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Help fixing Windows 8 install

E

excommie

Junior Member
For the past few years, I've been mostly using OS X.
Recently I bought a new Thinkpad X230 with Windows 8, as I wanted to experience the 'more open' platforms.
As one of the first steps - I installed Ubuntu 12 (which worked beautifully).

Then I tried booting back to Windows 8 - since it is using UEFI/Secure Boot - it doesn't play nicely with Linux.
In the process I also lost the Lenovo recovery partition (I find them useless hogs of HD space with too much bloatware).

I also had a Windows 8 Pro Upgrade disk that I purchased - so I figured - I can clean-install that. Wrong! The problems are:

1. Lenovo doesn't allow you to install Windows 8 Pro on a laptop that had a Windows 8. The Windows 8 key is built into UEFI. When installing Pro - it tells me that the key doesn't match and it doesn't allow me to enter a new key.

2. Windows 8 Pro doesn't boot when UEFI is enabled from a DVD disc. You have to go back to a regular BIOS. But then I get to the set up and encounter problem #1. Even if I got through the set-up, I wouldn't want to use Win 8 witout UEFI/secure boot - as the benefits of UEFI are pretty big IMO.

At this point I have a Ubuntu only machine (which works great BTW). I also installed XP, Windows 7 in Virualbox - they all work great.

I still would like to see if it's possible to get back to the idea of
1. Having Windows 8 Pro or Windows 7 Pro booting natively
2. Installing Ubuntu in VM box, or if possible dual booting.

I cannot believe that installing Linux has gotten much easier than installing newest version of Windows on a NEW HARDWARE. This was so much different just few years ago.

Thanks for listening (and any help).
 
Saint IGNUcious is looking after you, and you're trying to push back against his guidance. For shame... :^D

jG9i1.jpg


Sorry, I don't have anything constructive. I haven't had to deal with UEFI yet. I like the setup you have now, though I'd install Xfce desktop.
 
postmortemIA said:
so big benefits of UEFI (which ones?!) that prevent you from installing the OS are worth keeping! yeah right.
Click to expand...

No it doesn't prevent me from installing Windows 8. What prevents me is the windows key that lenovo built into the UEFI/BIOS - I cannot install another version - the prompt to re-enter the new key never comes up in Windows 8 Pro set up.

Having said that - there are 2 huge benefits of UEFI that I see.
I installed Ubuntu both ways
1. with a BIOS. BOOT time in ubuntu = 25 seconds
2. with UEFI. BOOT time in ubuntu - 12 seconds.

There is also a marked improvement in the way Ubuntu wakes from sleep - immediate w/UEFI. There is a noticeable lag when waking Ubuntu using old fashioned BIOS. I'm just assuming that Windows 7/8 experience would be similar under UEFI vs BIOS.

Have you tried UEFI? I did - and I NOTICE benefit as opposed to seeing the improvements in artificial benchmarks.
 
Last edited:
lxskllr said:
Saint IGNUcious is looking after you, and you're trying to push back against his guidance. For shame... :^D


Sorry, I don't have anything constructive. I haven't had to deal with UEFI yet. I like the setup you have now, though I'd install Xfce desktop.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I like this setup as well. Ubuntu 12.10 is joy to use on this laptop - everything I do is buttery smooth. Also, just installed XP Pro SP3 in Virtualbox. It is crazy fast. My experience with Mountain Lion and XP on Parallels wasn't as good as Ubuntu with XP on Virtualbox.

I just need to figure out if Adobe Premiere will perform OK under Vitualbox. If it does - I'm keeping Ubuntu as the main OS. I might try Xfce as you suggest - from screenshots on the web it looks very nice.
 
excommie said:
Then I tried booting back to Windows 8 - since it is using UEFI/Secure Boot - it doesn't play nicely with Linux.
In the process I also lost the Lenovo recovery partition (I find them useless hogs of HD space with too much bloatware).
Click to expand...
You cannot boot into Windows?

Sounds like you need to contact Lenovo for recovery media, or at least for the original key. Then install Windows 8 non-pro. If you haven't encrypted the drive, you can also use a linux recovery CD do get the Windows 8 key; at least you could with previous Windows.

Then upgrade to Win8 Pro from Win8. http://social.technet.microsoft.com...l/thread/d0be9c8e-c0d0-4c6e-bb50-d7128b35595f
 
CSMR said:
You cannot boot into Windows?

Sounds like you need to contact Lenovo for recovery media, or at least for the original key. Then install Windows 8 non-pro. If you haven't encrypted the drive, you can also use a linux recovery CD do get the Windows 8 key; at least you could with previous Windows.

Then upgrade to Win8 Pro from Win8. http://social.technet.microsoft.com...l/thread/d0be9c8e-c0d0-4c6e-bb50-d7128b35595f
Click to expand...

Thanks, but lenovo does not offer recovery media for machines that came with Windows 8. I called, chatted and posted on their forums - all sources provide the same answer.

What I'm surprised is that I cannot do a clean install of Windows 8 PRO with an updated key. Windows setup does not allow to enter a new key. At this point, I converted my workflow to use Ubuntu and I'm very happy with it. I'm giving up on Windows in native mode, will run XP in virtualbox for work connectivity (Ubuntu 12.10 has an issue running Citrix receiver). I also wanted to purchase Adobe Premiere, but I think I'll be OK with OpenShot for Linux.:thumbsup:
 
Nope, I don't have the original Windows 8 key, but even if I had it wouldn't give me much as I don't have Windows 8 disc (I do have Win 8 PRO, which at this time cannot be installed on this laptop). I think Microsoft messed up here, not allowing to re-enter the new key during the setup. Basically, a message comes up that the key stored in the UEFI is not compatible with the disk, it says to re-enter the new key, but the dialog box to enter a new key never comes up, and I'm being forced back to the start of Windows 8 setup.

