You are re-installing Windows 8 Developer Preview and you need to enter a product key. What key do you have to use? This is a common problem in the developer preview, in the case you need to re-install Windows 8 or use the Reset functionality, there is a chance that you might be asked to enter a product key in which case you can use the following.
Windows 8 Developer Preview product key only
6RH4V-HNTWC-JQKG8-RFR3R-36498
Windows 8 Server Developer Preview product key only
4Y8N3-H7MMW-C76VJ-YD3XV-MBDKV
In the case that entering the product key doesn’t solve the problem you can also try re-download and re-burn — by using the Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool — the ISO file image. Also make sure that you ISO image file SHA-1 hash supplied by Microsoft number matches exactly with the one in the file. You can use Hash & CRC to do this, just download and install it — this is a file cryptographic hash value calculator that supports most of the popular hash function formats used to verify data integrity and authenticity –, then right-click the ISO image file, go to the Hash/CRC tab, select SHA-1 and click Compute. Here is the list with all the Sha-1 hash supplied by Microsoft for each Windows 8 Developer Preview ISO image file:
Windows 8 Developer Preview English, 64-bit (x64)
Sha 1 hash – 79DBF235FD49F5C1C8F8C04E24BDE6E1D04DA1E9
Windows 8 Developer Preview English, 32-bit (x86)
Sha 1 hash – 4E0698BBABE01ED27582C9FC16AD21C4422913CC
Windows 8 Developer Preview with developer tools English, 64-bit (x64)
Sha 1 hash – 6FE9352FB59F6D0789AF35D1001BD4E4E81E42AF Now if you are trying to install Windows 8 on VMware Workstation and you get the error: Windows cannot read the setting from the unattend answer file. This is a different error of the one is described above, in here the problem is when setting up your virtual machine, to solve this follow the step-by-step How to install Windows 8 Developer Preview in a virtual machine [VMware] All content on this site is provided with no warranties, express or implied. Use any information at your own risk. Always backup of your device and files before making any changes. Privacy policy info.
