Invalid Win 8 Pro key sold to me and another unresolved minor issue

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plyer3

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
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Bought a Win 8.1 Pro retail key and could not activate it after many tries. After spending hours on trying different approaches to reinstalling and installing, I finally gave up and contacted microsoft. Was told the product key I bought was an invalid key.
Tried contacting seller initially and he had no clue either. Told me to google the error code and fix it. After I contacted Microsoft and PM him back, I never heard from him again. After several messages it seems like he hasn't been on since he sent me that last PM on the morning of 24th September. I gave him several days but I just disputed with my cc company after not hearing back. It was only $30, I know it sounds cheap but figured it'd be legit since seller has been a member of the forum for a while and I've seen the Win 8 keys go for around this price from Microsoft directly before.

Thread was located here
Link to gallery of me contacting Microsoft and key info



Another was an issue with an iPhone 5 transaction I had, but I'm giving the seller some more time to respond. Bought an Iphone 5 and everything worked great except for small dark spot when taking pictures with the camera. The spot is on the lower left area of the phone. At first I thought it was the LCD itself but then when I uploaded the pics to the computer, the spot actually showed up in the pictures so I know it's the camera for sure now. It also doesn't show up doing regular usage. Other than that the iPhone is great, but the camera will be used a lot by a family member and it'll be an issue for her. Like to see what the seller can do. This isn't the first iPhone I've bought on there, it's probably like somewhere in the 10th one. Recently bought 4 iPhones in the past couple weeks without any issues.

Seller has not been on since the 25th so I'm gonna wait and see. If he doesn't respond then I'll see if Apple or local repair shop can just replace the camera to see if it'll fix the issue. Not a huge problem until it comes to taking the pictures. Hard to tell from my pictures I took but when you look at it in person you will notice it very well.

Thread located here
Link to pictures of the phone camera issue
Kind of hard to see in the pictures but you can see that circular spot. Pictures in link are pictures of the actual pictures and another set are from me taking pictures of the phone showing the same pictures.
 
idk about the top, but my boss's iphone 5s had the same issue with the camera, They did a crap job sealig it and dust got in... Apple said there's nothing they can do, and he didnt care much because he got a 6. GL though
 
His prices are insane no one can sell at those price for sure.
I sell win 7 keys , I ask the buyer to use or do online activation before paying me , then I wont have any problems in future. If the buyer request's me I can provide a pic of coa .
But he is a old and a reputed member you should give him some time to respond but you should have already opened a dispute about the transaction.

About the phone issue , if your comfortable taking the phone apart , do it and blow some canned air over the camera it should do it . I had a similar problem with my iphone 4s . But its kinda long way to reach the camera in iphone 5 .

Good luck mate
 
new2019 said:
His prices are insane no one can sell at those price for sure.
I sell win 7 keys , I ask the buyer to use or do online activation before paying me , then I wont have any problems in future. If the buyer request's me I can provide a pic of coa .
But he is a old and a reputed member you should give him some time to respond but you should have already opened a dispute about the transaction.

About the phone issue , if your comfortable taking the phone apart , do it and blow some canned air over the camera it should do it . I had a similar problem with my iphone 4s . But its kinda long way to reach the camera in iphone 5 .

Good luck mate
Click to expand...

Not too worried about the phone, but I don't want to mess with it.

More about seller not responding back about the key. Only $30 but just wanted to give everybody a heads up on his other keys he's selling.

But I'll see if I get any responds back. I'm a seller myself on eBay and other forums so I understand how busy people are, but shouldn't take that long to respond unless emergency.
 
Maybe it's a valid key, but not quite for what he is advertising. Maybe the guy made a mistake and the key is for Windows 8, not 8.1. Could you find a Win 8 Pro disk or download an iso and try using the key? If it works you get the free upgrade to 8.1 so it would all work out in the end. Not fair to you and a big hassle, yes, but just trying to think of a solution.

edit: sorry, just looked at the pictures and you already asked him this, so there goes my idea...
 
pgaster said:
Maybe it's a valid key, but not quite for what he is advertising. Maybe the guy made a mistake and the key is for Windows 8, not 8.1. Could you find a Win 8 Pro disk or download an iso and try using the key? If it works you get the free upgrade to 8.1 so it would all work out in the end. Not fair to you and a big hassle, yes, but just trying to think of a solution.
Click to expand...

