Does Windows 8 RETAIL install extract OEM product key from BIOS?

Question

I am in a situation where I cannot use Magical Jelly Bean Product Key Finder since the hard drive has failed on a particular system from HP. Sadly HP will only sell restore discs and I don't have the luxury of waiting a few days for these to arrive. I do have a retail disc from another system and have read that a retail copy of Windows 8 (not 8.1) will extract the OEM key from the BIOS in such cases. Is this indeed the truth?

Answer 1

When installing Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, setup.exe uses the following priority logic for product keys:

• Answer file (Unattended file, EI.cfg, or PID.txt)
• OA 3.0 product key in the BIOS/Firmware
• Product key entry screen

So make sure there is no unattended.xml, ei.cfg or PID.txt on the DVD.

Answer 2

Yes if you are using same version of Windows 8 as factory installed Windows 8 will retrieve OEM key from BIOS. Otherwise try this link http://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-retrieve-windows-8-oem-product-key-from-bios/