Windows 8.1 Pro - Licencing Question

I am about to buy a new laptop. I also intend to buy a full retail copy of Windows 8 Pro so that I can install (and reinstall) windows as required without having to endure the manufacturer's "extras". I will therefore effectively be
discarding the OEM licence of Windows 8.1 Pro that comes with the laptop - I will boot the machine straight into the installation media if that makes a difference to the scenarios below.
My questions are as follows:
I would like to install my full Retail copy of Win8 into two separate hard drive partitions on the
same computer. Let's call the partitions "Work" and "Play", the intention is to separate any games I install away from my work config (and also stop my work machine from getting slowed down waiting for Steam). Obviously,
only one of the installations could possibly be active at one time and the hardware would be identical. Would Microsoft expect me to buy two licences for this or can I use the same key twice? (I know that the OEM key cannot be used on a fresh install).
Is it legal to install my retail copy of Win8 into a Virtual Machine on the laptop running the same retail copy? The VM will only ever be used on the laptop that is running the licensed copy of Windows.
Thanks in anticipation.

Hi,
According to Windows 8.1 license terms:
Under our license, we grant you the right to install and run that one copy on one computer (the licensed computer), for use by one person at a time, but only if you comply with all the terms of this agreement. Typically, this means you can install one
copy of the software on a personal computer and then you can use the software on that computer.
It's not allowed to use one personal license at two system at the same time.
For more questions, you can check Windows license terms in your computer:
System\About Windows\Microsoft Software License Terms
Also you can access the link below to read the license:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/2/1/72103B1C-DE58-478C-BECF-4D846C2B4A15/UseTerms_Retail_Windows_8.1_Pro_update_(to_Windows_8_Pro_which_was_acquired_from_retail_or_Microsoft)_English.pdf
Roger Lu
TechNet Community Support

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Andy ______________________________________
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Deployment of Windows 8.1 Pro while maintaining OEM Licence

Hi All
I was wondering if someone could help me.
The company I work for will be purchasing 50 new laptops for our sales team. These laptops will come with windows 8.1 Pro OEM installed.
My question is; can I re-deploy a Windows 8.1 image containing my companies bespoke software whilst retaining the OEM licences? If so, how would I go about this?
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Kind Regards,
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Hi Cx,
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Hi, all
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ArseneL

Well, running rsop.msc in my Server 2012 R2 machine does show my 256-bit bitlocker setting took, however, running rsop.msc in my Win 8.1 Pro machine shows it did not, which explains the problem I am having.
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ArseneL

I have just owned a macbook pro and trying to learn things since i have all along used windows laptop. My first question is : when there are two files i am working together, one above the other on screen, how you switch over between the two with key ?

I have just owned a macbook pro and trying to learn things since i have all along used windows laptop. My first question is : when there are two files i am working together, one above the other on screen, how you switch over between the two with key ?

Hi...
Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts
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Shift-Control-F4
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As an example type in keyboard shortcuts
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Apple - Find Out How - Mac Basics
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Windows 8 Embedded Standard Licence

Hello,
I am part of Microsoft Partner Network and my question is about Windows 8 Embedded Standard Licence.
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This forum is for POSReady. For future reference, the WES8 forum is over here:
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How to install window 8.1 pro on g500

Hello,
I currently have the g500 lenovo computer with the preloaded software windows 8.1. I would like to purchase the windows 8.1 pro version and would like to know what are the steps needed to do this and if anyone has done this what type of problems if any have you encounter.
Thanks

hi fishermanjack,
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Clean installation of windows 8.1 pro on Thinkpad e550 activation problems.

I have installed a SSD hard drive and need a clean instalations of windows for development using multiple platforms.
My plan was to have a tri-boot on three partitions on a mbr formated drive.
-Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit;
-WIndows 8.1 Pro 32bit, and;
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EvanTPE550 wrote:
"Is a Win 7 32 virtual client an option?"
What VC are you using?
I use VMWare Player (free) and use it to create virtual clients as needed. Typically the virtual clients are "clean installs" from ISOs. VMWare has it so well mechanized that there's not much to it.
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Z.
The large print: please read the Community Participation Rules before posting. Include as much information as possible: model, machine type, operating system, and a descriptive subject line. Do not include personal information: serial number, telephone number, email address, etc. The fine print: I do not work for, nor do I speak for Lenovo. Unsolicited private messages will be ignored. ... GeezBlog
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Run Windows 8.1 Pro on a SDXC card via VMware Fusion

Hi everyone,
I'm kinda new to the whole Mac story.
Have been using iPhone and iPad from day one, but never could get myself to go off Windows.
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Thank you for the fast responds.
I took a look into it and you are right.
The read/write speed is much higher and cheaper.
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So I'm going to buy a 64GB USB stick (less than 60 euro) and going to install it on that source.
With 64GB I've some extra space for the futher if I need to work with more Windows only programs.
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How to install Windows 8.1 Pro on Macbook Pro

Hello everyone,
I'm new to these forums and new to bootcamping as well but have been reading all kinds of posts about how to install Windows 8.1 on their Macs using bootcamp. I am however having trouble with this situation as I have no clue what to do next. I have a Macbook Pro 2011, running on Maverics, and I recently downloaded a digital copy of Windows 8.1 Pro, 64-bit, for the Mac platform, along with its CD key through my University's hub website as can be seen here.
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You need a 'Full' Installer.
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Which versions of Windows work with Boot Camp 5.1?
Boot Camp 5.1 supports 64-bit, non-Enterprise versions of Windows 7, Windows 8.0, and Windows 8.1. This version of Boot Camp doesn't support Windows XP, Windows Vista, or any 32-bit version of Windows. Depending on your Mac, you may be able to use an earlier version of Boot Camp to work with other versions of Windows. For details, see the Boot Camp system requirements for Microsoft Windows.
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Can I install Windows 8.1 Pro on a H520g?

