Where can I find Windows 8 product key after reinstall?

The wmic path command may not work to find Windows 8 product key for several reasons.

If your Windows 8 product key is not embedded in the UEFI/BIOS firmware (common with retail or volume license installations), the command will not return a product key. This command only works for pre-installed versions of Windows (OEM licenses) where the product key is embedded by the manufacturer.

WMIC (Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line) has been deprecated in Windows 10/11 and may not function correctly in newer environments. Even if you're using Windows 8, the WMIC tool might not be properly installed or configured.

You're right, the wmic command can be unreliable sometimes, especially if your version of Windows 8 is not OEM preinstalled or does not have the product key embedded in the UEFI/BIOS. For retail or volume licensed versions, it will not return the key. And as you mentioned, the WMIC tool has been deprecated in Windows 10 and 11, and may not work even on some Windows 8 systems.

If you encounter this situation, the new question is: is there any other way to find Windows 8 product key? You can try some third-party tools, such as Dr.Key, which can scan the system and find your product key.