I have had an HP laptop for four years then suddenly got a ten day countdown of my windows 8.1 license expiry. Of course, I contacted Microsoft who took remote access and confirmed that my license key was valid but there was a volume licensing problem. They advised that I go back to my supplier, namely PC World. After several days of emailing, I of course got nowhere, although they did confirm that all licenses are lifetime. Their Technical support suggested that I pay them £50 to do a factory reset of my laptop. Yes, a sledge hammer to crack a nut. This advise is the last method to choose but it does earn them £50 for something that you could do yourself if at all necessary. Being qualified in IT and therefore very literate, I sent many Host script files taken off my laptop showing the volume license issue, but they ignored, probably because they are totally ignorant or inexperienced. The one guy put me on hold whilst he 'discussed with fellow colleagues'. His reply was that the 'consensus of opinion' was that I had a Malware or a software issue. I had of course checked all this myself before making contact, which I did tell them. I did contact HP Volume Licensing who frustratingly, although correctly, advised I go through the official channel, PC World. All efforts failed, and with one day left of my activation, I politely contacted Microsoft again who checked my laptop and confirmed, yet again, that it was a volume license issue, but due to my frustration and being fobbed off by PC World, they issued a new retail key and activated as a gesture of goodwill. They also confirmed that restoring to factory settings would not have cured the problem. I have of course conveyed this back to PC World who 'de-escalate' emails to customer services support who basically politely tell you to get lost. They appear to base their help on how many others are experiencing the same problem? What a great method. Their slogan is : NEVER LEAVING A CUSTOMER TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES!!! What a joke. Those reading, please spread my new slogan FOREVER LEAVING A CUSTOMER TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES in the title. Thanks