I just upgraded from Windows 8 consumer preview to the release preview and the activation key given to me by Microsoft on the connect website for the Release Preview is being rejected with error: 0xC004C003

H3boy, welcome to the Forum!

You stated that you just upgraded from Windows 8 CP. By upgrade, did you mean that you did an upgrade install, or did you clean install Windows 8 RP & considered it an upgrade from CP?

If you did an upgrade install, you'll need to do a clean install for optimal results. Also, & this is getting to be a steady issue in the last few days, is NX enabled in your BIOS? If not, it's needed for RP. CP would install w/o it, but it's being enforced with RP. Meaning that RP won't install w/o it enabled.

MS should have enforced this in the beginning, hopefully it's not your issue, but still, check to see if NX is enabled. Then do a clean install of Win 8 RP & see what happens.

Please post back with what happens, as we want to do all we can to help.

Best of Luck,
Cat

I also believe this is an Upgrade versus Clean Install problem. Did you add the key exactly. It's very easy to make a mistake. Did you write it down exactly as shown on the web site.

I have also heard of quite a few unsuccessful downloads. I would suggest downloading the ISO file again using a Internet Download Manager (http://internet-download-manager.soft32.com/free-download?gclid=CKX-pJWyyLACFUOo4Aod6D5sXA), burn it to DVD again and do a Custom (Clean) install.

I upgraded from within the CP. It runs perfectly. I copied and pasted the code from the website. The window even says it's valid but when I click activate I get an error saying it's not valid for this version. The code I have is from the Microsoft connect website and is for the Retail Preview version.713714

If it's "running perfectly", then it's activated. Once it's running, if there's any activation issues, it'll show in the right hand corner, plus the user will probably be greeted with a black screen.

Unless you see a warning, as I described above, or in the Action Center, it should be OK.

Are you trying to install the Media Center addon pack using the same COA? If so, you'll get a warning box like that, because that feature requires a different COA. Is this the case?

Cat

Don't be surprised when lots of problems show up. MS states there is not an Upgrade Path from CP to RP. This means they expect multiple problems to occur when you do this. They state the only Upgrade path is from Win 7 to Win 8 RP.



Current operating system
What you can keep


Windows 8 Consumer Preview



Nothing (your files will be saved in the Windows.old folder)




Windows Developer Preview



Nothing (your files will be saved in the Windows.old folder)




Windows 7



Programs

Windows settings

User accounts and files




Windows Vista



Windows settings

User accounts and files




Windows XP



User accounts and files





This is directly from the MS site FAQ (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/faq):

I'm with all of those who agrees that an upgrade install is oftentimes problematic, only one member here, who I haven't seen recently, has reported 100% success with this type of install.

TM also did an install this way, don't know if he still has it or not...he tries out a lot of different configurations.

It's well documented that this type of install is a disaster in the making, which is why I've never attempted it. Given the time it takes to install, update the OS & install programs, I feel that it would be a total waste of my time to try it out. I've also noticed that a reset is better than a refresh, only refreshed once & it didn't correct the issues I had. But the Reset did take care of them.

Perhaps this is exactly why MS allowed for a clean install with upgrade media (Windows 7). Hopefully Paul Thurrott will explain this procedure for Windows 8 also, & MS will allow for it as well. It's too early to know the clean install options with Windows 8 upgrade media yet, but as soon as I find a tutorial (from a reputable source) I'll post it.

Cat

It's called "Testing" for a reason. To find out what will work and what won't, you have to try different things so see what breaks the OS. I don't RUN Windows 8, I'm TESTING it! (on two different computers with greatly differing capabilities, with the 32 bit version on one and the 64 bit version on the other)

Yes, I did an upgrade from CP to RP without reformatting the HD first. It went off without a hitch, but it also did exactly what we've been WARNING people about for months.

RT basically deleted CP when it loaded. It was no big deal for me, because I had no DATA on CP anyway.
Everything from CP was crammed into one folder, called "Windows.old". So if I did have any data files on CP, I could have opened that folder, found those files and moved them into RP.

As it was, I had nothing in that Windows.old folder that I needed, and it was taking up a huge amount of space on my little hard drive, so I used Disk Cleanup to just delete it.

