Nil wrote:
Can someone summarize the history of Windows Media Center, particularly
in regard to Windows 8/8.1? I'm trying to revive a friend's Win 8.1
computer from a major disk crash. I managed to reinstall Windows 8 Home
from Hewlett Packard's recovery partition, and I updated it to Win 8.1.
I'm pretty sure my friend had Media Center on this computer, but
there's no sign of it now. I think he may have acquired it directly
from MS, not from HP. I know Media Center is discontinued, but he has a
valid key - is there any way to get MC back on this computer?

Anytime Upgrade ?

When the $39.95 introductory offer period, you
could get a key emailed to you, which "added" Media Center
capability to the OS. The Win8.1 on this machine has it.
(But I have no Media Center card available on here.)

"1. Request your free product key from Microsoft's Web site.
2. Hit the shortcut, Win+W, then type "add features."
Select "Add features to Windows 8"
3. Click on "I already have a product key," then
enter your product key. Click Next to continue.
4. Agree to the licensing agreement, then click "Add features.
"

After the freebie period, you could pay for a copy of
Media Center instead. It should involve a license key.

It could be, that the last key on the previous (crashed)
setup, was the key in question.

If the person is lucky, the key is in their email inbox.
Depending on whether the purchase of Media Center was electronic.

I don't even know if that deal was on offer during Win8.1.
It could be, if you had to reinstall Win8.1, the key would
still work. But if you had just bought Win8.1, perhaps
Media Center wasn't for sale at that point.

The only practical difference on my machine, with Media Center
added, is the addition of a video and an audio codec
for playing commercial DVDs. If I had a Media Center
tuner, if would be a different story.

Paul