• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

German police are chasing buyers of cheap Windows 10 licenses

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
17,865 (2.99/day)
Location
Quantum Well UK
System Name Quantumville™
Processor Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling Noctua NH-D14
Memory 16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
Storage Samsung 850 Pro 256GB | WD Black 4TB | WD Blue 6TB
Display(s) ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) | Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible)
Case Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe
Power Supply Corsair AX1600i
Mouse Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard Yes
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
I have no please activate, no nagware like 8.1.

It just works with all of my drivers and never blinks.

If I need a social media or internet PC maybe missing features would be helpful.
But for audio servers you need hassle free stability.

So is it a Please Activate Water Marked Demo?
I don’t inow, and really don’t care.
Reminds me of XP. A real workhorse...
It will ask you to activate and disable personalisation.

Have you done an upgrade install over Win 7 or 8? The activation from that will activate W10. Totally legit.
 
Joined
Jan 5, 2006
Messages
17,818 (2.67/day)
System Name AlderLake / Laptop
Processor Intel i7 12700K P-Cores @ 5Ghz / Intel i3 7100U
Motherboard Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master / HP 83A3 (U3E1)
Cooling Noctua NH-U12A 2 fans + Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme + 5 case fans / Fan
Memory 32GB DDR5 Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 6000MHz CL36 / 8GB DDR4 HyperX CL13
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio / Intel HD620
Storage Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Evo 500GB + 850 Pro 512GB + 860 Evo 1TB x2 / Samsung 256GB M.2 SSD
Display(s) 23.8" Dell S2417DG 165Hz G-Sync 1440p / 14" 1080p IPS Glossy
Case Be quiet! Silent Base 600 - Window / HP Pavilion
Audio Device(s) Panasonic SA-PMX94 / Realtek onboard + B&O speaker system / Harman Kardon Go + Play / Logitech G533
Power Supply Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W / Powerbrick
Mouse Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Laser wireless / Logitech M330 wireless
Keyboard RAPOO E9270P Black 5GHz wireless / HP backlit
Software Windows 11 / Windows 10
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R23 (Single Core) 1936 @ stock Cinebench R23 (Multi Core) 23006 @ stock
It will ask you to activate and disable personalisation.

Have you done an upgrade install over Win 7 or 8? The activation from that will activate W10. Totally legit.

Or you can just do a clean install of windows 10 if you are just using the same motherboard with previous windows 7/8/8.1 installed, that's how I did it.
 

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
17,865 (2.99/day)
Location
Quantum Well UK
System Name Quantumville™
Processor Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling Noctua NH-D14
Memory 16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
Storage Samsung 850 Pro 256GB | WD Black 4TB | WD Blue 6TB
Display(s) ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) | Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible)
Case Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe
Power Supply Corsair AX1600i
Mouse Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard Yes
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Or you can just do a clean install of windows 10 if you are just using the same motherboard with previous windows 7/8/8.1 installed, that's how I did it.
Yeah that will work. Microsoft calls it a Digital License.
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
20,776 (3.41/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage 2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software Gentoo Linux x64
I have no please activate, no nagware like 8.1.

It just works with all of my drivers and never blinks.

If I need a social media or internet PC maybe missing features would be helpful.
But for audio servers you need hassle free stability.

So is it a Please Activate Water Marked Demo?
I don’t inow, and really don’t care.
Reminds me of XP. A real workhorse...
They are still allowing free upgrades from 8.1 unofficially. You probably got one.
 