Cheers Mates!
TechnoMage :cool:

TM, I was thinking of trying this out on my notebook, on the old HDD that I removed prior to installing an SSD on it. The transfer wasn't cloned, it was backed up with Todo 4.5, then placed onto the SSD, there's a "Optimize for SSD" feature in Recovery Mode. The HDD is backed up anyway, so there will be nothing lost. I'm just curious to see how it does, this type of install, especially to see whether my OEM features works, notably the functions of the "F" keys. These functions didn't work using a clean install.

But one thing that concerns me, being that it contains my OEM OS, will it deactivate the OS, not so much the one on that HDD, but the one on my SSD? I know that MS keeps tabs on things, I just don't want any problems with my main install becoming "not genuine". If there is a chance of this, I won't attempt it, as I have a lot of cash tied up in the OS & it's programs.

Cat

That's why they call it Testing. You pays your nickel and yous takes your chances.

But if you have a Legal OS, that you don't want messed with, why not just back it up to an external device for safe keeping.

That's kind of what I did on my notebook. I repartitioned the little 160 gig hard drive, to create a FAT-32 "Storage" partition and then I made a Ghost backup of C:, to a compressed Backup File on D:.
Since it's a compressed file, no other OS can mess with it anyway. It's as good as if it were encrypted.
(which, in a way, it IS)

When I'm all done testing Win-8 on that PC, I'll just do a Ghost Restore of that backup file and W8 will be overwritten with XP and it will be like W8 never existed on that drive at all.

With a little planning, life just runs so much simpler.
And at 69, with Diabetes, a bad back and Heart trouble, a lot of planning is needed. lol

Cheers mate and good luck!
TechnoMage :cool:

Cat, just Image your new SSD the same way you create other Images. Then play around to your hearts content. If you run into a problem, eliminate the play OS and restore the Image you just created. I would not suspect MS would care one way or the other. They want people to test the hell out of this OS for them, so go for it.

TM & Ted, thanks for your responses. I believe that I'll try it out on my SSD, this will save the time from swapping drives around.

Of course, I'll make a new Full disk image prior to doing anything.

Many Thanks,
Cat

I do not know what I would do anymore without Imaging. They have saved my bacon so many times I have lost count. I do a lot more "Playing" with my PC than the average bear, and consequently screw things up far more than the average bear. LOL

One last question before proceeding. Should I perform a sector to sector backup, being that this is a SSD? Storage space is not of concern to me, as I have plenty.

I just want to make sure that the backup image restores exactly as before messing around. SSD's requires that 1MB of space in front of the 1st partition for optimal performance. If I understand correctly, the sector to sector backup & restore leaves the partitions "as is" during recovery.

Cat

Can't answer that as I have no experience with SSD's. Perhaps you could do both.

I believe your answer is good, Ted. That way I'll have 2 backups, better to have an extra & not need it than not having it & needing it. That's why I snatched up these 1TB HDD's when they were $49-$59 range.

Prices fall enough again, I'm getting a 2TB one. But with all that's going on, Windows 8 Retail around the corner, it's not high priority right now.

Thanks,
Cat

Since the SATA hard drive technology is so tried and true, and gets faster every few years, I think I'll stick with SATA II or SATA III hard drives.
I have a beautiful SATA III, 500 gig Seagate HD, that will only transfer data at SATA II speed, because I don't have a SATA III compatible motherboard.....yet. But it IS quick! I'm using it for Win-8/RP/64 right now.

I do have a SATA III controller card, but it's Quirky. So I've decided not to use it.

SSD? It's just not for me yet. Also Quirky! But doing backups shouldn't be any different than with a standard HD.
I may try a Combo drive one of these days though.

Let us know how that all works out for you, CAT. Eh?

TM :cool:

I was actually intending on buying one of those "combo" drives, hopefully you're speaking of the "Hybrid" ones. The Seagate 500GB has a 4GB Flash Drive built in, the 750GB has 8GB Flash. Both has a 32MB cache, which is good for 2.5" notebook drives, as many "top line notebook drives" still has a 16MB cache. Which, even if the Flash were to go south, the user would still have a fast drive.

