First let me say emphatically that I am not trying to avoid activating Windows and I do not encourage piracy in any way! I am going to activate it. I just want to fully understand the process, limitations and timeframe.
I had to get Windows on my son's home-built PC fairly quickly so I did a clean Windows 10 Home install last night but haven't activated it yet due to lack of funds at the moment. From my reading I understand the only immediate limitations are a watermark and the inability to personalize, however I am seeing conflicting discussions on whether the OS will expire and stop booting altogether after a certain period. If that's true, I would just like to know how long that period is, and what exactly happens -- will the functionality be further reduced, will it boot at all or just completely brick, and will I even have the option of activating at that time?
Again, I do not plan to go indefinitely without activating and am just wondering how long we have to save up for a license, because finances are tight and I'm hoping to put it off for a few weeks if possible.
(Another note: installing a free OS is not practical for us. My son has been using Linux Mint for the past year and it's just not meeting his needs for what he does, his expertise level, etc. This is why we are moving him to Windows.)
I had to get Windows on my son's home-built PC fairly quickly so I did a clean Windows 10 Home install last night but haven't activated it yet due to lack of funds at the moment. From my reading I understand the only immediate limitations are a watermark and the inability to personalize, however I am seeing conflicting discussions on whether the OS will expire and stop booting altogether after a certain period. If that's true, I would just like to know how long that period is, and what exactly happens -- will the functionality be further reduced, will it boot at all or just completely brick, and will I even have the option of activating at that time?
Again, I do not plan to go indefinitely without activating and am just wondering how long we have to save up for a license, because finances are tight and I'm hoping to put it off for a few weeks if possible.
(Another note: installing a free OS is not practical for us. My son has been using Linux Mint for the past year and it's just not meeting his needs for what he does, his expertise level, etc. This is why we are moving him to Windows.)
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram