Low cost Windows licenses?

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Legacy_user
Legacy_user Posts: 0 Newbie
edited 23 April 2019 at 2:46PM in Techie Stuff
Are the low cost windows and other software licenses online genuine?
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  • EveryWhere
    EveryWhere Posts: 3,249 Forumite
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    gabriel73195 wrote: »
    I've recently purchased a full priced Windows 10 license and have often wondered how online vendors manage to sell seemingly legitimate licenses for £10 or £20 which seem to be from genuine sellers that have sold thousands of licenses with hundreds and thousands of positive feedback going back years.

    I believe it's called the "Grey Market" but is it based on them buying bankrupt stock or from countries where the price is much lower such as perhaps India or China?

    Ouch...

    .........
  • kinger101
    kinger101 Posts: 6,284 Forumite
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    For Microsoft Office at least, it's not unusual for these companies to disappear. Soon after the licence is revoked by Microsoft.
    "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance" - Confucius
  • jim1999
    jim1999 Posts: 172 Forumite
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    There are various methods. One is having a subscription to Microsoft that allows you to test out products - get the test keys, and then sell them on to punters. If MS find out that you've done it, they can revoke the keys, but by that point the customers have paid.

    Getting them abroad is another option.

    Ultimately you've no guarantee that you'll keep access to the grey keys. At least if you purchased a retail Windows key you know that you can use it indefinitely and without any issues. If you do have problems (e.g. if you change computer), you can contact Microsoft and have a clear paper trail of how you bought it.
  • arciere
    arciere Posts: 1,354 Forumite
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    They often re-sell Volume licence keys that couldn't be sold. There's nothing 'grey', it's all illegal in Microsoft terms.

    A person I know called me a few days ago because he had purchased one of these magic keys from eBay. He followed all the instructions but upon activating the key that he had been given, the activation tool told him that the key had already been used too many times. He then spoke to the guy who sold him the Office key and was told to use the telephone activation process and to say that 'no other computer is using that key'.

    Yeah, sure.
  • that
    that Posts: 1,532 Forumite
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    for £2 or £3, and for personal use I would definitely take the chance, and let MS decide if the keys are valid or not. For my own small business or a few users, I too may take the chance if the use is not mission critical. I can afford the loss of another £3, or wait a day to visit pc world to get one which I know should never die (but that does not mean it wont).

    I work for an org that scraps around 2k PCs a year. These PC will each have their own bought license (win 7 pro), but we use our corporate license instead.

    However as an employee, or as a larger small business, it can be a pita loosing all or partial computer facilities especially if it is part of the work process. Also you saving management £1000's, but may bite you if you fall out of management favour, as the onus will fall on you, and every time I make a saving suggestion at work I get told "it is not your money, why worry, or assume responsibility".

    Licencing cost is becoming so prohibitive, many of the web servers are using free linux, and linux is becoming ever more popular. After recently putting MX linux on a 9 year old i5-540M laptop, the crispness is hard to beat even with my ssd and my much more powerful cpu.
  • Dee_1303
    Dee_1303 Posts: 170 Forumite
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    The Windows 10 Pro I'm using now cost under a fiver from Amazon, two years or so ago now. Not once in those two years have I had any problem whatsoever with the Windows installation and all the updates have been just fine.

    Since the cheapest official OEM of Windows 10 I could find then was over £50, I think it's pretty safe to say that if I needed another license I would take the chance again even if there are reputable sellers at more reasonable prices now.
  • forgotmyname
    forgotmyname Posts: 32,552 Forumite
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    Threads from 5 years ago??
    And none of that appears to be relevant. The people selling the keys are not selling their own keys.

    Possibly keys from old machines, windows 7 serials will install windows 10 fine. (or it did last time i tried it, couple of months ago)

    Could be someone with a key generator, generating dodgy ones. These may work or they may not.

    No idea if its true but rumour has it that MS will accept any keys to get users onto win 10.

    I blocked all updates, seems they make it harder and harder to do this. 1703 works, seems the next updates will kill some of my stuff.
    Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...

  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863 Forumite
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    NEXT updates? Aren't we already on 1809?
  • kwikbreaks
    kwikbreaks Posts: 9,187 Forumite
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    Well I am. On a key that cost just a few quid on eBay. I needed it to get rid of a dodgy one on a refurb laptop I bought.
  • Niv
    Niv Posts: 2,469 Forumite
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    You don't even need an activation key for windows 10.
    YNWA

    Target: Mortgage free by 58.
This discussion has been closed.
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