Well it looks like MS screwed up. I will keep this short mostly because my Internet is being a bully.
How do you claim your free Windows 8 Pro key? By simply
visiting the Windows 8 website and requesting a free Windows 8 Media Center Pack license. You type your email address in, and a few moments later there’s a license key sitting in your inbox. This key can’t directly be used to install a fresh copy of Windows 8, but in combination with Windows 8′s Key Management Service (KMS) it will activate Windows 8 Pro permanently.
Go to this page:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/feature-packs
Enter your e-mail and wait for the key.
Then
Get a KMS server and try this:
You can also active from the command line. If you haven’t figured out where the command line is in Windows 8, follow the steps below:
Go to: Start > Programs
Right Click on the Programs Screen, and choose “Show all Programs”
Find Command Line under Windows Apps
Right Click and choose ‘Run as Administrator’
Within the cmd window, run these commands below
slmgr /ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
(xxxxx is your Windows Product Key)
slmgr /skms servername:1688
(you must host an internal KMS server or find a remote one)
slmgr.vbs -ato
slmgr /ckms
via:
http://www.itsupportonline.com/2012/11/05/how-to-activate-windows-8-pro/
Reason for this:
This is where the bug seems to be: With a KMS-activated copy of Windows 8 (which you can perform with any license key, valid or otherwise), Windows 8 will — for some reason — become fully, legitimately activated when you apply your free Media Center Pack key. To do this, just visit System and click “Get more features with a new edition of Windows” (pictured above), insert your key, and voilà.
The massive irony, of course, is that Microsoft originally intended to strip Media Center from Windows 8 Pro — and then, in the face of consumer backlash, decided to offer it as a free upgrade until January 31 2013. Presumably, instead of taking the time to deliver the upgrade properly, Microsoft pushed it out the door as quickly as possible — and this is the result.
via
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/141052-microsoft-accidentally-gifts-pirates-with-a-free-windows-8-pro-license-key
Once I find a KMS server I will share the link, for now get the key booked.
Comments
True, it does seem that every other windows release is a complete fail.