My daughter wants to build a new PC for her birthday, and I need Windows 10. Is the "best" way to buy it from MS? I do have a single license USB which I bought from MS (think it was $130) but I've installed that on another PC.
The most secure way to buy it is from MS. Whether thats the best way is debatable.
You can download the installer for free from MS website and skip the part where it asks for the product key. Then you can either bend over for MS and pay $100+ for it, buy a potentially stolen key from eBay, Kinguin, etc. that may or may not get deactivated down the line, or simply never pay for anything and use the free download and deal with a watermark in the bottom right corner telling you to activate while only missing out on MS customer support. [Reply]
Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider:
No, buy a key from a rando (with lots of good feedback) on Ebay. It'll set you back around $10, at least it did last time for me.
A buddy of mine does this regularly. Never had an issue though, obviously, YMMV. [Reply]
Technically, Microsoft no longer actually requires a valid key to run Windows 10 indefinitely. It will list Windows as "Not activated," but everything in the OS works exactly the same, with a very minor cosmetic exception. If you go to Personalization settings and try to change the wallpaper, it will tell you that you must activate windows first. But to get around that, simply open a web browser and find a pic you want to use as a background, right-click, and apply as Wallpaper. Everything else fully works.
Alternatively, if you're feeling like a pirate, you can download the free KMSPico app(or alternative KMS app), and activate any version of Windows you want for free: https://www.getkmspico.com/ [Reply]
Originally Posted by Donger:
Thanks guys. I appreciate it. Bought it from MS...
That’s what I do too, not worth fucking around with it to me.
Get it on a thumb drive so she can boot from it when she initializes her new build. [Reply]
When I built my current PC in 2015, I installed the wrong version of Windows 10 but didn't realize it until after I'd spent 60 hours loading and activating software.
Since I didn't want to repeat that process, I did a web search and purchased a Windows 10 Pro key for $9.99.
Originally Posted by vailpass:
That’s what I do too, not worth ****ing around with it to me.
Get it on a thumb drive so she can boot from it when she initializes her new build.
Originally Posted by vailpass:
That’s what I do too, not worth fucking around with it to me.
Get it on a thumb drive so she can boot from it when she initializes her new build.
I've installed probably 60 copies of Windows from XP to 10 and every version in between from that online store I linked. MS is just too damn expensive. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
I've installed probably 60 copies of Windows from XP to 10 and every version in between from that online store I linked. MS is just too damn expensive.
I hear you and if I was doing that kind of volume I’d be there too. I’ve done 3. Will likely do one or two more this Christmas now that RTX3000 is coming out. I stick with Micro$quash because I don’t want to mess with it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by vailpass:
I hear you and if I was doing that kind of volume I’d be there too. I’ve done 3. Will likely do one or two more this Christmas now that RTX3000 is coming out. I stick with Micro$quash because I don’t want to mess with it.
FYI, Microsoft authorizes these third party Windows 10 authorization codes, so you should not have any problems.
All of the sites I've seen accept all forms of credit cards as well as Paypal, so if for some reason you are ripped off for $10 dollars, you can easily get your money returned to your account. [Reply]