Windows 10 product Keys

[marcplante]

When shopping for Windows 10, there is an extremely wide range of pricing for product keys. There seem to be people that will sell and OE key for ~$10-$15. full commercial versions run ~$90.

Are the OE versions simply that? versions restricted to a single CPU for system builders? or are they black market versions? I'd like to save a few bucks, but not at the expense of piracy.

Thanks

 

[marcplante]

hmmm...finally read some fine print. are they playing games with reusing old MBs to "recycle" keys?

 

[Charlie22911]

I'd buy from a reputable source, there have been numerous reports about activation problems with licences purchased from sellers like Kinguin; it's a gamble and not worth it IMO.

 

[XavierMace]

Caveat Emptor.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

[marcplante]

I figured. I just wasn't sure if there was some bulk enterprise license, though that seems off. The Hard Drive on my current box has a retail Win7/10 license. I have the key and will simply move it and reuse the Key. At first i thought i was going to keep my old machine, but have given up on that. I don't need the extra box, so I'll move the license.

 

[XavierMace]

Selling your enterprise license off is a violation of your license agreement with Microsoft and can result in your key getting blacklisted.

 

[daveybrat]

Xavier is correct, the majority of the time these cheap keys work just fine for a few weeks or months. Then bam, you get an error saying that your copy of Windows is not genuine.

 

[ericlp]

so... where is the best "reputable" place to buy a key? I was also, thinking of throwing a bootable copy of windows installation dvd on a thumb drive so, I could just easily install it.

Is there a place to d/l the install disks to copy to a thumb drive and buy a key "reputable" key?

Thanks. I have win 7 ultimate, but, rather just get a new key for 10. I don't really feel like jumping through all the hoops to upgrade it.

 

[daveybrat]

so... where is the best "reputable" place to buy a key? I was also, thinking of throwing a bootable copy of windows installation dvd on a thumb drive so, I could just easily install it.

Is there a place to d/l the install disks to copy to a thumb drive and buy a key "reputable" key?

Thanks. I have win 7 ultimate, but, rather just get a new key for 10. I don't really feel like jumping through all the hoops to upgrade it.

If you already have a Windows 7 Ultimate key just use that. Use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool that will download the latest version of Windows 10 onto a flash drive for you.

Do a clean installation of the OS and choose Windows 10 Pro. Enter your license key and see if it activates. Even though Microsoft said the party is over, the activation servers still function.

I just installed Windows 10 yesterday on a laptop with Windows 8.1 and another with Windows 7 Home. Both activated just fine with Windows 10.

 

[bruceb]

I would hope it would work. From what I heard, a Retail Windows 7 Key should always be able to Activate a Windows 10 install. Windows 7 Ultimate would activate Windows 10 Pro version. I hope it will continue to work like that, as I have Windows 7 Ultimate (retail key) and I might need it in the future for Windows 10

 

[ericlp]

I guess I come from windows 2k/xp where one had to install the entire os and when you upgraded even on a clean slate it was iffy! LOL... I guess they must of fixed this issue.

Thanks, I'll try that! I went to a MS conference and got 7 for free. CD/Key. We'll see if it still works. I'm in the process of building a brand new high end rig. So... I have been out of the loop for a while.

 

[bruceb]

Same way I got my Windows 7 Ultimate (in Philly) They gave us the 32 bit DVD & an email to Microsoft got them to send the 64 bit DVD for no charge. From what we were told, these are Retail Windows 7 Keys.

 

[ericlp]

Same way I got my Windows 7 Ultimate (in Philly) They gave us the 32 bit DVD & an email to Microsoft got them to send the 64 bit DVD for no charge. From what we were told, these are Retail Windows 7 Keys.

I think I was there as well... the key however works for 64 bit, just didn't have the 64 bit DVD. I think they also gave a link to where to d/l it as well.