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As the full retail DVD of Windows 8.1 Pro is expensive here in Brazil (about US$ 320), I must be absolutely sure I'll be able to install it on my H520g desktop before buying it.
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Hi Armin.S,
I apologize, I'm a bit unclear on the exact nature of your question. If you are asking about the system requirements for running various versions of Windows under Bootcamp, or just more generally how to set up Bootcamp on your Mac, you may find the following articles/pages helpful:
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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5634
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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1461
Apple - Boot Camp Support
https://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/
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Changing the Operating System may cause driver conflicts. The compatible drivers for Windows 8.1 will not be available in the website for this laptop. Hence, some of the features on the laptop might not work after changing the OS. 1: Since you have already created the USB recovery media from the laptop, you do not have to copy anything else other than this. Make sure you you backup all files before installing the OS, as it will remove all data from the laptop. I see that, you have the unused Pro retail key for the OS, hence, you do not have to have the OEM product key. You need to use the product key for Windows 8.1 Pro to activate it, not the Acer OEM product key. In the BIOS, select BOOT tab. Select BOOT MODE as Legacy Mode instead of UEFI.Disable Secure Boot. Under Boot Priority Order, you need to select 1 as CD/DVD (if you are using disc), or USB FDD or USB HDD (if you are using USB drive) to install Windows 8.1 Pro. Then press the F10 key and select "Yes" to save the changes in BIOS. ->You an install Windows 8.1 Pro using my ISO and installing the drivers from the Acer support website. As said before, there may driver conflicts. -> If you want to switch back to Windows 8.1, you may use the USB reovery drive (which created you have created from the recovery partition). When you do this, the Windows 8.1 Pro and it's product key will be removed from the laptop and the factory shipped OS, drivers, apps (and the OEM product key) will be installed automatically. You do not have to use the Windows 8.1 Pro key with Acer OEM USB reovery media. -> You need to do a clean install using the USB recovery drive to install factory shipped Windows on the laptop.

Cannot log in to Windows 8.1 Pro virtual machine!

Hello.
I installed Windows 7 Ultimate on my iMac (Mid 2011) via Boot Camp, then I installed Parallels Desktop 8 and my Windows virtual machine was recognised by PD8. Then I upgraded my Windows version to Windows 8 Pro and added Windows Media Centre. All that was also recognised by PD8. Then I upgraded to Parallels Desktop 9, and everything was going fine.
I recently upgraded my Windows 8 Pro with Media Centre to Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Centre from the Windows partition, and I had no problem with that either. But when I tried to log in to Windows through Parallels Desktop (Windows as a virtual machine), Parallels Desktop didn't recognise the Windows virtual machine!
How can I resolve this issue?!
Thanks.

Hi,
Did we followed this article to update to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8?
Update to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8
For can't find the update in the store, have you checked this article?
Why can't I find the update in the Store?
Please take a check in the question You might be running an edition of Windows 8 that doesn’t support updating from the Store
in the above article for the editions that won't be able to update from Windows store.
Best regards
Michael Shao
TechNet Community Support

Windows 8.1 Pro Final (6.3.9600)

Have a clean installation of Windows 8.1 Pro final (volume) since released date. Meanwhile until now it still cannot activated via KMS server perhaps not injected yet, online activation also not work. Current license status is "notification". Is
this will still available and if have expiry, until when? Any article mention this?
As noticed that preview version will expired by 15th Jan 2014
manggar77

hi don,
thanks. but what i wan't to know is before
8.1 pro activated, how long it can be used?
manggar77
if it is a VL channel product, you are required by the terms of the license to activate it.
For VL channel products, there are some functional limitations and informational warnings and reminders applied if the product is not activated, but there is no other impact.
Evaluation channel product will periodically shut down. VL channel product will not shut down.
Regardless of the channel (OEM, Retail, VL, Eval) the license terms require that you activate.
MSDN and TechNet, which are for evaluation and/or development, generally the advice is not to activate if you will commence and conclude your evaluation/development in a short period.
This aspect is not documented in any license terms that I've ever found.
(edit: I found it documented here, as up to 120 days)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd981009.aspx
(Note that this is written for Win7/WS2008R2, and Win8/WS2012 may be different)
(there is also a description of the behaviour if not activated, and grace period expires)
(Also note that this is a white paper, not a license agreement)
So, if you are asking "what am I permitted to do?", the answer is, to comply with the license terms, you are required to activate.
If you are asking "what is the technical or user experience if I do not activate?", this depends upon the channel of the media you used.
Does this help? Or have I misunderstood your question?
Don
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This helps the community, keeps the forums tidy, and recognises useful contributions. Thanks!)

Windows 8.1 Pro Lowering Music Volume When Running...

Hello All,
On my Windows 8.1 pro computer i like to listen to music and talk to my buddies, but whenever the Music app is in the background or a game starts, the music suddenly decreases to 80%. I have selected the "Do Nothing" tab so dont tell me that. I also unchecked "allow applications to take exclusive control over this device". My computer is new, no steam no teamspeak like that, and I use the skype the pc came with.
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Hi Sen92tsw,
Welcome to Lenovo Community Forums!
I’m sorry to hear that your V480 Laptop is not Shutting Down/ Going to Sleep after installing Windows 8.1. Below is the link with troubleshooting steps which should resolve this issue.
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Windows 8.1 Pro - Licencing Question

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