Cheapest Way to Get A Genuine Windows 10 Key?

[RylieDetchon]

I've heard that keys from Ebay are pirated and can be blacklisted, so I'm trying to steer away from that if I can.

I've also read that you can run the trial version of Windows 10 for a few months before it asks for an activation key. Is this true?

If not, what is cheapest way to get a Windows 10 key, if I don't have to pay for one right off of Microsoft?

 

[elbert]

You can get windows 10 for $88 or windows 8.1 for $83ish.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($88.58 @ OutletPC)
Total: $88.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-10 10:44 EST-0500

or

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM 64-bit ($82.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $82.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-10 10:45 EST-0500

 

[Math Geek]

there is no cheap way to get a legit key.

you can run it unregistered for a while and deal with the restrictions but buying a key from anyone that is not legit can lead to it being a pirated key and blacklisted.

often these cheap keys are bought with stolen credit cards, so you are also likely supporting this type activity with those "cheap" keys. windows costs what it costs and that's what you have to pay if you want it. sorry but that's the way it is

 

[RealBeast]

THIS is the best way to find the lowest price on a legitimate copy of Windows 10, unless you are a student at an institution that has Microsoft Dreamspark access for student prices.

 

[Math Geek]

that basically says, win 10 is not very restricted if not activated. this is likely due to MS farming as much data as they can get their hands on. so even if you never buy a key, they still get to collect and sell all that juicy data they collect on you

so yah you can run it with no key for as long as they allow it, but there are a couple features blocked out so you can't customize as much.

 

[IceMyth]

Hi,

You can check link below where prices range between 25-28$:
https://www.kinguin.net/catalogsearch/result/index/?q=windows

Also check this video, since he bought it from there https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXTqz3Fd28M
Now I haven't tried it yet, as I am planning to buy Win 7 prof key later.

Lastly, Note: OEM keys are valid only for 1 machine and the is the first one you install it on.

Regards,

 

[aquielisunari]

there is no cheap way to get a legit key.

you can run it unregistered for a while and deal with the restrictions but buying a key from anyone that is not legit can lead to it being a pirated key and blacklisted.

often these cheap keys are bought with stolen credit cards, so you are also likely supporting this type activity with those "cheap" keys. windows costs what it costs and that's what you have to pay if you want it. sorry but that's the way it is

that basically says, win 10 is not very restricted if not activated. this is likely due to MS farming as much data as they can get their hands on. so even if you never buy a key, they still get to collect and sell all that juicy data they collect on you

so yah you can run it with no key for as long as they allow it, but there are a couple features blocked out so you can't customize as much.

And there are work-around for those. DO we have to let them farm? **** no. DO we have to use Cortana? No. Can we disable her? Yes. But it only hides her. Can we really disable Cortana? Yes. There are dozens of way MS harvests data and there are just as many ways that an informed consumer can avoid those attempts. When we use Yahoo mail their TOS told us they scan incoming and outgoing messages for key... I think the wording was words or phrases.

Anyways, you're obviously right but that's only for those that leave their pants down. It's up to the consumer to know what their software is doing.What the heck is a cookie and how can they be in my computer?

 

[Math Geek]

not gonna argue that at all. my install is heavily modified to remove and block a lot of what they collect but this is beyond the average user. there are some great tools you can use like spybot's anti-spy, but that's only the tip of the iceberg.

now that MS is moving away from full iso installs for updates and going back to just small patches (only a beta thing for insiders right now but coming soon to all), it should be easier to remove stuff and keep it removed. might even offer up my modified iso later on if i can get it worked out for public consumption been years since i maintained such a thing but done it before with win 7 and before. can actually get win 10 iso down below 2 gb easy and mybe even smaller as i figure out what i can remove from the installer such as the MASSIVE driver cache it has.