After checking out user reviews at Newegg, I backed out. Both were more expensive than the 128GB SSD that I bought, many users, especially of the 750GB one, complained of excessive noise & heat. I was looking for a 5 Star (or egg) rated product. It was rated as barely 4 eggs.

One of the features of this type of HDD is that it gets faster the more one uses it. It doesn't say whether the use of "cleaners" will negate that benefit, but still, the computer is reported to boot faster.

This was some months back when I checked these HDD's out, there may have been product improvements over past models, especially since the merger of Samsung with the company that builds them (Seagate). From product reviews that I've read on Seagate products, they need all of the help that they can get there.

Here's some reading on the 2nd generation of the Seagate Hybrid HDD.

Momentus XT 750 GB Review: A Second-Gen Hybrid Hard Drive : Seagate's Momentus XT Picks Up FAST Technology (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/hybrid-hard-drive-flash-ssd,3116.html)

Cat

I attempted that sector to sector backup option, but there was no option (I canceled & looked 3 times) to decide which HDD to do this type of backup on. The backup app (Todo 4.5 Free) wanted to backup BOTH HDD's (the SSD & Backup drives) in this manner. Yes, over a 600GB total backup.

But I did do a regular image, it ran fast, seems that the SSD backups faster than the original one did. BTW, this was the same app that I did the initial transfer with, so all should be OK.

Will run the upgrade install in the morning & see what happens.

Cat

Still being a little bit off topic (which has really been answered) I did read the blurb from the link.
Intelestink! But thankfully, they do keep it pretty non-technical. They don't get into just what information is held by the HD and what is held by the flash memory. (firmware handles it!) But that's OK, as I'm sure that they know that almost no-one really knows how a HD works anyway.
But, if someone's going to do it, I trust Seagate to do it right. Eh?
I've been trusting Seagate for 32 years now.

But the one tiny bit of data that they stuck in there with absolutely NO fanfare at all is the 6 GBPS data transfer speed. That's FAST America! Just using plain numbers that anyone can understand, , , the max data transfer rate of the IDE Drive, (which most of us have used in our own computers) is 133. While the transfer rate for a SATA I is 1500. The transfer rate for a SATA II (second generation SATA) is 3000 and NOW the SATA III or SATA 6, transfers data at a blinding speed of 6000.

Even a blind man can see that this is a huge increase in Data Transfer Rate, in just a very few years, still using tried and true technology, that we've all grown to know and love. Well, I do anyway. :)

I don't remember what the speed of my original Seagate ST-225, 20 meg HD was, circa 1980, but not too fast. In my own infancy with the PC and the sealed hard drive, I wondered how anyone would ever fill up a 20 meg drive. I don't even own a Flash Drive that small today. My smallest flash drive is 64 meg.

See what happens, when you get an Old Timer started down memory lane?

Anyway, what I've wanted to say is: If an SSD is connected to the average Motherboard today it will only be able to transfer data at the SATA II rate of 3000mbps. You can't move data any faster than the on-board SATA controller can take it and put it on the Data Bus.
If you don't buy a SATA III controller card, for that SSD, you've spent a lot of money for a pretty small drive, but not gained a lot in system performance.

Data access is faster, (with an SSD) so if you're moving a lot of small files, the data transfer would be faster, but if you're copying a really big file, like a movie or ISO, the data transfer rate will be the same as a conventional HD.

You can have a car that can run 200 mph, but when it's stuck in traffic, it can't move any faster than the guy in front of it. And it doesn't take a NASA engineer to figure that out. Eh?

On the other side of the coin: If you connect an IDE drive to a SATA II motherboard, with an IDE to SATA adapter, the data transfer rate will be equal to a SATA I drive. (1500mbps) It's all in the controller, not the mechanical drive itself. That's a really neat way to get more performance out of your old IDE drives.
I do that, when I have to connect a customer's IDE drive to my own computer for data recovery, HD Repair, etc.
The speed increase is 11.27 times faster. Time is money!

Bored yet? Ok, I'm outta heah!
Y'all have a good day now, Y'heah?
TechnoMage http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g90/DrWho1943/Computer%20Stuff/deviloldbeer.gif

I was bored with "Still being a little bit off topic" LOL.

