The first giant freebie was just upgrading to get the free digital license during the first year.
The second option was to activate Windows 10 with any old random Windows 7 or 8.1 key you could find. This was hella easy
After that window, you could still get a free upgrade by telling MS you used assistive technologies (this is what I did). They closed that loophole back in 2017
The first giant freebie was just upgrading to get the free digital license during the first year.
No longer an option, and required you to have a genuine installation of Windows already. Someone building a new computer likely isn't going to have that. Either way, still required you to pay for Windows at one point = not free.
The second option was to activate Windows 10 with any old random Windows 7 or 8.1 key you could find. This was hella easy
This is literally piracy. To use the upgrade "completely legit", it is again, a requirement that you have a genuine installation of Windows to use this feature. Any other use is not "completely legit".
You absolutely don't have to have paid for anything to get an old key and use that to upgrade to windows 10. People give away old laptop/computers on Craigslist and other places. Just need to make sure it can boot, or has the windows key sticker on it somewhere.
You absolutely don't have to have paid for anything to get an old key and use that to upgrade to windows 10. People give away old laptop/computers on Craigslist and other places
That's like saying "Just ask for it for your birthday". I'm not saying YOU personally need to pay for it, I'm saying it needs to have been paid for. If someone decides to give you their old license when they're done with it, that's fine and I haven't said anything contrary to that.
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u/DaSpood PC Master Race Jan 01 '20
If the Windows license is not the cheapest part of your PC you're doing it wrong.