I have followed your link - and they're facing the same issue - cannot clean install Win 8 PRO without having a working Windows 8 system. This is not what I expected (after doing tons of clean installs of Windows 2K, XP in the fast). I guess my only workaround would be to buy Windows 8 (non-Pro), to see if it will work with the key embedded in UEFI?
 
Do some research on your motherboard and identify which BIOS will work on it that's not the IBM/LENOVO bios. Flash the BIOS to the open market version and you can free yourself of the UEIF system.

CPUZ should identify the board for you and then you can go to Intel's website to get the properly matched BIOS.

Wes
 
I suspect the real issue is that Windows is automatically trying to go into OEM activation mode. This is a shot in the dark, but you don't have much to lose.

Build a USB version of the Windows 8 Pro installer (makes it easier to modify).

Then the tricky part. We're going to key the Windows installation to a specific edition. The problem is that I don't know which of these is the right one in your case, which is part of the reason we're using USB since it's easy to modify.

You'll create a text file named ei.cfg in the sources folder (e.g. X:\Sources\ei.cfg). In ei.cfg you'll put one of the following two blocks of text. I believe the first is the correct way, but you may need to try the second.
Code: 
[EditionID]
Professional
[Channel]
Retail
[VL]
0

Or:
Code: 
[Channel]
_Default
[VL]
0

Save it, boot off of the USB drive, and see if you make any progress.
 
Last edited:
lxskllr said:
Saint IGNUcious is looking after you, and you're trying to push back against his guidance. For shame... :^D
Click to expand...

Thanks for all your help guys, but Saint IGNUcious took over. After spending last 3 days on Ubuntu I have no desire to run Windows. I will keep XP in Virtualbox just for Work connectivity and occasional need to open some MS office stuff. GNU will serve me well for all other things. One thing I wanted to use was Adobe Premiere, but Open shot for Linux fulfills all my needs.

I don't have anything against Windows 8 - with some tweaks it can be usable, but they've made it a pain to install. There are better alternatives and they're free.
 
excommie said:
but they've made it a pain to install
Click to expand...

An absolute lie. I installed it in like 10 minutes on my PC, literally. Don't blame the software when you try to load it onto a prefab with Lenovo bloatware choking it out. Nice work ignoring Virge, who gave you step by step instructions on how to fix your problem, too.
 
Pr0d1gy said:
An absolute lie. I installed it in like 10 minutes on my PC, literally. Don't blame the software when you try to load it onto a prefab with Lenovo bloatware choking it out. Nice work ignoring Virge, who gave you step by step instructions on how to fix your problem, too.
Click to expand...
To be fair, you shouldn't have to do what I listed. That's a poor design choice for the Windows installer to offer no easy override, IMHO.
 
ViRGE said:
To be fair, you shouldn't have to do what I listed. That's a poor design choice for the Windows installer to offer no easy override, IMHO.
Click to expand...

Pr0d1gy said:
An absolute lie. I installed it in like 10 minutes on my PC, literally. Don't blame the software when you try to load it onto a prefab with Lenovo bloatware choking it out. Nice work ignoring Virge, who gave you step by step instructions on how to fix your problem, too.
Click to expand...

I'm not ignoring Virge, but at this point I'm not willing to go through all the steps not knowing the outcome. Like I said, my machine works great with Ubuntu. I've installed XP from scratch on tens of PCs, including 'prefab' machines without needing to change config files before attempting to load setup. They did make Windows 8 very painful to install, especially considering that I have a new hardware and I attempted to do a clean install.
 
Last edited:
ViRGE said:
I suspect the real issue is that Windows is automatically trying to go into OEM activation mode. This is a shot in the dark, but you don't have much to lose.

Build a USB version of the Windows 8 Pro installer (makes it easier to modify).

Then the tricky part. We're going to key the Windows installation to a specific edition. The problem is that I don't know which of these is the right one in your case, which is part of the reason we're using USB since it's easy to modify.

You'll create a text file named ei.cfg in the sources folder (e.g. X:\Sources\ei.cfg). In ei.cfg you'll put one of the following two blocks of text. I believe the first is the correct way, but you may need to try the second.
Code: 
[EditionID]
Professional
[Channel]
Retail
[VL]
0

Or:
Code: 
[Channel]
_Default
[VL]
0

Save it, boot off of the USB drive, and see if you make any progress.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions. I attempted to do this today. Booted Win 8 PRO from a USB stick with ei.cfg file created under 'sources'. Both methods failed.

During Win 8 PRO setup, I'm getting the following error "The product key entered does not match any of the Windows images available for installation. Enter a different product key."

I would be glad to enter the key, but the dialog box to do so never comes up. At this time, I can only press "OK" - this bring me to the start of the setup process - at which I can do this again and again....

If you follow the below link, the conclusion is that it is impossible to do a clean install of Windows 8 PRO on OEM machines that shipped with Windows 8 OEM.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...y-of-the/47e6f575-5792-404b-9b7f-2065bdb91011


I think Microsoft really screwed up here...
 
Last edited:
Oh dear.🙁

It sounds like there it's at least a passable workaround. Let it install Win 8 Core, then use the Pro key through Add Features to ugprade it to Pro. That's not too painful, but it's still silly.
 
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