Windows 10 (still) free?

[whammoed]

My son's laptop hard drive broke (again, HP used crappy HDs in this model...out of warranty so I installed a SSD).  I could not get the windows recovery to work.  It would not load the image to the new drive or any drive for that matter.  After spending several hours trying different things I looked for another option and found you can create a usb drive install of Windows 10 from Microsoft's website.  I went for it though I was worried about licensing since you don't get a Window's license key these days.  Well I installed it and it is working and has not asked for any sort of license key.  Either Window's somehow knows by the hardware that it is supposed to have Windows on it or perhaps it is just free to use?  Not sure?  Anyone in the know on this?  just curious but mostly glad it is working...for now haha

[whammoed]

This is what I used:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Says "you will first need to have a license to install Windows 10" but who knows?

[Drnick]

Most HP machines from July 2015 onwards have been registered against the W10 servers already,  Usually no licence required as covered under OEM installation

[Vigo]

If no luck, just pay a couple bucks on eBay for a key.

[J_K_M_A_N]

If no luck, just pay a couple bucks on eBay for a key.

Have people here done this? Would you use one in a business (trying to keep costs down for a simple machine for shipping)? I have been curious about how those work.

J_K_M_A_N

[SlammedNiss]

My son's laptop hard drive broke (again, HP used crappy HDs in this model...out of warranty so I installed a SSD).  I could not get the windows recovery to work.  It would not load the image to the new drive or any drive for that matter.  After spending several hours trying different things I looked for another option and found you can create a usb drive install of Windows 10 from Microsoft's website.  I went for it though I was worried about licensing since you don't get a Window's license key these days.  Well I installed it and it is working and has not asked for any sort of license key.  Either Window's somehow knows by the hardware that it is supposed to have Windows on it or perhaps it is just free to use?  Not sure?  Anyone in the know on this?  just curious but mostly glad it is working...for now haha

I'm pretty sure licensing is digitally signed these days. My new Lenovo didn't come with a typical license key sticker, so I downloaded magicaljellybean to extract the key just in case.

[javeryh]

If no luck, just pay a couple bucks on eBay for a key.

Have people here done this? Would you use one in a business (trying to keep costs down for a simple machine for shipping)? I have been curious about how those work.

J_K_M_A_N

I built a PC for my office last year - I installed Windows from a USB stick following the instructions on the MS website.  It was a full install and everything seemed to work - totally free - except there is a large watermark in the lower right corner of the screen.  You need to buy a license to get rid of it.  If the watermark doesn't bother you then you are good to go.  If it does (and it eventually will if I had to guess) you can buy a license from CDKeys or wherever.  I paid $12 for mine and have had no issues.  I get all the updates, etc.

[whammoed]

Thanks! Good info.  I also found this where you can extract the key using powershell (before the PC dies of course haha)
https://www.howtogeek.com/206329/how-to-find-your-lost-windows-or-office-product-keys/

[knave]

My son's laptop hard drive broke (again, HP used crappy HDs in this model...out of warranty so I installed a SSD).  I could not get the windows recovery to work.  It would not load the image to the new drive or any drive for that matter.  After spending several hours trying different things I looked for another option and found you can create a usb drive install of Windows 10 from Microsoft's website.  I went for it though I was worried about licensing since you don't get a Window's license key these days.  Well I installed it and it is working and has not asked for any sort of license key.  Either Window's somehow knows by the hardware that it is supposed to have Windows on it or perhaps it is just free to use?  Not sure?  Anyone in the know on this?  just curious but mostly glad it is working...for now haha

I do this at work all the time. Usually a new hard drive won't require a new windows activation. If Windows 10 was installed on the old Hard Drive the activation will be automatic. Microsoft creates a hardware Id for this weighted on the motherboard ID and the activation will only trigger if more hardware is changed...Usually...

If it does ask for activation, you can still use your windows 7 or windows 8 key. So if its an HP and it still has the windows 7/8 sticker on it that will work.

Finally, I've seen lots of Tech YouTubers report good luck buying keys for cheap. I think ETA Prime mentioned one or two sites where a Windows 10 key is under $20.