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
1,478 (1.11/day)
System Name Chip
Processor Amd 5600X
Motherboard MSI B450M Mortar Max
Cooling Hyper 212
Memory 2x 16g ddr4 3200mz
Video Card(s) RX 6700
Storage 5.5 tb hd 220 g ssd
Display(s) Normal moniter
Case something cheap
VR HMD Vive

INSTG8R

Vanguard Beta Tester
Joined
Nov 26, 2004
Messages
7,966 (1.12/day)
Location
Canuck in Norway
System Name Hellbox 5.1(same case new guts)
Processor Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard MSI X570S MAG Torpedo Max
Cooling TT Kandalf L.C.S.(Water/Air)EK Velocity CPU Block/Noctua EK Quantum DDC Pump/Res
Memory 2x16GB Gskill Trident Neo Z 3600 CL16
Video Card(s) Powercolor Hellhound 7900XTX
Storage 970 Evo Plus 500GB 2xSamsung 850 Evo 500GB RAID 0 1TB WD Blue Corsair MP600 Core 2TB
Display(s) Alienware QD-OLED 34” 3440x1440 144hz 10Bit VESA HDR 400
Case TT Kandalf L.C.S.
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster ZX/Logitech Z906 5.1
Power Supply Seasonic TX~’850 Platinum
Mouse G502 Hero
Keyboard G19s
VR HMD Oculus Quest 2
Software Win 10 Pro x64
I’m still on my Win7 “upgrade“ OEM key tied to my MS account that apparently went full retail. I recently switched from Intel to AMD and bought a new key fully expecting to need it(Cheap key that of course needed a phone call)But my OG key just rolled over to my new rig much to my surprise.
 
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
25,559 (6.48/day)
I’m still on my Win7 “upgrade“ OEM key tied to my MS account that apparently went full retail. I recently switched from Intel to AMD and bought a new key fully expecting to need it(Cheap key that of course needed a phone call)But my OG key just rolled over to my new rig much to my surprise.
I've been seeing that too but not fully consistently. I wonder what the particulars are of what does and does not qualify for conversion.
 

INSTG8R

Vanguard Beta Tester
Joined
Nov 26, 2004
Messages
7,966 (1.12/day)
Location
Canuck in Norway
System Name Hellbox 5.1(same case new guts)
Processor Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard MSI X570S MAG Torpedo Max
Cooling TT Kandalf L.C.S.(Water/Air)EK Velocity CPU Block/Noctua EK Quantum DDC Pump/Res
Memory 2x16GB Gskill Trident Neo Z 3600 CL16
Video Card(s) Powercolor Hellhound 7900XTX
Storage 970 Evo Plus 500GB 2xSamsung 850 Evo 500GB RAID 0 1TB WD Blue Corsair MP600 Core 2TB
Display(s) Alienware QD-OLED 34” 3440x1440 144hz 10Bit VESA HDR 400
Case TT Kandalf L.C.S.
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster ZX/Logitech Z906 5.1
Power Supply Seasonic TX~’850 Platinum
Mouse G502 Hero
Keyboard G19s
VR HMD Oculus Quest 2
Software Win 10 Pro x64
I've been seeing that too but not fully consistently. I wonder what the particulars are of what does and does not qualify for conversion.
I was genuinely surprised It’s so old so I fully expected to need a new key and had one at the ready.
 
Joined
Apr 9, 2018
Messages
781 (0.35/day)
Okay so I've tried out a fresh install of Windows 10 Pro to see what the unactivated version is like. Latest version was downloaded with the Microsoft Media Creation Tool. I've learned a couple of things:

With a fresh install,
  • Windows will not communicate with the activation servers until the internet is connected (well duh) and essentially provides full functionality with personalization.
After connecting to the internet,
  • Any options under the Personalization section are greyed out. This includes Start Menu and Taskbar personalization options. Once it's locked by going online, you can't get it back unless Windows is activated.
  • Windows updates and all other functionalities (i.e. anything except personalization) still work as normal and don't seem to be neutered.
  • There are no "Activate Windows" watermarks, or activation notifications, or any indications that there is a trial period (e.g. 30 days).
  • Under the Settings > Update & Security > Activation section, it claims that: "Running a non-genuine copy of Windows can put you at greater risk for viruses and other security threats". This seems like a bogus claim when considering that Windows Defender still updates itself as normal and there's no reason why anti-virus programs would not work.
  • In that same section, it shows the last five digits of a 25-digit product key. I guess it already generates one by default?
I'm going to continue testing this unactivated Windows 10 over a month or so to see if anything changes.
 
