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?


See http://www.wikihow.com/Download-Wind...indows_8.1_sub

QUOTE:

Windows 8.1

1 Understand the process. Windows Media Center was not included in
Windows 8 when it was released, and is only available in the Pro
version of Windows 8.1. It is not included in the standard version
of 8.1, which means you'll need to upgrade to Pro in order to use
Windows Media Center. This is the only legal way to get Windows
Media Center on Windows 8.1

[...etc., etc...]

5 Add the new pack key to Windows 8.1. Once you have the key, you
can enter it in Windows so that your upgrade can be downloaded and
installed.
* Press Win and type "add features".
* Select "Add features to Windows 8.1".
* Choose "I already have a product key".
* Enter the key into the field.