I've already tried that with all those hours I mentioned in first post. I've created Win 8 and 8.1 installs via USB and installed them on a brand new desktop without an OS. Kept giving me the error code 0xC004C003

Microsoft told me directly that it's an invalid key, so I take it that means it wont work with Win 8 nor 8.1.
 
Having Crosshairs/mod PM him telling him to reply to this thread is probably the only thing that can be done. I'd love to hear/know why it's not a valid key.
 
Was the key you bought an Upgrade Key ?..........If so it won't activate a clean install. You must have an activated Windows copy on your hard drive first, then run a Custom Install of 8.1 to delete the previous Windows install, then continue a clean install of 8.1...........Just a thought.
 
Last edited:
new2019 said:
His prices are insane no one can sell at those price for sure.
I sell win 7 keys , I ask the buyer to use or do online activation before paying me , then I wont have any problems in future. If the buyer request's me I can provide a pic of coa .
But he is a old and a reputed member you should give him some time to respond but you should have already opened a dispute about the transaction.

About the phone issue , if your comfortable taking the phone apart , do it and blow some canned air over the camera it should do it . I had a similar problem with my iphone 4s . But its kinda long way to reach the camera in iphone 5 .

Good luck mate
Click to expand...


Well, there are deals you can buy. Someone sold me 2win 8.1 keys for $35 a pop. I called Microsoft and I was told they are good unused retail keys. I been using them for a 6 months already.
 
mothman said:
Was the key you bought an Upgrade Key ?..........If so it won't activate a clean install. You must have an activated Windows copy on your hard drive first, then run a Custom Install of 8.1 to delete the previous Windows install, then continue a clean install of 8.1...........Just a thought.
Click to expand...

You can do clean install with upgrade key without any problems. Even MS approves it.
 
Iching said:
You can do clean install with upgrade key without any problems. Even MS approves it.
Click to expand...

It was probably a $15 key from the student deal.

It'll activate fine on both 8.0 and 8.1, although you might have to call in and do a phone activation if it was used on a machine previously.

Clean install is a little different, the key will only work on 8.0 and to clean install 8.1 you'll need to get a generic key, install, wipe the generic key after installation, and then activate.
 
Agenesis said:
It was probably a $15 key from the student deal.

It'll activate fine on both 8.0 and 8.1, although you might have to call in and do a phone activation if it was used on a machine previously.

Clean install is a little different, the key will only work on 8.0 and to clean install 8.1 you'll need to get a generic key, install, wipe the generic key after installation, and then activate.
Click to expand...

Op already answered that. Activation servers are giving him what amounts to a "Key blocked by server" error code. This could be due to many things, but more than likely because the key has been previously activated and/or is currently active in the system.

His only recourse is to get a new key from either Microsoft or the seller. Given he won't have proof of retail purchase for the key, Microsoft ain't gonna do squat for him.
 
SunnyD said:
Op already answered that. Activation servers are giving him what amounts to a "Key blocked by server" error code. This could be due to many things, but more than likely because the key has been previously activated and/or is currently active in the system.

His only recourse is to get a new key from either Microsoft or the seller. Given he won't have proof of retail purchase for the key, Microsoft ain't gonna do squat for him.
Click to expand...

Ah didn't notice that. But you're exactly right the key is legitimate but was previously activated or is still active. OP can try do a phone activation if it's an option and that'll let him transfer ownership. If that isn't an option contacting Microsoft will also work and they'll activate the key for him via teamviewer. I recently had to do the same after switching to a different motherboard. Just make sure to call the right customer service number (can't remember which) or you'll get directed to overseas support and then repeatedly get transferred.
 
I've tried the phone activation method, it keeps giving me error saying I have to contact microsoft. I've attempted many times with the phone activation.

The desktop didn't have any OS on it, it was a barebone desktop without an OS. I bought the desktop brand new from Newegg, it had everything but an OS.

I tried the clean install of both Win 8 and Win 8.1 pro, same error after many tries. I finally contacted Microsoft and was told it was an Invalid key as you can see from the pictures of the chat I provided.

I'm not too worried about it now, it was only $30 .

I still haven't heard back from both sellers... Already did a dispute for the key.
 
I think the bigger issue here is that the guy sold a non-working key and then dropped off the radar for the last week or so.
 
Have yet to hear back.

I've already disputed the charge for the key.

Not too worried about these transactions anymore.
 
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