Last edited:

HTC

Joined
Apr 1, 2008
Messages
4,604 (0.78/day)
Location
Portugal
System Name HTC's System
Processor Ryzen 5 2600X
Motherboard Asrock Taichi X370
Cooling NH-C14, with the AM4 mounting kit
Memory G.Skill Kit 16GB DDR4 F4 - 3200 C16D - 16 GTZB
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 480 OC 4 GB
Storage 1 Samsung NVMe 960 EVO 250 GB + 1 3.5" Seagate IronWolf Pro 6TB 7200RPM 256MB SATA III
Display(s) LG 27UD58
Case Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair TX 850M 80+ Gold
Mouse Razer Deathadder Elite
Software Ubuntu 19.04 LTS
good thing I am moving to Linux Ubuntu soon as most of the games on my backlog are supported fully there. I will miss out on a couple titles, but its all good. will be nice, shedding M$ once and for all.
Our club is growing ...
 

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit
Joined
Dec 6, 2007
Messages
17,865 (2.99/day)
Location
Quantum Well UK
System Name Quantumville™
Processor Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling Noctua NH-D14
Memory 16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
Storage Samsung 850 Pro 256GB | WD Black 4TB | WD Blue 6TB
Display(s) ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) | Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible)
Case Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe
Power Supply Corsair AX1600i
Mouse Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard Yes
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
good thing I am moving to Linux Ubuntu soon as most of the games on my backlog are supported fully there. I will miss out on a couple titles, but its all good. will be nice, shedding M$ once and for all.
It's nice to kick product activation to the curb, isn't it? :)
 
Joined
Feb 20, 2020
Messages
9,340 (6.13/day)
Location
Louisiana
System Name Ghetto Rigs z490|x99|Acer 17 Nitro 7840hs/ 5600c40-2x16/ 4060/ 1tb acer stock m.2/ 4tb sn850x
Processor 10900k w/Optimus Foundation | 5930k w/Black Noctua D15
Motherboard z490 Maximus XII Apex | x99 Sabertooth
Cooling oCool D5 res-combo/280 GTX/ Optimus Foundation/ gpu water block | Blk D15
Memory Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb | Trident-Z 3200c14 4x8gb
Video Card(s) Titan Xp-water | evga 980ti gaming-w/ air
Storage 970evo+500gb & sn850x 4tb | 860 pro 256gb | Acer m.2 1tb/ sn850x 4tb| Many2.5" sata's ssd 3.5hdd's
Display(s) 1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Case D450 | Cherry Entertainment center on Test bench
Audio Device(s) Built in Realtek x2 with 2-Insignia 2.0 sound bars & 1-LG sound bar
Power Supply EVGA 1000P2 with APC AX1500 | 850P2 with CyberPower-GX1325U
Mouse Redragon 901 Perdition x3
Keyboard G710+x3
Software Win-7 pro x3 and win-10 & 11pro x3
Benchmark Scores Are in the benchmark section
Hi,
Yeah been using mint cinnamon 20 and now 20.1 for a little while
It's just okay for some things linux in general is still too much of a pita for most people and hasn't really advanced since I first used it years ago on Mint ... 17 lol

Most will not use linux because they already despise simply clicking past a windows UAC popup lol so using a password for linux won't fly :)
 
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
1,478 (1.11/day)
System Name Chip
Processor Amd 5600X
Motherboard MSI B450M Mortar Max
Cooling Hyper 212
Memory 2x 16g ddr4 3200mz
Video Card(s) RX 6700
Storage 5.5 tb hd 220 g ssd
Display(s) Normal moniter
Case something cheap
VR HMD Vive
Hi,
Yeah been using mint cinnamon 20 and now 20.1 for a little while
It's just okay for some things linux in general is still too much of a pita for most people and hasn't really advanced since I first used it years ago on Mint ... 17 lol

Most will not use linux because they already despise simply clicking past a windows UAC popup lol so using a password for linux won't fly :)
I use windows because while I understand and know how to use CMD line's they annoy me
 

Space Lynx

Astronaut
Joined
Oct 17, 2014
Messages
15,981 (4.60/day)
Location
Kepler-186f
I use windows because while I understand and know how to use CMD line's they annoy me

I have never once used a single CMD line ins Linux Ubuntu. Everything I need came pre-installed and auto-updates. I only game on Steam though, so eh.
 

