Symptoms
Unable to Activate Windows 8.
Cause
You upgraded to Windows 8, but didn't have a previous version or the correct edition of Windows installed.
- One copy of Windows might have been installed multiple times (if Windows 8 is migrated to Mac using Parallels).
Resolution
Please use the following steps to fix Windows 8 Activation issues:
Go to Search and type in
regedit
, hit Return/EnterNavigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/
Change MediaBootInstall from 1 to 0
select the item "MediaBootInstall", double-click on it, then you can type in '0' as the value, (hexadecimal or decimal).
Go back to the Start screen (Search) and type in
cmd
Note: To get back to the Windows 8 start screen, you just hit "COMMAND" key on your Mac keyboard
Right-click Command Prompt and select to Run it as Administrator
Type in the following command:
slmgr /rearm
and hit Return/Enter.
Exit out of the command prompt window.
Reboot Windows Virtual Machine
Go to:
Control Panel > System and Security > System > Windows Activation and check if Windows 8 has been activated.
Please note that the isssue with Windows 8 activation is not related to Parallels Desktop directly.
If the issue still persists, please contact Microsoft Technical Support.
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