 I have done this with an ASUS Transformer, It now runs 8.1 Pro from a Volume License ISO. Before it will recognise the ISO as bootable you need to make it UEFI supported or it will NOT boot no matter what you try (as the VL ISOs are not UEFI, or at least ours wasn't!) See more below on how to do that: Create Windows 8 universal UEFI enabled DVD/ISO - Kasper Kristensen Once you have modified the ISO you can either burn to DVD and use an external drive, or use USB memory sticks. There is no direct BIOS options upon boot, so you need to do an "Advanced Restart" from within Windows 8 PC Settings which should give you the option to boot external device. Make sure to use the 32bit 8.1 ISO as x64 wasn't supported on our ASUS Transformer. Also, all of the drivers are on the ASUS website for 32bit Windows 8 so these shouldn't be a problem. Once you have a working Transformer on 8.1 Pro you can create a backup image through Windows and apply it to other devices. Hope that helps! Are you able to use the full size USB slot on the keyboard for the external drive when booting from the iso?
JackCPickup Posted December 12, 2013 Posted December 12, 2013 If you need it to be Pro to do the KMS part, couldn't you use DISM.exe to convert the edition to Pro?
fiza Posted December 12, 2013 Author Posted December 12, 2013 If you need it to be Pro to do the KMS part, couldn't you use DISM.exe to convert the edition to Pro? How do i do that please?
SteveM555 Posted December 12, 2013 Posted December 12, 2013 Are you able to use the full size USB slot on the keyboard for the external drive when booting from the iso? Yes - We have used both an external DVD drive and USB memory sticks for this. You will need to select to boot from it though from within Windows 8 - Advanced Restart - as it is not the first boot device.
JackCPickup Posted December 12, 2013 Posted December 12, 2013 (edited) Boot the device into a Windows PE based environment, Macrium Reflect or Active Bootdisk is what I use, open CMD and use the following: DISM.exe /Image: /Get-TargetEditions This will tell you if you can upgrade the edition and what to. Then: DISM.exe /Image: /Set-Edition: You can also stick /Set-ProductKey: at the end if you need to. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825157.aspx DISM Jack Edited December 12, 2013 by JackCPickup link 1
sted Posted December 12, 2013 Posted December 12, 2013 @ Fiza, Sorry I meant get hold of a 8.1 pro disc and install over the top (assuming that's possible) once installed then license with KMS @ Sted, You can use a 2008 R2 KMS server to license 8.1 and 2012 R2 yes it will recognise 8.1 but some pcs because of the slic bios version i cant get it to accept that its upgrading from something so it reports back its not an upgrade
fiza Posted December 12, 2013 Author Posted December 12, 2013 @ Fiza, Sorry I meant get hold of a 8.1 pro disc and install over the top (assuming that's possible) once installed then license with KMS @ Sted, You can use a 2008 R2 KMS server to license 8.1 and 2012 R2 Trying that now.
fiza Posted December 12, 2013 Author Posted December 12, 2013 Right - I burnt a VL copy of Windows 8.1 Pro. Attached an external DVD drive with the disc in. From within Windows 8.1 I ran the DVD. Was asked if I wanted to install windows 8.1 Pro. Said yes and away it went. Once installed I activated it using my VL MAK key and all seems to be good. I have now joined it to the domain. 1
vdub144 Posted April 21, 2014 Posted April 21, 2014 There is furiously very little information on how to do this on the web. I just purchased 15 Acer Iconia W4 tablets for our Science department, being told by MS that they could be upgraded. They do not have a full size USB, only a B/micro. There is a MicroSD slot, but I'm not sure if I can boot from it. Will have to try to prepare a bootable SD and see if I can put Pro over the top I guess. This is very frustrating, especially since we often buy machines with minimal home licenses to use under our volume license agreement.
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