Windows 10 - Cheapest price?

dougan

My 17 year old Son has decided to build his own desktop PC, he is half way through a IT course at college.
Anyone know the cheapest price for Windows 10 that is a genuine version, it is £119.99 on the Microsoft store. There are so many dodgy versions available, it's a minefield!

Thanks

Uplift

I got mine from SCDKey – Best Global Digital Game CD Keys, Game Keys Marketplace an OEM licence for like £11. I too would assume dodgy but found the site via a post on AVF where another member made the recommendation to someone building a PC. I decided to give it a go and it worked fine and is still working.

Worst case scenario, Microsoft invalidates the licence and you lose a tenner.

I understand that this process isn't really illegal, although maybe unethical as manufacturers/vendors should only be selling them with PCs (someone will correct me if I am wrong)? the OEM licence is tied to the hardware and can't be transferred and you won't be able to receive any support from MS... other than that its exactly the same.

EndlessWaves

SCDKey is definitely dodgy. Sites like that buy keys from sources other than the developer but are very poor at providing tracability and checking their sources.
The truth behind those mysteriously cheap gray market game codes

No, worst case scenario is that none of the money you've paid goes to the people who worked on Windows 10 and is instead used to fund crime.

I wouldn't buy a key off a site like that unless it can provide details back to the original source of the key.


As for non-dodgy sources, most computing sites have the DVD/USB version for around £100. If you've already got a suitable USB stick/DVD drive then Amazon have the download version for £85.

Uplift

The article is from 2015, this secondary industry has come along way. it's far more accepted now. The issue with sites mentioned in the article, Kinguin, for example, is a marketplace for 3rd party sellers, like eBay, so anyone can fraudulently buy keys and sell them here, whereas sites like CDKeys are legitimate businesses that source and sell the keys themselves.

ShanePJ

I did a bit of reading regarding "Window's 10 key" when my Grandma's PC died a little while ago with an AMD fault/Microsoft update failure which goosed the both the boot and recovery options including safemode. All I access to was command prompt which enabled me to recover all her data thankfully

I thought I was going to have to purchase a new Key as the PC was of an OEM type PC which didn't have a key anywhere on the PC. These types of PC's are usually pre-built one's which have a pre-installed version from the major suppliers

What I found was that there are two variations, an OEM and standard version (regardless of whether it's "Home" or "Pro"). The basic's between an OEM and standard Window's 10 with a Key apart from the price is that the OEM can only be installed on a single PC and once installed on that PC, it cannot be re-installed at a future date if that one of it's components fails according to Microsoft (usually a motherboard or major component change will trigger it's demise).

The standard version however (the one you have found at £119) can be installed on a number of PC's (Do not that does not mean you can install this on many PC's and use it on them at the same time as it doesn't work that way), but you can install it a number of times for lets say a multi boot option or if you change a major component on the PC.

One thing to note, if the PC has had Window's 10 installed on it before (OEM - version), why not download the latest version from Microsoft Window's 10 and reinstall Windows 10 as it should just install without complaining as the window's key algorithm is saved within the Bios somewhere from what I understand when Windows was first installed (Could be wrong although this how it seem to indicate the information).

If you wish to find out what the pre-installed windows key is on that PC, you can obtain this via two simple solutions.

1st using CMD (Command Prompt - Admin)
wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

2nd using Powershell (Powershell - Admin)
powershell "(Get-WmiObject -query ‘select * from SoftwareLicensingService’).OA3xOriginalProductKey"

Either of these will only work once window's 10 is up an running. If your son's PC has had Window's 10 (OEM version) on it before and he wishes to read a little more about how to reinstall Windows 10, simply point him here Boot to UEFI Mode

I would be dubious about purchasing a Windows 10 Key from anywhere which is ultra cheap as you've no idea how they came about it and you could find that it's an OEM version from an already existing PC which is still in use

Graphicalman

Hello Dougan,
Windows 10 is still available for free - Google is your best friend to find out how!

EndlessWaves

CDKeys.com is a different site to the linked SCDKey.com.

CDKeys.com are irrelevent here as they don't sell Windows. And there are legitimate sites selling key/download versions of Windows - I mentioned buying it from Amazon directly in my post.

But and I've yet to come across any of those £15 keys that being offered by a company that has either built up a trustworthy reputation with other products or can show they're holding their suppliers accountable and know the ultimate source of the keys they're selling.

Oh, and CEX are selling Windows 10 for £78, which is a bit cheaper than Amazon.

dougan

Many thanks for all your comments.

I have just found the CEX version for £78, is this unused? As thought CEX only sold used items?
Cannot not seem to find what the Windows 10 comes on, DVD, USB etc