Very good info for those looking to improve performance of their HD's. Unfortunately, some of these changes would almost require a tech support person for my PC's (laptops) Swapping MB's, etc., is more challenging in laptops. HD's them selves are easy in most cases, so is Ram, but to switch type of HD (IDE to Sata, etc.) would be a large undertaking in my laptop because of the need to switch MB and other components.

I never measured pre SSD install HDD performance, but I do know that it took well over 1 minute to have a usable notebook with the installed Hitachi 500GB HDD. It ran at 5400rpm, had a 8MB cache, & was the hugest bottleneck on the system.

The Crucial M4 SSD instantly changed overall performance of the notebook, after all, it has a i5 (480M) CPU, a NVIDIA GeForce GT 425M (1GB DDR3 Video RAM), it needed a performance HDD. I did consider others, but prices were too high for the listed specs. Most notebook HDD's (2.5" ones) has only a 16MB cache. Now I have a usable notebook in less than 15 seconds from pressing the power button, much improved performance, faster loading apps, updating is much faster (even those .NET Framework 4 that takes forever to install).

No, I don't have a SATA3 MB, but the upgrade was worth the price ($137, including shipping + local taxes). I'll NEVER buy a mechanical HDD again for OS installs. But for storage, I'll continue to do so.

BTW, that upgrade install was a total disaster. Looked good at first, but was unusable. I won't attempt this again. I'm now freshly re-installing Win 7 through my recovery partition. I did backup the notebook, but decided on a fresh install.

Cat

Speaking from 30+ years of experience with computers, let me just say, that laptops and Netbooks are more TOYS than real computers. I have both, so I really do know from which I speak.

I love my little PC's, but they are really just play pretties, not real computers.

My desktop PC can challenge any Mainframe and beat most of the ones I've worked on in the past.
I could SMOKE an IBM 370!

Oh well, that's all irrelevant now, isn't it.???

All that's important now, is..... can your PC run Windows 8 without shooting craps. ???
Mine can...... and does.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g90/DrWho1943/Computer%20Stuff/MrOldFaht.jpg

Mine does too. That's why Windows 8 Pro, soon after Retail release, is going on my PC. Runs well, & doesn't shoot craps.

I did find one limitation of notebooks, even well built ones, is that they cannot withstand the 24/7 running required for gaining huge points in distributing computing on sites such as folding@home (protein folding by some type of CPU/GPU simulation). Hosted by Stanford University, the donor research goes a long way towards developing cures for certain illnesses. Many teams participates in the program.

Didn't hurt my CPU, but fried my GPU & a portion of the MB beneath it. It was a bit older than 3 months old, but less than 4. Anyway, MSI sent me a brand new one (with an extended life battery & replaced my Windows Anytime Upgrade to Pro) for my troubles. Even threw in a $50 Newegg gift card. The folks there couldn't understand why that happened on one of their computers, said it shouldn't never happen, not even with 10 years of use. So once they seen the damage, one was rushed by FedEx international shipping in less than 48 hours.

Has ran fine since, but have learned that even the best of notebook has their limitations. But one thing about those SSD's, & this I know because how long it takes to update a computer (of any type) after re-install. The extended length that it takes to update the computer & re-install programs. The updating process took no time, all updates + SP1 for Windows 7, in barely over an hour (this alone would've taken over 4 hours on the Hitachi HDD). First round of updates, all 108 of them were finished by the time I brushed by teeth & shaved. Normally, I could've took a shower & still be waiting for the 1st round to finish. .NET Framework 4 & it's massive number of updates took no time. So did SP1, downloading & installing within 5 minutes.

I'm sitting here thinking "damn, is this fast, or what"? Finally there were no more updates, so I grabbed a shower. Then returned & installed my programs, it took less time than updating did, many installing in almost the blink of the eye.

So I spent barely over 2 hours to do what normally would be a 6 to 7 hour job (updating the computer & installing programs). Not bad for a SATA3 SSD with a SATA2 bottleneck. BTW, there are SATA2 SSD's made, but I was told that even given the bottleneck, it would be better to go with SATA3. Many does this with mechanical HDD's too, runs the SATA3 models.

One thing for sure, my next PC will have a SATA3 MB (or current available technology) along with a SSD to match it. Had that MB been SATA3, it would've taken a little over an hour for everything (in theory, anyway).

