Our organization is switching to a bring-your-own-device program for our representatives.  We have given them a set amount of options from the same OEM and each device comes with 8.1 Pro.  However, we still blast our own image of 8.1 Enterprise onto their machines.  When they decide to leave our organization, or are fired, we would like them to be able to go back to their original 8.1 Pro image, saving them from having to purchase a new license since they already own one.  We originally wanted to downgrade Windows using the Refresh feature and a custom image, but Microsoft has informed us that it is not possible.

To preserve their copy of Windows, we have entertained the following options:

• Loading 8.1 Pro externally in the event of a representative leaving the company and having them get their Windows key from the OEM.  Microsoft has told us that this will cost money, but we're not exactly sure how that makes sense since that entails just a phone call to the OEM and providing proof of purchase.  It should not cost anything, as our former representatives already own that Windows license.
• Ghosting the OEM image onto a USB drive, then ghosting it back onto the drive in the event of a discontinuation.  Microsoft did not have a definitive answer on the feasibility of this option.  They have told us that the OEM Windows license is tied to the OEM hardware and will not work on another machine and we have yet to test this.  They, as well as we, were unsure where the OEM Windows license would become unusable if in fact it is tied to the OEM hardware; would it be rendered useless upon transfer onto the USB drive?  Or only if ghosted back onto a machine different than its original system?
• Ghosting the OEM image onto a USB drive, then putting it onto a separate partition when we create our own image.  Upon discontinuation, schedule a task for X amount of time, then have it restore to the image we have stored on a separate partition.  We don't know much about this option and neither did Microsoft when we spoke to them.

If you are able to shed some light on whether or not any of the above options are feasible, not feasible, or could be tweaked to be more efficient, I would very much appreciate it.  Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Hello Jeff,

from my prespective it is not that hard to accomplish what you need, nevertheless you should find a easy way to automate the process that I am about to briefly explain:

1. In order to maintain the Original OS you should create a WIM file of the disk with 8.1 Pro. This will allow you to compress some of the size of the actual data and maintain it in a single file.
2. Once you have this wim file(consider it as a similar ghost image), you can repartition the disk of the machine and create a hidden partition (for restore purposes) with this wim file only.
3. On a regular base you can now deploy your own 8.1 Enterprise to the remaining space of the disk.

In case you find that this is not effective because of the space it (restore partition) will use on disk, you may do the same process for a USB device.

 

regarding Licencing, if the OEM licence is tied to the HW, then this process will be successful because you will restore the original OEM to the same HW.

For more information please go to;

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825251.aspx

hope it helps.

  

Thanks, Eduardo. That's what we have been hoping to do and we are going to test that this afternoon. The issue we may run into is the same that we ran into when using the Refresh function, which was the inability to downgrade Windows from Enterprise to Pro.

Hi, Eduardo.  We completed the above process and the reset was successful (after a couple of tweaks), however Windows has failed to activate and is giving us error code 0xc004c003.

Hello Jeff,

what method are you using for windows activation?

thanks.

As per my point of view you should only do a simple "image" of the OS, I elaborate; what I mean is that you should only create a WIM file of the live OS without using Sysprep. Did you use Sysprep, cause that seems to be the issue.

Please create a WIM file with the original OS only and when you restore it Windows won't "know" what has happened, and still be activated. Hope I was clear enough.

Thanks.

For Windows activation, we are using KMS.

We did not use Sysprep to create the WIM.  We used the following method:

recimg -CreateImage A:\\destinationFolder

We then copied it onto a USB drive and installed our Enterprise image on the PC.  We created a new partition and copied the WIM back onto the hard drive and changed the name of the WIM created to install.wim and used the following command:

reagentc.exe /setosimage /path A:\destinationFolder /target c:\Windows /Index 1

We then used the reset function and upon reboot and verifying everything was how it was supposed to be, that's when we noticed that Windows was not activated.  We tried activating online and that's when it gave us the error.

• Edited by Jeff_Johnson 16 hours 39 minutes ago

For Windows activation, we are using KMS.

