Are the free Windows 8 Media Center keys no longer available?


Recommended Posts

Just got my Windows 7 laptop, got the upgrade to Windows 8 Pro and ready to install. Went to the Microsoft webpage (http://windows.micro...8/feature-packs) to get the free Media Center key, it keeps telling me "We couldn't process your order." I have tried even a fresh gmail address and get the same error.

Anyone else have this problem or know if Microsoft has stopped dishing out the keys? Site says until Jan. 31, 2013. If anyone might have a unused Media Center key, I'd appreciate it.

I just tried that page and got:

Thank you

Your product key will be emailed to you within 72 hours. If the email doesn?t arrive in your inbox, be sure to check your junk email folder.

After entering in the email address and completing the captcha. Might want to try again?

I just created another gmail account, put in the email address and captcha, hit "Send my product key" and get same thing (We couldn't process your order.). Guess I'll try at home.

I get the "We couldn't process your order." message too. I've seen people talk about using this to register their pirate copy so it seems likely that they have stopped giving out keys.

I've just tried with a new email and I`m getting the same now (Im in UK)

----

We couldn't process your order.

Terms & Conditions

I was told by a colleague to contact Microsoft customer service after creating a request right before Christmas that hadn't been processed - after a little information exchange, I was given a key over the phone.

http://support.micro...bers/en-us?FR=1

There must be something up with the site at the moment, because it worked some time back in December for a copy I had purchased for someone, but it has since been failing attempts since my last try a little over a week ago.

Full disclosure, I am an MS employee, but even I had to call the phone # :).

I find it very amusing how people cannot get it. It?s a marketing strategy that works for Microsoft. Its like fishing. Throw in the free stuff , give a little time then take a big scoop. So now whoever had try windows 8 pro will most likely not downgrade. So whats the best solution for all you pirate? buy the OS. Ha ha ha

Still unable to get anything other than the can't process your order message. *shakes fist at Microsoft* No one with a spare key feeling generous? Trying to get the extra value out of paying for the upgrade LOL. :D

I haven't gotten mine either, but no matter to me. It is Free after all so if it never comes, whatever. :) Not like I paid them for it. If that was the case, then yeah, would be upset.

Got my key today but it doesn't work. So, not sure if it is my PC or not (OEM install from Toshiba).

So, hopefully people will get thiers soon since mine just came in 11 minutes ago. :)

Got my key today but it doesn't work. So, not sure if it is my PC or not (OEM install from Toshiba).

So, hopefully people will get thiers soon since mine just came in 11 minutes ago. :)

Is your Win8 the Pro version? I believe the key only works on the Pro version not the "core" version.

Is your Win8 the Pro version? I believe the key only works on the Pro version not the "core" version.

After I tried the key it was THENthat I read the email. You are right - it doesn't work unless I have Pro. So, I have a useless key unless of course I can find a taker. But not sure if I could do that here or not via PM. :)

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • I like Tidal, but it still does not control devices from the mobile/app and still no surround support. And yeah re: above comment I still get a lot of network errors and I am on a 4/4 Gbit Fiber connection.
    • Aren`t "security features" and "AI model that can see your screen" a tad diametric!
    • Samsung, Amazon extend 990 PRO 2TB NVMe SSD deal beyond Prime Day 2026 by Sayan Sen Recently, we had Amazon's Prime Day 2026 sales wherein there were several great deals including on SSDs. One of those discounted components was the Samsung 990 PRO SSD as the 2TB variant of it was selling for $370, a very good price after a long time. Although that deal was supposed to expire today, Amazon has now extended that sale further (purchase link under the specs table down below). The 990 PRO is a PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD and still one of the fastest drives available today for under $400. Speaking of fast, sequential reads and writes are rated at 7450 MB/s and 6900 MB/s, respectively. The random throughputs for reads and writes are 1400K IOPS and 1550K IOPS, respectively. The 990 PRO is based on Samsung's 7th Gen V-NAND flash, and it too is TLC. It packs 2 gigs of LPDDR4 DRAM cache, which helps the random performance. The endurance rating for this is 1200 TBW (terabytes written), which should be sufficient for most users. The Samsung 990 PRO is compatible with the PlayStation 5, but if you are going to use the 990 PRO on a PC, check out the Samsung Magician app that lets you track your drive's health, update its firmware, customize various settings, and more. The technical specs of the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB are given in the table below: Specification Value Form Factor M.2 2280 Interface PCIe Gen 4.0 x4, NVMe 2.0 NAND Flash Samsung V-NAND TLC Controller Samsung In-house Controller Cache Memory Samsung 2GB Low Power DDR4 SDRAM Sequential Read Speed Up to 7,450 MB/s Sequential Write Speed Up to 6,900 MB/s Random Read (4KB, QD32) Up to 1,400,000 IOPS Random Write (4KB, QD32) Up to 1,550,000 IOPS Random Read (4KB, QD1) Up to 22,000 IOPS Random Write (4KB, QD1) Up to 80,000 IOPS Operating Temperature 0°C to 70°C Reliability (MTBF) 1.5 Million Hours Endurance 1,200 TBW (Total Bytes Written) Get it at the link below: Samsung 990 PRO SSD 2TB NVMe SSD (MZ-V9P2T0B/AM): $369.99 (Sold and Shipped by Amazon US) Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases
    • Glad im on the right boat. Tidal has lots of issues in terms of app and music mix, its worst than spot but its honest. Spot algo is very tendentious and they pess less to artists, so im comfortable with the tidal errors, for now.
    • Tidal won't monetize AI slop music, company says by David Uzondu Image via Tidal Tidal has announced an AI policy aimed at protecting artists and their crafts, as AI music generation tools continue to improve both in speed and quality. According to the music streaming platform, AI-generated music will be accepted, but these tracks will be held to a "higher standard" of content integrity. Next month, the company plans to auto-identify and tag these uploads. Listeners will spot a special icon next to content that algorithms flag as 100% AI-generated starting mid-July, and the platform hopes to expand this tag to partially generated songs as detection tech improves. Any AI music that exploits an artist's voice or likeness will be taken down, and Tidal will immediately block tracks associated with fraudulent activity, which includes artificial streaming and deceptive content that interferes with real creators. And finally, music that's 100% AI-generated will not be monetized. Tidal said there is "ongoing debate" about whether certain licensed synthetic models deserve payouts, so it's possible that this part will change in the future. Streaming platforms are absolutely getting flooded with AI-generated music because of how easy it is to pump out endless tracks every minute. To give you an idea of how "bad" it is, Deezer alone reported that synthetic uploads now make up about 44% of its daily intake, which translates to roughly 75,000 automated tracks hitting its servers every single day. Interestingly, Deezer found most people cannot tell the difference between human and machine creations, with an Ipsos study revealing that 97% of listeners failed to spot the AI-generated tracks. Spotify's CEO recently pushed back against listeners who call AI music "slop," urging people to stop using the term and instead embrace the creative potential of AI music. The Swedish platform partnered with Universal Music Group to test "legal and controlled" generative AI tools that let subscribers remix songs with AI.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Week One Done
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      BA the Curmudgeon earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Conversation Starter
      rosiecharles earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      KMilenkoski1202 earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      539
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      269
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      153
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      98
    5. 5
      macoman
      66
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!