Hello,
I think the problem is that
Windows 8 and
Server 2008 R2 share the same code base. Starting with Windows 8 Microsoft introduced
OEM Preactivation 3.0. Here the product key is embedded in your BIOS/UEFI of the hardware. When installing Windows 8 (8.1) the setup takes the embedded key from the BIOS/UEFI. Even the installtion media of Windows 8 Core and Windows 8 Pro are
identical. The installed version depends on the key.
So in your case I think the
Windows Server 2008 R2 setup finds the
Windows 8 Pro key of your Celsius laptop. But this key does not work with
Windows Server 2008 R2. I could not test it, but you can try the following:
Integrate the key into the
Windows Server 2008 R2 installation media. So the setup will take the
integrated key and ignore the key embedded in the BIOS/UEFI.
The best way will be to use a USB thumb drive and the Microsoft Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from
http://wudt.codeplex.com/. The tool should work for Windows Server 2008 R2, too. If you have trouble with this tool, try Rufus
http://rufus.akeo.ie/?locale=en_US. Furthermore you need an ISO image of the Windows Server installation media. You can create one with ImgBurn
http://www.imgburn.com/, if you do not have one.
When you have created the bootabe USB thumb drive, open Windows Explorer and navigate on your thumb drive to the folder
sources. Create here a text file with the name
pid.txt. Open it in notepad and insert your Windows server key. The format is like this
Code: Select all
[PID]
Value=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Save the file and try to install
Windows Server 2008 R2 with the thumb drive.
If you experience problems with your retail Windows Server key, you can try the corresponding generic volume license key provided by Microsoft at
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj612867.aspx. You can not activate Windows with these keys unless you are using Volume Lcensing and a KMS server at your company, but it should be possible to install Wndows server with these. To activate your Windows server after installation, open an command prompt and type:
See also
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn303416.aspx. Here you will also find information how to switch your server edition.
Embedding a generic key into the installtion media has the advantage, that it can be used to install Windows Server on more PCs. To activate Windows Server you
always need a valid retail key or you have to use Volume Licensing.