How to Extract the Windows 8 Product Key from BIOS

[Bryce W]

Bryce W submitted a new resource:

How to Extract the Windows 8 Product Key from BIOS - How to recover the Windows 8 product key from BIOS after a recovery or reinstall

When recovering or reinstalling a Windows 8 install, you will obviously need the Windows 8 product key. The problem is that if Windows 8 came preinstalled on a computer, product key is located in the BIOS and there is often no external COA sticker.
Based on previous TN posts and other sources of information, I came up with the following procedure to extract the Windows 8 key from the BIOS. It's worked for me when I had to replace a bad HD:

1. Obtain the customer's legal Win 8 product...

Read more about this resource...

 

[MichaelBits]

Here is the full generic key list.

XKY4K-2NRWR-8F6P2-448RF-CRYQH (Windows 8 Professional)
RR3BN-3YY9P-9D7FC-7J4YF-QGJXW (Windows 8 Professional with Media Center)
FB4WR-32NVD-4RW79-XQFWH-CYQG3 (Windows 8 [Home])
XHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKB (Windows 8.1 Professional)
GBFNG-2X3TC-8R27F-RMKYB-JK7QT (Windows 8.1 Professional with Media Center)
334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT (Windows 8.1 [Home])

The 2 keys provided won't work if you aren't installing those versions.