I might purchase cheap legit copy of unused Win8 OEM key that came with Dell laptop where owner instantly formatted it with Windows XP. The key is unpacked and never been activated, unless by factory setting. Those laptops have no sticker nor anything so I guess the original OEM key is embedded in BIOS. Is is the same as in the package? Just google something like "W8P 32/64BIT SVC DPK" to see, there's a 25 digit key there. Or is this pack key just generic OEM one that can't be activated? Also I might have probem with getting ISO, as Microsoft for some reason pulled down every Windows 8 link and replaced it with Windows 8.1. But 8.1 is not 8, and everyone who had both knows it. I could technically get those Dell installation DVD's that came for laptop but again I heard those will only work with this specific laptop because they are made this way. Could getting proper Windows 8 Pro System Buileder OEM iso and then using it with edited PID.txt work? Would such installation be legit and would it activate properly? Would it later freely update to Windows 8.1 and 10? My machine ain't Dell btw, just generic PC. Cheers, waiting for answers.
Short answer no Long answer Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Search with the little magnifying glass at the top right of the page and be prepared to read 100 billiooooooooon posts to find the answer for Win 8. My advice would be to search the forum with the little magnifying glass at the top right for how to install Windows 10 legally, there is only 1 or 2 billiooooooooon posts to find the answer for Win 10. (move your bones you got till July 29, 2016)
This is far from answer. There are no similar threads, I've searched. Each issue is different. As for Windows 10 I do have Windows 8 Pro serial only, from what I know I must first update it to 8.1 and then to 10 before attempting clean install.
Just to save you some time, every key for OEM systems is unique to that piece of hardware, you purchasing a key from another system will not work on another as you might think. Personally I would go Windows 7 install upgraded to 10 before the free upgrade is gone for 10 and get yourself a win10 activation via digital entitlement. Free forever, legit after upgrade and activated on that machine only. Once 10 is installed and activated, you can clean install it as often as you want on that machine , its yours to do with as you wish then.
You can install Windows 10 and use the Windows 8 key, There is no need to install Windows 8 and then upgrade. You could also use a Windows 7 key if you got one. If you want to get Windows 10 for free you are going to have to do it soon the free offer ends on July 29.
I have heard that Windows 8 OEM key is embedded in BIOS but the computer I got it from never actually used it. The system was instantly reformatted with Windows XP 64-bit. Seller also has unopened product card with unused 25 digit serial on it. He is first and only owner of it. There is no COA sticker because COA stickers are not sold for Windows 8. As for trade, they told me Windows 8 license allows it, not like Windows 8.1 one.
if you have the card it is most likely system builder then. OEM systems didn't come with a card with the PID on it. If that is the case, should be fine I would assume.
The card looks very similar to this one that I found over web(link below). In this scenario it's for Dell machine and probably I would need Dell specific installation media which would not work with non-Dell machine. At least that's what I heard. But I could use just normal Windows 8 Pro System Builder iso with custom PID.txt containing serial. Would this work? i.imgur.com/IcHDMO0.jpg
I got one more question, is it possible to download somewhere those Windows isos made by specific manufacturers, like Toshiba, Dell, Lenovo, HP, etc? I have heard those are bit different than normal. This guy selling me his unused serial claims that it doesn't work with generic isos and I am puzzled.
Let's see if I can ask the questions that should have been asked first. What do You mean by You own a "generic PC" ? Is it a homebuilt or Factory built, laptop or desktop ? Do You know the make and model ? If a homebuilt, the MOBO make and model ? What OS did it originally come with if any ? Giving Complete system specs goes a long way when asking for help on forums. Is this "Seller" someone You know personally ?? or You buying something online from someone You don't know ?? Personally I've had no problems "Yet" activating Win 10 on one type/brand pc with the OEM key from another type/brand. I also got Win 10 activated on several PCs using keys that were published online, but when I later tried the same keys found they had been blacklisted. I've even activated copies using what is supposedly leaked keys, but I'm almost positive are coming from a keygen. Now with all that said, I've also deleted all those OS copies. WHY ?? You might ask ?? Well sometime in the future Microsoft may decide to check and I'd end up with a unactivated OS copy. As posted above You could just install Win 10 Pro before 29 July, then activate using the Win 8 key You purchased and "Probably" won't have any problems. BUT, yea I love them Bat Buts imagine what could happen Months, maybe even a Year or two from now if M$ decides the OS was improperly activated Again, the Best upgrade path to Win 10 is with a Genuine or "Close Enough" Copy of Win 7. If You already have 7-HP installed but want 10 Pro, I could explain by PM how to upgrade to 7-Ultimate without a new install. If You're wanting to use Win 8.1 then KMS activation is a safer solution than using a Win 8 key that I can assure You is embedded in the BIOS of the original laptop. What do You think will happen should they decide to upgrade from XP
Ill just add that if you use Win7 and Daz loader, there is absolutely no way they can tell if it went from Win7DAZ or a Win7OEM machine because of how the loader and Daz (and Co.) brilliantly worked that tool. Win7 was free using Daz Loader before 7 came out, if MS could do anything about it it would have been done YEARS ago hehe Win10 will be free for life (or until such a time that MS puts out a new version of 10 that isn't part of an upgrade path i.e. Win11 lol).