Keullo-e

S.T.A.R.S.
Joined
Dec 16, 2012
Messages
11,030 (2.66/day)
Location
Finland
System Name 4K-gaming
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X up to 5.05GHz
Motherboard Gigabyte B550M Aorus Elite
Cooling Custom loop (CPU+GPU, 240 & 120 rads)
Memory 32GB Kingston HyperX Fury @ DDR4-3466
Video Card(s) PowerColor RX 6700 XT Fighter OC/UV
Storage ~4TB SSD + 6TB HDD
Display(s) Acer 27" 4K120 IPS + Lenovo 32" 4K60 IPS
Case Corsair 4000D Airflow White
Audio Device(s) Asus TUF H3 Wireless
Power Supply EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse Logitech MX518
Keyboard Roccat Vulcan 121 AIMO
VR HMD Oculus Rift CV1
Software Windows 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores It runs Crysis remastered at 4K
My laptop accepted Win10 Pro without a hiccup, it had Win8 Pro originally and doesn't laptops usually have their OS licenses built-in on their motherboards?
 
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
1,478 (1.11/day)
System Name Chip
Processor Amd 5600X
Motherboard MSI B450M Mortar Max
Cooling Hyper 212
Memory 2x 16g ddr4 3200mz
Video Card(s) RX 6700
Storage 5.5 tb hd 220 g ssd
Display(s) Normal moniter
Case something cheap
VR HMD Vive
My laptop accepted Win10 Pro without a hiccup, it had Win8 Pro originally and doesn't laptops usually have their OS licenses built-in on their motherboards?
Some do yes
 
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Messages
2,098 (0.43/day)
Germany is a bit weird on licencing and laws. This is no exception.
 
Joined
Feb 6, 2021
Messages
2,639 (2.25/day)
Location
Germany
System Name Sunk Cost Fallacy
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard ASRock B650E Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 Rev. 7
Memory 2x16GB G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO 6000 CL30
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro+ RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X
Storage WD Black SN850X 1TB + 2x 2TB, 2x 4TB Crucial MX500, 4TB Samsung 870 Evo.
Display(s) Alienware AW2723DF, LG 27GR93U, LG 27GN950-B
Case Lian Li O11 Air Mini
Audio Device(s) Bose Companion Series 2 III, Sennheiser GSP600 and HD599 SE - Creative Soundblaster X4
Power Supply bequiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1500w Titanium
Mouse Logitech GPRO X Superlight & G502 X
Keyboard Corsair K65 RGB Mini, Razer Black Widow V3 TKL
VR HMD Oculus Rift S
you guys are still discussing about a random website posting shit?

i even talked to ebay in germany and they said they NEVER heard anything like this... not a single customer ever contacted ebay for having issues or something similar.
i checked a bunch of german PC Forums and there is not a single post or even a comment of a single person talking about this.

you are going crazy with this crap post from a dodgy website that has no source for it's claims.
 
Joined
Nov 29, 2020
Messages
32 (0.03/day)
System Name 1U DAW Servers, too many too share specs on.
Okay so I've tried out a fresh install of Windows 10 Pro to see what the unactivated version is like. Latest version was downloaded with the Microsoft Media Creation Tool. I've learned a couple of things:

