Buying lower windows to upgrade to 11?

[rookiesearcher]

So, I read that windows will let you upgrade your windows to a newer version. Is it possible for me to buy windows 7, 8, or 9, then upgrade it to Windows 11. For example, I could buy Windows 7 Pro for 11.39 on g2a.com, Windows 8.1 Pro for 17.17. Buying Windows 11 Pro would cost me 24.22. Is this a possibility to save money? 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/tvr9Fs

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($219.00 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: MSI PRO B650M-A WIFI Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($149.99 @ B&H) 
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR5-5200 CL36 Memory  ($62.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: MSI SPATIUM M371 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($49.99) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card  ($499.99 @ Best Buy) 
Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.99 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake Smart 500 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.95 @ Amazon) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro OEM - DVD 64-bit  ($21.57) 
Custom: Sceptre 34-Inch Curved Ultrawide WQHD Monitor 3440 x 1440 R1500 up to 165Hz DisplayPort x2 99% sRGB 1ms Picture by Picture, Machine Black 2023 (C345B-QUT168)  ($254.72 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1388.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-01-25 10:42 EST-0500

[Levent]

Not anymore.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2085562/microsoft-finally-closes-the-windows-7-8-upgrade-loophole.html

[Ripred]

I believe one can still get away with this, Ive use a win 7 key and upgraded to 10, you can just download the version and use the 7 key 8,10, whatever, but it doesn't save any money really when a proper key can be had for cheap in vip-urcdkey, or similar site

[Needfuldoer]

Windows 10 keys should still activate Windows 11, but Microsoft stopped letting Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 keys activate Windows 10 and 11 a few months ago.

 

8 minutes ago, rookiesearcher said:

For example, I could buy Windows 7 Pro for 11.39 on g2a.com, Windows 8.1 Pro for 17.17. Buying Windows 11 Pro would cost me 24.22.

Windows keys that cheap are going to be gray market. They'll probably work, but only probably.

 

You're already paying $1,400 for a PC, what's an extra $5 at that point?

[rookiesearcher]

57 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

Windows 10 keys should still activate Windows 11, but Microsoft stopped letting Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 keys activate Windows 10 and 11 a few months ago.

 

Windows keys that cheap are going to be gray market. They'll probably work, but only probably.

 

You're already paying $1,400 for a PC, what's an extra $5 at that point?

What do you mean it won't activate windows 10 and 11? Like Windows won't be able to be updated to a later version?

The idea was just to save money wherever possible. This pc has gone through many, many revisions to drive prices down as low as possible to see what the best I can get for a midrange cheap pc. 

[rookiesearcher]

1 hour ago, Ripred said:

I believe one can still get away with this, Ive use a win 7 key and upgraded to 10, you can just download the version and use the 7 key 8,10, whatever, but it doesn't save any money really when a proper key can be had for cheap in vip-urcdkey, or similar site

When was this?

[Kilrah]

3 minutes ago, rookiesearcher said:

What do you mean it won't activate windows 10 and 11?

If you install Windows 11 and enter a key for Windows 7 it is not supposed to work anymore since a few months ago. You'd have to actually install Windows 7 then upgrade, but you really shouldn't be doing that.

[Zando_]

9 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

If you install Windows 11 and enter a key for Windows 7 it is not supposed to work anymore since a few months ago. You'd have to actually install Windows 7 then upgrade, but you really shouldn't be doing that.

Probably couldn't anyways. Windows 7 would need CSM enabled to be able to boot and display video out, Windows 11 wants CSM disabled (and Secure Boot enabled, which also requires CSM to be disabled). 

[Needfuldoer]

25 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

If you install Windows 11 and enter a key for Windows 7 it is not supposed to work anymore since a few months ago. You'd have to actually install Windows 7 then upgrade, but you really shouldn't be doing that.

I don't think even that works anymore.

[rookiesearcher]

3 hours ago, Kilrah said:

If you install Windows 11 and enter a key for Windows 7 it is not supposed to work anymore since a few months ago. You'd have to actually install Windows 7 then upgrade, but you really shouldn't be doing that.

Yep, that's exactly the idea. Install windows 7 then upgrade. Is it possible?

[Kilrah]

Not without complex workarounds. As mentioned earlier the requirements for both are very different, and while there are ways to trick things to work and do conversions from one to another you're likely to end up with a half corrupted/bloated/non-optimized system. $5 aren't worth a couple of days and that. Also if you buy a W7 key and end up not being able to use it, well you wasted $11 and still have to buy a W11 one now.

[rookiesearcher]

4 hours ago, Kilrah said:

Not without complex workarounds. As mentioned earlier the requirements for both are very different, and while there are ways to trick things to work and do conversions from one to another you're likely to end up with a half corrupted/bloated/non-optimized system. $5 aren't worth a couple of days and that. Also if you buy a W7 key and end up not being able to use it, well you wasted $11 and still have to buy a W11 one now.

Ok, I decided to bite the bullet and I will just go with W11 key.