Hello. Today we’ll look at the situation of reinstalling Windows 8 Single Language on Windows 8 Professional on a laptop. Until recently, Windows 7 and XP were mostly installed on laptops and computers, and everything was quite simple and easy. The main thing for Windows XP is to find the latest drivers for your laptop. But with the release of the new Windows 8 operating system, everything became more complicated. After all, if in the case of the “seven” and XP you always had the license key at hand, or rather on the back cover of the laptop, then with a laptop on which Windows 8 is installed, you won’t be able to simply reinstall the operating system, you won’t have any sticker with the key on the laptop you will find. The license number is built into Bios UEFI, and you can only install the operating system for which this key actually exists. Typically this is the Single Language version. To install Windows 8 Professional on a laptop that originally had Windows 8 Single Language installed, you will have to make some efforts.
An acquaintance once came with a problem, he said he bought a new laptop a year ago, on Windows 8 Single Language, a year passed, and the system began to glitch, so he decided to reinstall it. But since there was no installation disk included with the laptop, and my friend is honest, he simply bought a disk with Windows 8 Professional OEM from the store. But during installation, the error “The entered product key does not match any of the Windows images” popped up. Realizing that he couldn’t handle this with his own strength and knowledge, his friend decided to call a technician from a computer and laptop repair company. The specialist came, fussed with installing Windows 8, and…..he also couldn’t install it, but he took money for the call. Arriving at the store where I bought the laptop, they said that they would do it......but for money. And my friend already spent money on Windows 8 Professional OEM. By the way, the disk with Windows 8 in the store was also not accepted back from him, since the box was unopened and the license could be activated... And then a friend came to me.
I had to spend a little time searching for Windows 8 Single Language (this can be either a disk or a virtual image), since this is the version that was originally installed on the laptop. If you install the “native” version of Windows 8, then there will be no errors during installation, and you won’t even have to enter the license key. If the installation is successful, in the lower right corner you will see the inscription "Windows 8 for one language Build 9200"

To activate Windows 8, you need to install a driver on the network controller and go online. Go to Computer Properties and select "Learn more about activating Windows."

Click “Activate”

Bottom line: the Windows 8 Single Language operating system was installed without errors and activated.

Option to reinstall Windows 8 to a different version than the one that was originally installed when sold. We will install Windows 8 Professional OEM.
The question arises: why, when installing another version of Windows 8, does the error “The entered product key does not match any of the Windows images?” appear? This is because the UEFI BIOS contains information about Windows 8 Single Language, and you are trying to install a different version of Windows 8.
But professional craftsmen know the file (EI.cfg) and the product ID file (PID.txt). These are additional configuration files that you can use during the Windows 8 installation process to specify your Windows 8 product key and edition.
When installing Windows 8, the installer first accesses the EI.cfg file (it contains information about the version of Windows 8). If these files are missing, Windows 8 takes the Windows 8 version and license information from your laptop's UEFI BIOS. And since the key in the BIOS is set to Windows 8 Single Language (for one language), this is why the error occurs.
And so, we create two files (EI.cfg) and (PID.txt) and indicate in them information about the Windows Professional (OEM) we are installing, then we place them in the sources folder of the Windows 8 distribution, that’s all. Note: sometimes it will be enough to add just one pid.txt file with the Windows key to the sources folder.
Attention! If you reinstall Windows 8 with BIOS UEFI enabled and the “Secure Boot” option enabled, then the Windows 8 bootable USB flash drive must be UEFI.
Create a regular text file and save it under this name and extension ei.cfg
Contents of the ei.cfg file:

Professional

OEM

0
What do these symbols mean?
EditionID - system edition, there is Core or Professional,
Channel - distribution channel, can be OEM or Retail,
VL - corporate version, can be 0 or 1.
For example, for the system that I want to install on a Windows 8 Professional 64-bit Rus (OEM) laptop, the ei.cfg file will look like this

Professional

OEM

Create a pid.txt file

We write in it
Value=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Copy both files to the sources folder of our bootable USB flash drive with Windows 8

How to reinstall Windows 8 on a laptop. Hello admin, my problem is the following. I bought a laptop with Windows 8 installed for one language (Windows 8 Single Language), which I successfully demolished and installed Windows 7. I used your article for instructions. Now I’ve changed my mind and want to install Windows 8 again, but I don’t want to install the exact version that was preinstalled on the Windows 8 Single Language laptop. I have a licensed disc in a box of Windows 8 Professional 64-bit Rus (OEM) with a key, I bought it in a store, that is, everything is as it should be. But, when I try to install this version of Windows 8 Professional 64-bit Rus (OEM), the message “The entered product key does not match any of the Windows images” appears on the laptop.

