Paul's Hardware is well respected but I think he shouldn't have made that video. Even on places like Amazon, you have to be careful where you get it from and make sure its the Microsoft seller.
If you want to be really sure, get it from the Microsoft Store.
Fairly clear from comments under the video that the keys are no better than any of the other dodgy ones, anyone can stick a fake Microsoft Partner label on a website.
Paul should stick to hardware... just because it works does not mean it's legit (same goes for those gaming sites)
MS has dug a hole for themselves with digital though..
You can get them dirt cheap off ebay these days. Legitimate digital licence that is linked via outlook email address that I sign in with. I bought win 10 pro for £3.50 and Kaspersky internet security 2018 for £3.79. Worth my money all day is that. All codes accepted and activated. You even get 10 products to protect with the Kaspersky licence, mac, mobile and windows.
Everybody knows that everything one gets off of ebay legitimate
Then when it turns out to be counterfeit a little while later, the seller is gone.
Jack
Unless you buy from a seller that has been there longer than a week. i think the application of common sense should prevail when purchasing and due diligence performed as best as you can under the circumstance. Doesn't take much to work out who has good feedback over a number of years and such things. Besides if, as you are alluding to, they were counterfeit surely Microsoft and Kaspersky wouldn't have activated them when the said key was input? Perhaps they wouldn't have issued me with a user account on their website for the past 3 months from where I can edit info and perform various other tasks.
Cheers.
Do people really think they can buy something at 80% off ... from China ... and believe that it's legitimate?This is not a department store selling off the summer fashions real cheap to make room for the fall lineup.
It's not Wal Mart clearing out the unsold gift wrap the day after Christmas.
This is not stale day-old bread at the grocery store selling for cheap.
This is about selling Windows. It's not seasonal. It's not perishable. It's not subject to discounts.
If you find it cheap then you've found a counterfeit.
Last edited by margrave55; 21 Dec 2017 at 20:11.
I prefer to buy cheap Windows 7 keys from Amazon UK noting the review comments. I've then upgraded the installation to Windows 10 which was still working last week. All keys are still working after a few months and Windows 10 shows activated with a digital licence. I'll claim a refund from Amazon under UK consumer law if the keys stop working since they were advertised as genuine MS keys.
Here are the real prices for W10 if you had to buy it.
Windows 7, 8 and 10 Home and Professional - Newegg.com
With previous OSs, such dodgy keys often got deactivated. However MS have totally muddied the water with digital licences.
As far as we know, the digital licence does not hold any information about the key that was used to obtain it, and also a digital licence cannot be deactivated (only transferred).
So in practice, if you buy a cheap key,and it works just once for you to get a digital licence, it really does not matter if the actual key later gets blocked.
Of course, there is always the risk the key never works, so in the end "caveat emptor" always applies.
Frankly, I do not think MS really care that much as they are only interested in getting people into the Windows 10 ecosphere. They tried to give away 1 billion free upgrades and only achieved half of that. The number of people buying these dodgy keys is a drop in the ocean compared with 500 million free upgrades that never materialised.
I certainly do not advocate piracy, but if a buyer buys a cheap key in good faith and it works, they cannot be guilty of piracy. In the end it is up to MS to squash such activities but in reality the cost of policing it probably far outweighs the minor revenue loss they incur by ignoring it.
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