With a fresh install,
  • Windows will not communicate with the activation servers until the internet is connected (well duh) and essentially provides full functionality with personalization.
After connecting to the internet,
  • Any options under the Personalization section are greyed out. This includes Start Menu and Taskbar personalization options. Once it's locked by going online, you can't get it back unless Windows is activated.
  • Windows updates and all other functionalities (i.e. anything except personalization) still work as normal and don't seem to be neutered.
  • There are no "Activate Windows" watermarks, or activation notifications, or any indications that there is a trial period (e.g. 30 days).
  • Under the Settings > Update & Security > Activation section, it claims that: "Running a non-genuine copy of Windows can put you at greater risk for viruses and other security threats". This seems like a bogus claim when considering that Windows Defender still updates itself as normal and there's no reason why anti-virus programs would not work.
  • In that same section, it shows the last five digits of a 25-digit product key. I guess it already generates one by default?
I'm going to continue testing this unactivated Windows 10 over a month or so to see if anything changes.
I’ve used it for years, it will work fine. I use a custom power scheme, multiple monitors, no need for the personal assistant or any other gunk.
Most of my needs reside in the ASRock Server boards BIOS.

They sell your data by extracting it during “upgrades.”

The only drawback seems to be on older CPUs like i7 5775/i7 4790k, when you stay offline the CPU works extra hard as it searches for files it cannot find.
They dont like being offline more than a week.
 

Space Lynx

Astronaut
Joined
Oct 17, 2014
Messages
15,981 (4.60/day)
Location
Kepler-186f
The only drawback seems to be on older CPUs like i7 5775/i7 4790k, when you stay offline the CPU works extra hard as it searches for files it cannot find.
They dont like being offline more than a week.

thank goodness AMD made a comeback.
 
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
1,478 (1.11/day)
System Name Chip
Processor Amd 5600X
Motherboard MSI B450M Mortar Max
Cooling Hyper 212
Memory 2x 16g ddr4 3200mz
Video Card(s) RX 6700
Storage 5.5 tb hd 220 g ssd
Display(s) Normal moniter
Case something cheap
VR HMD Vive
I’ve used it for years, it will work fine. I use a custom power scheme, multiple monitors, no need for the personal assistant or any other gunk.
Most of my needs reside in the ASRock Server boards BIOS.

They sell your data by extracting it during “upgrades.”

The only drawback seems to be on older CPUs like i7 5775/i7 4790k, when you stay offline the CPU works extra hard as it searches for files it cannot find.
They dont like being offline more than a week.
Unless you disable it as the ask you on install
 
Joined
Jul 15, 2019
Messages
490 (0.28/day)
Location
Hungary
System Name Detox sleeper
Processor Intel i9-7980XE@4,5Ghz
Motherboard Asrock x299 Taichi XE (custom bios with ecc reg support, old microcode)
Cooling Custom water: Alphacool XT45 1080 + 9xArctic P12, EK-D5 pump combo, EK Velocity D-RGB block
Memory 8x16Gb Hynix DJR ECC REG 3200@4000
Video Card(s) Intel Arc A770 LE 16Gb + CMP 100-210 (Tesla V100 16Gb)
Storage Samsung PM9A1 1Tb + PM981 512Gb + Kingston HyperX 480Gb + Samsung Evo 860 500Gb
Display(s) HP ZR30W (30" 2560x1600)
Case Chieftec 1E0-500A-CT04 + AMD Sempron sticker + Titan fan controller
Audio Device(s) Genius Cavimanus
Power Supply Super Flower Leadex 750w Platinum
Mouse Logitech G400
Keyboard Dell Oem + Focus Fk2000 plus
Software Windows 11 Pro x64
How do i know if my currently used keys are legal? Is there a way to check it?

I bought a used brand pc that have a win10 key sticker (or bios integrated key - dell, hp brand...) - it is legal?

I found a used pc in trash that have win10 key sticker (or bios integrated key - dell, hp brand...) - it is legal?

I bought a few chinese motherboard that have integrated bios key (chinese mobo chipset is from recycled brand workstations or server that may have keys) - it is legal?
(i chose "I don't have a license" on windows install, but after installed it says activated)
i have a lot of pc case that have win7 pro sticker and working keys from trash and from corporate scrapping. I even found a working unopened boxed windows 7 ultimate edition. And i have a lot of original pc/ps1/xbox games from trash.

I dont have any bill or invoice, so all my keys are stolen and i am a criminal?
 
Top