The second option for reinstalling Windows 8 on a laptop

We will install a different edition of Windows 8 on our laptop, namely, we will use the existing Windows 8 Professional 64-bit Rus (OEM) disk.

Why do I get the error “The product key you entered does not match any of the Windows images” when installing a different edition of Windows 8 on a laptop? ? Because information about the Windows 8 Single Language installed by the laptop manufacturer and its key is stored in the UEFI BIOS.

But all professionals know that there is such a file (EI.cfg) and a product identifier file (PID.txt) - these are additional configuration files that can be used during the Windows installation process to specify the product key and edition of Windows!

Attention friends! In simple words, when installing, the Windows 8 installer program first accesses the EI.cfg configuration file (it specifies the edition of Windows 8 being installed) and the PID.txt file (it specifies the key of Windows 8 being installed). If these files are not present, Windows 8 reads information about the system version and its key in the UEFI BIOS of your laptop, and this key is from the Windows 8 Single Language installed by the manufacturer (for one language), and this is where the error comes out. So, friends, we will independently create these two files (EI.cfg) and product identifier (PID.txt) and indicate in them information about the Windows 8 Professional 64-bit Rus (OEM) we are installing, then we will place them in the sources folder Windows 8 distribution, that's all.

How to do this?

1) For example, I have a licensed disk with Windows 8 Professional 64-bit Rus (OEM) or its image in ISO format. So the easiest way for me is to create a bootable USB flash drive for Windows 8.

• Attention! If you reinstall Windows 8 with the UEFI BIOS enabled, then the Windows 8 bootable USB flash drive must be UEFI, how to create it and how to configure the UEFI BIOS itself to reinstall Windows 8, read in our article, this method involves creating a bootable USB flash drive using command line. Know that using such a flash drive you can reinstall Windows 8 on a laptop with a simple BIOS. So, we have created a flash drive, now we create two system installation configuration files (EI.cfg) and (PID.txt) and add them to the “sources” folder of the Windows 8 distribution.
• Note: Windows 8, 8.1 can be installed using a simple ISO image, but then you need to add the above-mentioned files (EI.cfg) and (PID.txt) to it, sometimes it will even be enough to add just one pid.txt file to the sources folder with Windows key. You can find out exactly how you can add files to the installation disk or image of Windows 8, 8.1 from our article

I have an HP setup with Windows 7 installed. I want to do a clean install of Windows 8 from a bootable DVD.

I bought the Windows 8 32-bit kernel from the Microsoft store and I received the product key. I then burned the .ISO file to a blank DVD using imgburn. When I reboot and change the BIOS to boot from the internal CD/DVD and then boot from my internal DVD it triggers the installation process.

After I pass the screen where I select the language and location and click " Install", he will be there for a minute and then he will say:

The product key you entered does not match any of the Windows images

I did my research and found out that I need to add the PID.txt file to the source file containing the Windows 8 .ISO, but the thing is that I don't know how to add files to the .ISO. The guide I researched is for a bootable USB drive and I'm using a DVD.

2 Solutions collect form web for ““The product key you entered does not match any of the Windows images””

Follow these steps:

If its USB

1.Open Notepad

2.Create a text file named PID.Text

3.Insert the following in the file:

Value=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

4. Replace XXX with your product Key

5. Place your iso file in your /sources

6. Return ISO

For Windows valley DVD, create an unlock disc

Use 7-zip to extract this ISO to a specific folder and go to the Source folder and find the ei.cfg file.

EI.cfg is a Windows Setup-specific configuration file used to determine what edition and license will be used during installation. This file replaces PID.txt and is located on the product media under the Sources folder in Windows Vista DVD

To get the desired edition,

3. Use Notepad to edit and save this file, changing the desired option. Valid version identifiers:

Edit ei.cfg file

Ulimate Professional HomePremium HomeBasic Starter

To get all issues -

4. Just delete the file and finally create a bootable ISO and burn your unlocked disk.

Hello, if the solution with PID.txt does not work, try creating

And write in it:

[Channel] Retail

Placed in the "sources" folder.

Keep in mind to delete the PID.TXT file if you have one.

Sincerely!