Scoring Windows 10 at an 85-percent discount (or more) is possible, and it’s not even difficult. Price: Under $30 (Windows 10 Home and Pro).(Skip down to “Low prices with a caveat” for details.) Otherwise, if you want to shave down costs further, it’s going to take work-or a deep locus of calm when people criticize your life choices. But it is an extra hassle.įor further savings, you’ll have to wait for the rare sale or Black Friday, when you can get an OEM license in the neighborhood of $85 (Windows 10 Home) to $120 (Windows 10 Pro). Microsoft has historically been kind about such situations, however you can usually call to reactivate the license after replacing a fried mobo. If you build a system but roll a new one four years later, you can’t transfer the license to the new machine.Īlso, if the hardware used to identify your system fails-namely, the motherboard-Microsoft’s registration servers won’t recognize your license as valid after you replace the dead part. In exchange for a lower price, you get to use the license key on only one PC, period. The Windows Registry tip was initially posted by a user (whose account is no longer active) in the Microsoft forum.įirst, open Notepad by right-clicking anywhere on the desktop, hovering over “New,” and then selecting “Text Document” from the menu.The process for activating a Windows 10 OEM license is the same as for a retail license.

(For example, this script in Microsoft’s TechNet gallery works differently, but also grabs output from “DigitalProductId” in the registry.) As of July 2020, we recommend you skip this section and use the above method instead. RELATED: How to Find Your Windows 11 Product Key Find Your Windows 10 Product Key Using a Windows Registry Method Update: This method is all over the web, but it doesn’t seem to return a real usable key on the latest version of Windows 10. If you’d like a faster way of accessing your product key in the future, you can use the Windows Registry method instead. This way is quick, but this isn’t likely a code you’ll remember very easily. Nirsoft has had a good reputation for a very long time. As long as you download it from the official site, you don’t have to worry about it. Because of what ProduKey does - and how it does it - your antivirus thinks it is or could be malicious. Note: NirSoft’s ProduKey will probably trigger your antivirus.

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