Are cheap windows keys legit?

[xsuperbgx]

I have seen some people selling windows on some online auction sites. These are labeled "Windows 8.1 Pro Genuine Product Key" and have details "This product can be used to install Windows 8 Pro either as an upgrade or as a clean installation. GENUINE Retail License Key."
There are also win7, vista and server 2008 etc.


Are these legitimate license for windows? Is it legal to buy and use?

I suspect it may be a keygen or something like that. There is another thread that talks about their license keys being gone. Is this where their keys are going?

 

[Darknecron]

It MAY be legit, but my gut feeling says no.

 

[MisterEd]

It MAY be legit, but my gut feeling says no.

Retail Microsoft Windows is rarely if ever discounted very much. Anyone that is selling it highly discounted is probably not legit.

Some non-profits can get Windows for a very low price. The problem is that these discounted licenses are only supposed to be used on computers owned and used by the non-profit. Microsoft stipulates in the license agreement that the licenses can never be given away or sold. If Microsoft were to find out that someone was selling these licenses they probably would go after whoever was doing it. Anyone that bought one of these licensed could find them invalidated by Microsoft.

 

[BugFreak]

I would say no. There is too much of a chance it will work for a short time or not at all then you are boned. Sometimes it is just better to spend the extra cash and KNOW you are safe.

 

[TeknoBug]

I wouldn't risk it, I remember at my friend's office, his system administrator installed a bunch of copies of Win 7 onto office PC's using cheap (or pirated) keys and many of them had issues and weren't able to be activated after that. The admin of course got fired.

IIRC obtaining new keys directly from MS is $79 (CDN), cheaper than buying an OEM for $119.

If you were building a new PC or wanting to upgrade from XP or Vista about a year ago, you would've been smart to take advantage of that $15 upgrade or $40 OEM purchase of Win 8- but if you already had Win 7 there's little reason.

Hopefully MS puts up a short sale with 8.1.

 

[madhatter256]

It may be legit.

Believe it or not, but you can buy a legally licensed copy of Windows 7 from Taiwan for a fraction of the price here.

It is Microsoft's way of combating piracy and maintain market share in foreign countries.



If you're a student you may be elligible for MS's Dreamspark program, which grants you free one-time use licenses for MS's server, Visual Studio, etc, but not Win7/Win8.

You can buy a student license of Win7/8 for $60 through your local school.