As far as upgrades goes, & I did this one out of being curious, they may turn out well for some, but my attempt went with tradition:
Chernobyl. A total disaster.

Cat

I have great success with my laptop PC. Since I never run it 24/7 (I did not on my desktop either, they get turned off overnight) I do not see a problem there. I leave it in sleep mode during the day when I'm not typing. I shut things down when I'm sleeping. I do not wish anything occurring during these times. My laptop is quite powerful and very quick as well.

I still have my desktop, which was dynamite a few years ago, but is somewhat less than a dynamo now. The biggest problem is that the desktop is tied to the room it's in, which in my house is on the 2nd floor study, only room with the space for the large desk and desktop PC. My laptop on the other hand goes where I am, including on trips out of town. This is a big plus for me. In fact, because of the inconvenience of the desktop, it has been relegated to a storage use.

When we retire, our plan is to become more mobile (motor coach) and the desktop will be even more of a hassle, so I am quite sure the desktop will be gone and the laptops will be our staples. In fact I might even consider one of the new Surface Pro tablets in the future. I still have time to make these decisions.

That upgrade attempt has caused nothing but a PITA the last two days. Had the original OS (Win 7 Pro x64) re-installed, as described in my previous post, but something happened early this afternoon. Windows Update would no longer work on my regular OS, as well as XP MCE in VirtualBox. That VM was in my Data partition. I don't know what happened, had just updated some drivers.

Tried all of MS's fixes, still couldn't update. So I had an older backup taken with Todo 2.5 Workstation. Had to revert to that one, because the one that I made before the upgrade attempt wouldn't boot, even tried a repair w/no luck.

Glad that I kept that older backup, as I was considering a clean install, w/o using the Recovery partition, of Windows 7 Ultimate x64. The notebook shipped with a driver & program CD, one reviewer on Newegg done just that. If anything happens with this install, I'll do just that, install from scratch. Which is the best way.

One thing for sure, one can never have too many backups around, as one never knows when they'll be needed. After I get Windows 8 Pro installed (Retail), I'm grabbing a 2TB storage HDD for the sole purpose of keeping backups. They can be had now for $99 on promo, but I'm saving for Windows 8 at this time.

Looking forward to a good Windows 8 experience on my desktop PC. My notebook will continue to run Windows 7, unless MSI comes up with a way for the OEM functions to work with Win 8. It's my hope that they will, but I'm not counting on it, some driver updates mabye, but not a CD to make everything work properly.

A fair warning to anyone considering an upgrade install: DON'T DO IT on your pride & joy computer. It's a PITA to get it right again, especially if you're running a SSD on it. Do it on a secondary computer, or better yet, don't attempt an upgrade at all. And yes, I had the activation issue also, it was in the Action Center. But I couldn't get Windows Update to work, or even get a browser to connect to the internet, although during the setup, it detected my router & I connected to it.

So there is something about upgrade installs & activation issues, I just couldn't get it resolved. How could I, with basically a frozen notebook?

Cat

I'm looking at the title of this thread and scratching my head (yes, at 69[today!] I still have hair up there to scratch) and I don't get it. Activation issue? What Activation? When you begin the install it asks for the key from the Microsoft download page, you put in the key (in all caps) and it's done. There is no further activation required. Eh?

Ok, Ted, I'm with you on that Motor Home, even though I can't afford one, I've kicked a lot of MH tires and even taken a few test drives. My dad taught me to drive a bus when I was 9 (I was as big as my mother at 9...no little kid) and all my life, I've wanted to own one. Do a walk through at least, even if you don't drive one and see just how much room there is in them for a Full Blown, Real, Computer. But don't get one of those 'Mini PC's', they are so proprietary that fixing one is a real pain and it can get expensive. I was in one motor home that even had a built in Computer Desk. With the new flat screens, space is no longer so much of a problem.
If I didn't already own a laptop and a notebook, I could not so much speak from Experience, but I have both and neither one can hold a candle to my Desktop, (the one I lovingly call the HAL 9000).