Generic PC, as in customly built from used parts. In fact CPU, RAM and HDD comes from prebuilt Dell Optiplex machine that had Windows 7 OEM installed but died long time ago and owner sold me remaining working parts. Rest is second-hand too but I never cared where it all comes from. Motherboard is retail ASUS P5B Deluxe, I know MoBo owner had Windows 7 Retail that he updated to Windows 10 but later downgraded, so I wonder is MoBo somehow registered by Microsoft, and does it even matter. The seller is a guy I don't know personally but I got his offer from someone whom we both know. He told me by phone that this OEM license comes from Dell laptop he bought some time ago but as he was used to older Windows he just formatted HDD and installed his copy. He told me that originally there was Windows 8 Pro 64bit there that was never upgraded to 8.1/10. Quite aware of this, from what I know he's not selling any MSDN/Technet/VL/VLK/etc type of serial but physical unopened Windows 8 Pro OEM envelope that came with his Dell laptop, one that has 25 digit serial. He said he had installation Dell DVD too but he probably lost it. As for Dell, I have checked and their Windows install DVD's are not aviaible online, also they are very picky when some people upload such but I could probably just buy used one for like $5 on EBay. The whole point is, it's OEM key but Windows 8 OEM license is much different than Windows 7/8.1/10 one. I do wonder what happens, when I update to 10 I also get new Windows 10 EULA, right? What happens with Windows 8 key then, does it get deactivated after such update or can I later remove Windows 10 and downgrade? I am also aware that his key is embedded in BIOS. Don't know what could be done about it, and wondering myself what would happen if for example it would get flashed with custom BIOS and removed this way - then he would like to install Windows 10 on top of it.
Quite funny, I could get Windows 7 OEM from EBay for small fee, the "most legit" serials come from dead Windows 7 OEM machines and some sellers are even selling them with dead computer parts to legitimize the deal. Then they tell you to call Microsoft and beg them to activate the key on other machine. From what I heard in certain EU areas you can legally resell Windows 7/8.1/10 OEM products but accoring to EULA they are still not properly legit.
Actually it is easy to tell if you use Daz loader to activate Win 7 and then upgrade to Win 10. You can tell by the windows key used. You can tell if Windows 7 has been activated with Daz loader by not only the Windows key used but also the Bios date.
Everyone who upgrades will gain digital entitlement. That means that they're assigned the same generic keys (3V66T for Pro & H8Q99 for Home). For Windows 10 the BIOS date is irrelevant. Once you've upgraded you'll appear the same as everyone else. For Windows 7 it can only seem a little odd if your BIOS date is really old, but that can be adjusted. We've never needed to go to that extreme though as Microsoft gave up and ditched the OEM SLP channel. They may be OEM, but not OEM SLP. OEM SLP keys are the generic ones that can't be blocked.
To make this a bit more clear - from what I know the only transferable licenses are Windows XP OEM and Windows 8 OEM (but not 8.1) ones. At least according to their EULAs. As for countries allowing to resell Microsoft OEM licenses, those are EU countries and probably not even all of them allowing this. But what is important to know is that it's only legal to resell them. Microsoft EULAs for 7/8.1/10 OEM clearly state that it's not legal to use them, but again this is not true for Windows XP/8 OEM. Moreover, I'm not sure here, but it could be even legal to trade XP and 8 licenses in US. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I've tried this and it worked but when I tried to do clean install of Windows 10 right after it failed to recognize my hardware. I have removed all partitions when installing clean.