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

[Vocalitus]

My son's laptop hard drive broke (again, HP used crappy HDs in this model...out of warranty so I installed a SSD).  I could not get the windows recovery to work.  It would not load the image to the new drive or any drive for that matter.  After spending several hours trying different things I looked for another option and found you can create a usb drive install of Windows 10 from Microsoft's website.  I went for it though I was worried about licensing since you don't get a Window's license key these days.  Well I installed it and it is working and has not asked for any sort of license key.  Either Window's somehow knows by the hardware that it is supposed to have Windows on it or perhaps it is just free to use?  Not sure?  Anyone in the know on this?  just curious but mostly glad it is working...for now haha

I do this at work all the time. Usually a new hard drive won't require a new windows activation. If Windows 10 was installed on the old Hard Drive the activation will be automatic. Microsoft creates a hardware Id for this weighted on the motherboard ID and the activation will only trigger if more hardware is changed...Usually...

If it does ask for activation, you can still use your windows 7 or windows 8 key. So if its an HP and it still has the windows 7/8 sticker on it that will work.

Finally, I've seen lots of Tech YouTubers report good luck buying keys for cheap. I think ETA Prime mentioned one or two sites where a Windows 10 key is under $20.

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

Its funny you should mention that as a certain someone (cannot mention their name due to rule 5) gave out the working OEM key for Windows 10.  Boy didn't that create a sh*tstorm at Microsoft. 

It's better to get a $20 key than getting a knock on your door by the FBI, while you are playing on your 10,000 game arcade cabinet. 

[nitrogen_widget]

Both my kids PC's have unregistered win 10.
there is a watermark and they can't change their background.

all they do is play games on it.

all of my legit win 10 PC's were win 7 PC's that updated while I was on vacation near as I can think.
I barely used them at the time because I mainly used my linux laptop or work laptop and by the time I fired them back up I was stuck with win 10. LOL!

[Vigo]

I looked back at when I purchased a win 10 key off of ebay, and I got the cheapest one I could find at the time. $5.37 for 10 pro, after tax. They sent me the code instantly, and I haven't had a single problem. After a year or two of the wonkiness of the daz loader not working right, the 5 bucks was no skin off my nose. It has been perfect.

[schmerzkaufen]

I did the free upgrade on a couple laptops recently, using Windows10Upgrade24074.exe instead of the media ceration tool.

As long as the starting 7 or 8 has a legit valid key it should still work fine.

Painfully slow method though since it saves a copy of your Win 7/8 install before installing W10 (it doesn't ask), then in my case what it installed was...1709 

Meaning after that W10 went through all the version updates, which took like 3 days. 

But hey if was free. 

[Wzrd0803]

If you have a license key for Windows 7 or 8 and the install media, install and register it with the valid license then get the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool from the Microsoft website and upgrade to Windows 10 for free.

[J_K_M_A_N]

So you would buy one like this? No problems from Italy (we are in the US)? I am building a system for my brother now. We don't want any trouble here. 

J_K_M_A_N

[J_K_M_A_N]

Wow! Listings on ebay are gone in seconds. Makes me think they are not super legit. Guess I will keep looking around.

J_K_M_A_N

[Phreakwars]

What I do, is look around for old broken computers and laptops that have Windows 7 on them. As long as I either have the product key label, or can extract the windows 7 key from the OS, I can use it to activate Windows 10 for free. Once you have activated Windows 10 on a motherboard, it is always activated. You can pull the hard drive, install Linux, change your mind, pull that drive and swap it for a brand new drive, do a fresh install of Windows 10, and it will be activated using no key. Just click the "I DON'T HAVE A PRODUCT KEY" tab when installing and the OS will be activated when you go online. Simple as that. Don't waste money on sketchy eBay keys. If your Windows install someday goes to ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- and you are using a media creation tool to reinstall everything fresh, then skip the key purchase, you don't need it.

[J_K_M_A_N]

Thanks. I think I have an old system with a Windows 8.1 key on it. I will check that.

J_K_M_A_N

[francisbaud]

I'm still using Windows 8.1 as I have not yet convinced myself to download W10. I'm pretty satisfied with 8.1 and I'm wary about something so valuable being given for free.