Windows 10 activation key

[PioPio]

What is the best place to get an activation key for Windows?

 

[4745454b]

Newegg?

 

[mazboy]

irm...Microsoft? Actually, if you look about, you can find Win10 Home 64-bit for around $90. Try Amazon.com or Newegg.com. Or do you have a pirated copy of the OS and are trying to buy a cheap key? Feeling frisky? Try Kinguin.net. A license key from them was about $36 the last time I checked. But youse pays yer money and youse takes yer chances...same with https://www.keystoreonline.com/

 

[COLGeek]

We do not recommend these "grey market" sites. TH is littered with threads where members had issues with these sites. Get from a legitimate source and save yourself the hassle of dealing with these guys.

 

[USAFRet]

Many are the threads in here where a member has a spent money on a key from one of the grey market places, and before long, it returns as "non valid".
Any place that wants you to pay extra for "insurance"...well, that speaks for itself.

Buy it at the regular price, from a valid retailer.

Or, install it and run Unactivated for a while. Until you feel like paying for it.
The limitations on an unactivated Win 10 install are pretty minimal.

 

[canadianvice]

So you have some options:

1. Try your luck with grey market like Kinguin.net
Be aware these keys are often improperly resold or used in violation of their original license, and can not work or terminate without warning. You could easily get screwed, with little recourse... their lack of liability in it is one of the reason they're so cheap.

2. Buy a copy. Microsoft sells them direct, most retailers associated with electronics will have one for sale too.

3. Windows 7 and 8 keys still activate Win10 as of writing this. It's not 100% above board, but it seems like it works. I did this just recently with a new build.

4. Microsoft Education. If you're associated with a University or sometimes highschool, tradeschools, etc. they often have support for a program called Microsoft imagine. As of last glance, Win10 was available for free for personal use... for a single copy, anyhow.

5. Some employers or the above will offer a "home use program" which lets you get things like Office or windows super cheap, but it's managed by your employer so you'd have to ask them how that works.

If a key you obtain through these vectors gives you trouble but you're sure you're in the legal right, try using their phone activation. My experience has been it's more liberal about the rules than its other vectors. In an elevated command prompt on the new system, type slui.exe, 4

Or at least, it let me activate a mandarin-only version outside of China for a chinese exchange student customer who's PC I repaired.