Guest Post – Windows 8 Glitch 3 – Stuffed up product key registration

This is a guest post by John Campbell. Unlike Windows 7, Windows 8 Pro no longer includes Windows 8 Media Center. Before the end of January 2013, you need to take advantage of Microsoft’s offer of the free Widows 8 Media Centre Pack. Why, you may well ask? With the Windows 8 Media Pack you can watch and record live TV as well as play your music, watch videos and view pictures and photos on your computer. To get this freebie go to this website and register for a copy: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/feature-packs Remember this is for a limited time only! But, there was a catch; you can only install one copy per Microsoft email address. Glitch No 3 – “Stuffed Up” Product Key Registration It unfortunate that I failed to read the fine print in the agreement details for Windows 8 Media Center. This is where the problem began. After receiving the email from Microsoft containing the Product Key for my copy of the Windows 8 Media Player I installed it on my touch screen computer and everything was fine. Then using the same email containing the Product Code I installed Windows 8 Media Player on the second computer. Again it worked. The next time I logged onto my second computer a message box from Microsoft informed I was using a product key already installed on “another” computer. What rubbish I thought! This computer had a legitimately registered version of Windows 8 so what’s the beef I thought!! I typed in the appropriate Product Key for that computer and was again told there was a conflict problem with the Product Key. On the screen there were telephone numbers for Support so I decided to try this route. I used the Help Line telephone number and after being swopped from person to person I finally was put onto a Technician. The whole process took over 50 minutes and involved just the one technician who was very patient. Finally I was given an Access code and advised to use the following web address to go to this website, Receive Remote Assistance Support from Microsoft. The web address is as follows: http://support.microsoft.com/help Already familiar with this site I clicked the Accept button, entered the supplied Access code and pressed Connect to a Technician. The following screen opened and the “Tech” took over. The “Tech” soon found that the problem was caused by me using the same Product Code for the second computer. His advice was to register for Windows 8 Media Center on the second computer using a different Microsoft Account. This I did and after 24 hours I received a new registration. Following the well-documented instructions I soon had Windows 8 Media Center up and running on the second computer. Support Follow-up Microsoft Help follows up their on-line help by sending you an email offering additional support should the problem persist. A Satisfactory Conclusion! As I’ve had my three issues, all successfully dealt with by the Answer Desk, so I’ve never need to go back for more assistance. Microsoft is really on the ball and bend over backwards to help out, well that’s my experience anyway  I hope yours have been the same!]]>