Backup And Restore Windows 8 Activation

Introduction

This article explains how to backup and restore an activation license of Windows 8. You need to backup and restore an activation because every time you format and reinstall Windows you need to activate Windows again. For activation you look for a valid MAK key, calling Microsoft or waiting for a KMS server to go online etc. Sometimes when you activate Windows with a previous key then you have a problem with activation and get the error message "This key has limit of activation".

But if you want to reinstall Windows and don't want to lose the activation then you can create a backup of the activation and then reinstall Windows then restore the activation. This activation method backs up and restores the Windows 8 activation as well as Microsoft Office activation.

This method only works on the same machine, the same Windows edition. Before activation, the machine hardware should not be changed.

How to backup and restore Windows 8 activation

Step 1

Go to "C:\Windows\System32\spp\" and copy to to the "store" folder and save it on another drive. The store folder may be hidden so first enable "Show hidden files and folders".

Step 2

Now reinstall Windows. The Windows edition must be the same.

Step 3

After reinstalling Windows, open a command prompt as Administrator and type "slmgr -upk" and press Enter. A message will be shown "Product key successfully uninstalled".

Step 4

Restart your computer in safe mode; for that go to the search box and type "msconfig".

Step 5

The System Configuration window will be opened. In this window go to the boot tab and enable "safe boot" then click on "OK".

Step 6

After restarting Windows in Safe Mode run a command prompt as Administrator and type "net stop sppsvc" to stop the Software Protection Platform service and press Enter. Sometimes you can get a message that it's already stopped and not running.

Step 7

Go to "C:\Windows\System32\spp\" and replace the current store folder with the backed "store" folder.

Step 8

Now restart Windows in normal mode using "msconfig" and open a command prompt as Administrator and type "slmgr.vbs -ato" and press Enter. Your Windows will be activated.