We did not use Sysprep to create the WIM.  We used the following method:

recimg -CreateImage A:\\destinationFolder

We then copied it onto a USB drive and installed our Enterprise image on the PC.  We created a new partition and copied the WIM back onto the hard drive and changed the name of the WIM created to install.wim and used the following command:

reagentc.exe /setosimage /path A:\destinationFolder /target c:\Windows /Index 1

We then used the reset function and upon reboot and verifying everything was how it was supposed to be, that's when we noticed that Windows was not activated.  We tried activating online and that's when it gave us the error.

• Edited by Jeff_Johnson Thursday, June 04, 2015 2:43 PM

For Windows activation, we are using KMS.

We did not use Sysprep to create the WIM.  We used the following method:

recimg -CreateImage A:\\destinationFolder

We then copied it onto a USB drive and installed our Enterprise image on the PC.  We created a new partition and copied the WIM back onto the hard drive and changed the name of the WIM created to install.wim and used the following command:

reagentc.exe /setosimage /path A:\destinationFolder /target c:\Windows /Index 1

We then used the reset function and upon reboot and verifying everything was how it was supposed to be, that's when we noticed that Windows was not activated.  We tried activating online and that's when it gave us the error.

• Edited by Jeff_Johnson Thursday, June 04, 2015 2:43 PM

Thanks Jeff,

ok, now it makes more sense. You should create the wim file from the original OEM with Imagex (tool from Microsoft).

It should look like something like this;

imagex /capture C: image.wim "W8OEM"

then to restore it you will use;

imagex /apply image.wim 1



Please find some more info here;

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc507842.aspx

I'm sure if you do the capture using imagex you will have no problem.

hope it helps.

   

• Edited by EduardoMendes 17 hours 18 minutes ago

Thanks, Eduardo.  I will try using imagex, but through talks with Microsoft I am not sure if it will work.

Here's why.  I opened a case with Microsoft on this issue last week, and they had told me that the OEM Windows licenses were tied to the hardware they came on.  This is why we were trying to create a wim of 8.1 Pro after we had activated it because it should have no problem recognizing that it is the same hardware.

However, when we received error 0xc004c003, we called Dell as instructed by Microsoft.  They said that in the past OEM licenses were tied to hardware, but now a Windows license will not work after it has been activated now.  That tells me that after a Windows license is activated, that key is basically invalidated for all other activation attempts.  I came to this conclusion because I eventually had to talk to Microsoft to get our 8.1 Pro key activated.  Rather than removing the "block" on the key like it says when error 0xc004c003 pops up, they entered in an entirely new product key.  In my opinion, this definitively states that keys are good once and only once, even if used on the same hardware.

With that being said, do you think I should still try imagex?  What I was planning to do is just ghost the OEM c:\ onto a USB drive, which should preserve the Windows key because it is not being activated.  What are your thoughts?

Again, thank you for your help.

Thanks Jeff,

ok, now it makes more sense. You should create the wim file from the original OEM with Imagex (tool from Microsoft).

It should look like something like this;

imagex /capture C: image.wim "W8OEM"

then to restore it you will use;

imagex /apply image.wim 1



Please find some more info here;

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc507842.aspx

I'm sure if you do the capture using imagex you will have no problem.

hope it helps.

   

• Edited by EduardoMendes Friday, June 05, 2015 2:04 PM

Thanks Jeff,

ok, now it makes more sense. You should create the wim file from the original OEM with Imagex (tool from Microsoft).

It should look like something like this;

imagex /capture C: image.wim "W8OEM"

then to restore it you will use;

imagex /apply image.wim 1



Please find some more info here;

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc507842.aspx

I'm sure if you do the capture using imagex you will have no problem.

hope it helps.

   

• Edited by EduardoMendes Friday, June 05, 2015 2:04 PM

Hi,

As mentioned by EduardoMendes, in most of cases OEM License is tied to the hardware and only could be used to activate certain edition/version of Windows. Since they are completely hosted by OEM Manufacturers, Microsoft has no information about these key status or the process/limitation of licenses activation. Regarding to OEM license question, Id suggest that we contact with OEM Manufacturer about that if you could make that image. There you can get more effective suggestion by other experts who familiar with design of OEM edition Windows. Your understanding is highly appreciated.

Regards,

D. Wu