Windows 8 Reset

[Maldred920]

I'm currently working for a customer right now (Windows 8 Machine; NOT 8.1) and he needs his computer wiped. It is loaded with malware and virus' on the computer and has asked of me to reset his computer back to manufacturer settings. Simple enough... however I keep running into a lot of encounters along the way which is preventing me to do so.

First, I did the obvious and easy way... going to "Change PC Settings" and attempt the refresh/reset pc there. I received an error message stating that I'm missing a partition to perform the reset. So I thought maybe, some how on accident he (or a virus) had removed the recovery partition, yet I was able to create a recovery partition drive onto a USB and tried to boot from that and perform the wipe from there... to my disappointment I received the same error message but with an error code (error code: 800703f9). I search the error code on google in the hopes of finding a fix to this, tried the troubleshooting tips provided by Microsoft and some from some other sites. I'm currently running the command "sfc /scnannow" in an attempts to repair the recovery partition, but I thought I'd post here in case this doesn't solve my issue.

Anyway, I guess my question here is; is there a universal program that can grab the windows product key from the OS, so I can simply put the installation CD into the computer and use the product code and just do a fresh install that way? I'm fine with installing drivers onto the computer manually.

 

[Maldred920]

Well I completed the scan with no good results unfortunately!

"Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them. Details are included in the CBS.Log windir\Logs\BCS\CBS.log. For example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. Note that logging is currently not supported in offline servicing scenarios."

Anyone know of any fixes to this?

 

[ThumperTM]

Im not sure what you need... Do you need to get windows 8 product key? If so, then you need to check to your BIOS for windows 8 product key.

Good luck.

 

[Maldred920]

Is there any software you can recommend for me to use to extract that key?

Sorry, I'm a bit of a newb at this scene, how am I to acquire the product code without software if I have to?

 

[ThumperTM]

Hey,

There are few software which can see you product key BUT if your PC came pre-activated, serial key will be added on BIOS. So, you can see your serial key but you cant use to another PC.

 

[Maldred920]

When I place a fresh installer CD to boot from, I need to use the computer's serial number? I'm not sure if I fully understand. I tried this on my laptop first and I couldn't find anything!

 

[ThumperTM]

When I place a fresh installer CD to boot from, I need to use the computer's serial number? I'm not sure if I fully understand. I tried this on my laptop first and I couldn't find anything!

Please check backside of laptop/PC for windows key

 

[revkX]

If you need a free program to recover the windows key I recommend Belarc Advisor. It's a personal PC audit software, check out the link below

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

 

[smartsam]

go to kickass.to and search for a program called microsoft toolkit. curr. version is most probably 2.5.3. this tool can activate all ms products and provide keys also.