Windows OEM Keys

[Mateimm]

Trying to convince someone they should buy an OEM key off of Ebay instead of paying 100 dollars from Microsoft. They think they're going to get a virus and be tracked or something. I have tried and can't convince, I need some good arguments to make

[bmx6454]

more keys for us if they don't believe you. if they think it will somehow give them a virus, i doubt they will be convinced by anything. i tell people all the time about getting a win10 pro key off ebay for like 5$, if they listen, cool, if not, also cool lol

[kelvinhall05]

It's their money, why give a fuck if they won't listen?

 

 

They could also just run Windows unactivated.

[TetraSky]

How does a KEY, which is a literal string of characters... going to give them a virus? That someone is incredibly stupid.

 

If they prefer paying $100 for a key, let them be. It's their money.

But the $2 keys on ebay will work just as fine and if they don't, Paypal got your back... In the worst case, it's literally $2.

[Kanna]

27 minutes ago, Mateimm said:

Trying to convince someone they should buy an OEM key off of Ebay instead of paying 100 dollars from Microsoft. They think they're going to get a virus and be tracked or something. I have tried and can't convince, I need some good arguments to make

Seems like a "stupid" person a key can't give you a virus unless it's to some sketchy win10 or some software that says it needs a key (both are very unlikely)

[Mateimm]

55 minutes ago, BlueScope819 said:

I'll help you out here. A key is simply a number. You can't stick them into a computer and spit out random keys. Yes, you can get a fake key that someone made up, but eBay has outstanding buyer protection and I've gotten my money back every single time. At some point, the key was sold by Microsoft at a price Microsoft agreed to. This isn't stealing, or piracy, as again this was a key sold by Microsoft at one point in time. Regardless of the method of how the key resellers get the key, all working keys are official Microsoft keys. As for getting a virus or whatever, it's just a number. You can't get a virus from a number, as it applies to windows keys. As for being tracked / the key being deactivated, sure, it may happen at some point in the future. Here are some facts for you:

I personally have been running a windows key bought off of eBay for 4 years now. Not a single problem.

I've used windows keys bought on ebay for about 30 computers built for other people, only 1 complaint and I ordered another $5 key and gave them the number after checking it was legit. Never another issue.

The question you need to ask them is this:

Depending on the price point of your machine, do you really think it's justified to spend up to 20-30% of your entire budget on a number that is no different than a $5 number? With that extra $95 you can spend that on faster storage, a better cpu, a nice quiet cooler, more RAM, etc. Is not needing to go on eBay and buy something for $5 and instead giving your CC details to Microsoft really worth it?

If so, buy a Mac Pro.

He is building a budget machine and having to buy a key from microsoft may cause him to drop some of his budget, this is also one of my best friends and for some reason he's just not trusting this, I even told him I'll use my paypal and he pays me in cash. I think I'll win him over though. 

[atxcyclist]

I heard from someone that the Win 10 Pro key they bought on eBay for $2.99 works just fine, the USB drive to put the Windows installer tool on was more expensive, so they say.

[Guest]

 

Windows is free now...

[Kawaii Koneko]

2 hours ago, fpo said:

 

Windows is free now...

Was going to say that. Win 10 is practically free for end users at this point. MS gives you the ISO on their site and there doesn't really seem to be any serious penalties for not buying a key. Any restriction they put on you can just be bypassed anyway.

 

15 hours ago, Mateimm said:

He is building a budget machine and having to buy a key from microsoft may cause him to drop some of his budget, this is also one of my best friends and for some reason he's just not trusting this, I even told him I'll use my paypal and he pays me in cash. I think I'll win him over though. 

If he thinks just entering a key purchased third party is going to magically give him a virus, he probably shouldn't be building a PC. No offense.

 

Maybe you should just build it for him so he doesn't ruin anything, provided you have experience with hardware yourself.

[GoodEnough]

16 hours ago, kelvinhall05 said:

They could also just run Windows unactivated.

have been for like, yeah.

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, Kawaii Koneko said:

Was going to say that. Win 10 is practically free for end users at this point. MS gives you the ISO on their site and there doesn't really seem to be any serious penalties for not buying a key. Any restriction they put on you can just be bypassed anyway.

 

I coulda swore that LTT did a video saying that it was downrioght free

[Kawaii Koneko]

10 minutes ago, fpo said:

 

I coulda swore that LTT did a video saying that it was downrioght free

Maybe it is now. It has been awhile since I checked. Last I knew there were some personalization restrictions in place until you activated it. Maybe that's changed.

[Kisai]

18 hours ago, Mateimm said:

Trying to convince someone they should buy an OEM key off of Ebay instead of paying 100 dollars from Microsoft. They think they're going to get a virus and be tracked or something. I have tried and can't convince, I need some good arguments to make

People selling OEM keys on eBay are already doing something shady. Historically people selling OEM keys/discs were actually selling VLK (Volume License Keys) and everyone wound up with the same key. Hence why Windows calls home now.

 

If you have an OEM system (eg Dell, HP, etc) there is already a key in the BIOS DMI/SMBIOS data, and you can install Windows 8, 8.1, 10 with essentially any way you want. Disc, flash drive, installer directly from microsoft, bios recovery images in dell systems, etc. Certain keys are married to certain OEM brands, but generally not to specific models.

 

The OEM keys that are "legit" are system builder keys and they are supposed to be sold with qualified hardware only (eg a CPU/Motherboard combo, not cables)

 

OEM versions also can not be transferred to new hardware. So if you say, upgrade from an Intel i7-6700K to a Ryzen 3950X, A new key is required, even if you salvaged all the hardware other than the MB and CPU. You can also simply re-activate the key on the new hardware assuming the previous hardware was permanently deactivated (Eg replaced due to warranty)

 

With OEM's, like Dell. An enterprise might order 1000 systems, and they will all come with their own OEM Win10 Pro/Home key, but since they're being used with an Enterprise system, those individual keys aren't used and are instead used with the Enterprise key. So this is another way that "OEM keys" end up on ebay, amazon, etc, is that they're stripped from OEM systems that didn't activate them. However that always has the risk of that enterprise getting rid of that equipment a few years later and someone reinstalls Win10 Pro using the machine's recovery media, thus reactivating the key.

 

Hence, the only risk in using an OEM key is if it comes from a shady person stealing the keys from machines/licenses that aren't using them. The System Builder OEM keys (that you get from newegg and similar) are not that.