I need some advice on Win 10 64 bit Home edition.

[raghaian]

So I just built a new rig and I'm looking to obtain a copy of win 10 64 bit Home edition.

Here's what I built cause I know you'll want to know:

Cpu: Ryzen 5 3600
Cpu cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo with a Artic P12 in push and original fan in pull.
MB: Asus AM4 Tuff Gaming X570-Plus
Ram: G. Skill Ripjaws 16gb (8gb x 2) 3600mhz cas 16
Video Card: MSI RX 5700 Mech
HD: WD Blue 1TB 7200 rpm
SSD: Samsung 970 Evo 500gb. Bought but not installed.
PS: Corsair TX650M
Case: Rosewill Nautilius with 1 extra case fan.

Here's what I'd like to know:
1. What's the best place to buy win 10 64 bit home edition retail? Either with a usb drive or digital download.
2. What's the downside on just downloading win 10 64 oem from Microsoft and running it "free".

As an aside this rig is running on a WD 1tb HD that has win 10. It was updated from win 8.1. This is the third computer build that it's running on with no reformatting. The first build was a FX 8300 with a GTX 960, the second was a i5 8400 with a Rx 570 4gb and now my current rig. Is win 10 that resilient? I've always read you had to reactivate the OS with Microsoft if you change hardware. Well I've never had a problem and never been asked to reactivate.

I want want a stand alone version of win 10 because I gave away my oem version of win 8.1 and I've read that win 10 is going to be Microsoft's last version of windows for a while.

Thanks for your help.

 

[EarthDog]

1. You can buy at a grey market site, URCDkeys...
2. You are limited in customization capabilities as well as having that 'windows is not activated' watermark.

 

[trents]

Anytime you make significant hardware changes, especially the motherboard, you should be losing the activation. If your original copy of Windows 8.1 was retail, my understanding is that you can migrate it three times before losing activation privileges. However, you may need to make a phone call to Microsoft in order to reactivate it after each migration. Any reinstallation of Windows on he same machine should automatically reactivate, regardless of whether the Windows is retail or OEM.

I have used https://www.kinguin.net/category/22175/windows-10-home-oem-key and also urcdkey at different times depending on what each has available and what their current pricing is. I have not had issues with activation using the products of either company but sometimes activation over the internet doesn't work such that I have to use the automated Microsoft phone attendant. Kinguin.net suggests you start with the automated phone attendant.

https://www.urcdkey.com/microsoft-windows-10-home-retail-cd-key-global_1978-20.html

https://www.urcdkey.com/microsoft-windows-10-home-oem-cd-key-global_1968-20.html

There are cheaper options on ebay but they are generally sketchy, fly by night companies dealing in pirated product keys. In my experience they are here today and gone tomorrow and often are shutdown by ebay itself after you have already put your money down such that you don't get what you paid for and have to go through the ebay arbitration process to get reimbursed.

I have been generally satisfied with both kinguin.net an urcdkey and they do offer customer support and will work with you to get a valid key if you buy something that absolutely will not activate.

Since the advent of Windows 10, Microsoft seems to have relaxed some of their original activation rules and deadlines for the "free" upgrade to 10. They want everybody to move over to 10 very badly to eliminate the expense of paying staff to support older operating versions.

If I were you, I would try using an installer built from Microsoft's Media Creation Tool website and just try an in place upgrade using your current activated installation of Windows 8.1. Start the installation from within 8.1 rather than booting form the installer. My guess is that the upgrade to Windows 10 done that way will result in activation. Then, if you want you can do a clean install of Windows 10 and it should automatically activate.

 

[Kris]

Just used urcdkey, worked great!

 

[stompah]

Try ebay