Hello, Just yesterday after removing Acronis Secure Zone from My Backup drive, My Computer would not boot, and in BIOS My SSD was not showing. On inserting the Windows 8 DVD, My SSD did not show up there either. After changing SATA Ports, The drive showed again, and MY PC Booted, everything fine I thought! Until just now! After restoring from an Acronis Backup, I noticed that Windows 8.1 has deactivated itself and I cant enter the Windows 8 Key because I upgraded to 8.1 from the Windows App Store, and the Windows 8 Key says it's not a valid key for this version. Is there any way I can get this activated again without having to Wipe the drive/ Install Windows 8, and upgrade to 8.1 from the store all over again?
It may depend on the error code you got when you tried to re-activate http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-8/activation-errors
and this is a good reason why I generally 'remove' activation protocols from MS products. Either through direct removal, or third party tools for MS products I've legally licensed. As long as I can provide a legitimate key, with bill of sale, I can legally remove the activation parameters. No attorney in the world would take a case like that. I paid $39.00 each for my Windows 8.1 Keys from a Licensed Wholesaler, and promptly installed it, and removed the activation systems. Problem solved. I bought Stardock fences awhile back, and found out after 10 re-activations, through uninstall/reinstall, VM's, Reformats, Upgrades, and other things the product shuts off. Stardock refuses to re-authorize the activations. So once again, I had to forcibly remove the DRM system for a product I paid for.