OH! And for traveling with a laptop, for the ultimate protection of your "baby" take a look at the tool boxes sold by Harbor Freight. No store nearby? Check out their on-line Catalog.
Here's the laptop, that was given to me by a lady who was told that the motherboard was blown.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g90/DrWho1943/Computer%20Stuff/NewDell.jpg

And here's that same laptop sitting comfortably in it's Armored Carrying Case.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g90/DrWho1943/Computer%20Stuff/NewDellCase.jpg

That case may not be fully Bullet Proof, but it's as close as you can get for under $30.
It comes with a full foam insert, that can be cut out for the mouse and power supply to nestle under the PC.

And, here's my little Acer Aspire ONE, Netbook, sitting in its own little Armored Case.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g90/DrWho1943/Computer%20Stuff/OpenBox.jpg

I believe in the old saying that "One picture is worth a thousand words" Eh?

It's the first day of Summer! Y'all have a great day now, Y'hear?

TechnoMage http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g90/DrWho1943/Computer%20Stuff/deviloldbeer.gif

Nice notebooks, TM. Especially the one the owner thought the MB was shot. Probably by someone who wanted to rip her off.

Kind of reminds me of the deal that I got on a Fiat back in the 80's, the owner was told that the head was cracked, when in fact all that was wrong was a spark plug was cross threaded in. The couple let me have the car for $50. Once I got it home, a friend looked at it & right away knew what was wrong. He took some sort of tool to fix the threads, re-installed the spark plug, it ran like new.

Drove the car for almost 5 years w/o spending a cent on it other than maintenance. BTW, it had an automatic & A/C too. Was the ugliest car that I ever had, but the most dependable used car that I ever bought.

Sometimes, we do luck up on deals. This ThinkPad T42 that I made a makeshift desktop for my wife, was another. Got it on eBay for $99, Free 2 day shipping. It's been a very dependable notebook for her. Wished that it would hold more than 2GB of DDR RAM, but that's the way it goes. It actually boots faster than the OEM version of Windows 7 Pro x64 on my desktop PC. But programs tends to load slowly. Oh well, we can't have it all for $99.

Hopefully, I'll be able to do something about that by Christmas. I believe that I mentioned that in another posting, no need to re-hash that.

Cat

We both have Targas foam brief cases right now that travel very nicely with our laptops. We take them now when we go visiting. The briefcases have many extra pockets so I take along my Ext HD with my Images. I also take along all my "repair tools" as both of my kids are less PC literate and depend on dad fixing their little ailments.

I often carry my repair tools whenever I (or my wife & I) goes somewhere where there are computers. Because many asks me to fix something most everytime I see them, or at least asks me to check.

This can seem to be a PITA sometimes, but often I'm rewarded with a good meal, at the least. Some outright pays me. The last time that I done such a repair was 2 weekends ago, where afterwards my wife & I got a prime rib & shrimp, cooked on the grill by an executive chef (this is his trade). The repair? Installing 2 sticks of 8GB x2 (16GB) DDR3 RAM. He thought that all it could hold was 8GB, as was printed on the box. Using Crucial's online tool, it was discovered that it would hold twice that amount, a pleasant surprise for him. The only reason that this scan was done was to determine what SSD was best for his computer. The tool reports both the RAM & SSD options, fully guaranteed on their dime to be compatible.

It took me longer to unpack the new GSkill RAM than it did to install it. So tight in the package, it took a careful trim of the plastic with a pocket knife to remove them. Removed the other sticks, blew the slots with a few quick blasts of canned air, installed the new, booted & it was there, all 16GB of it.

In the end, we all were happy. It pays to know a little something about computers, even if not all. RAM & HDD's are frequently swapped items, so are OS installs & virus/malware cleaning & printer installs. One can never know too much about computers.

Cat

Problem has been resolved. I used the activation key posted on the Microsoft support website. Iv'e enjoyed reading this thread. I also take my repair kit with me whenever I go out of town along with my PC textbooks.

H3boy, glad to hear it! It's good to know that we are of help to our members & yes, there is plenty of good reading on the Forum.

Hope to see you back here soon!

Cat

I surprised you were not asked to enter the key when you installed the OS, or were you? Is this what you are describing?

I was prompted but used a key I found in a text document in the folder along with the installer.

Always use the key that is shown on the approved site.