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Is DigitalProductKey ligit for downloading new Windows 10 for $35

V

vjaaan

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 13, 2010
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I am looking into getting a new Windows 10 for my new iMac which will run Parallels. I found a site offering it for $35, and I wondered if this was legit and whether it was indeed the full version of a new Windows 10.
Anyone familiar with this?
 
With any of these for of websites, you have to take a gamble.

They're not authorized resellers. They're selling OEM issued product keys. As such any keys you get run the risk of being deactivated by Microsoft at any time and you'll have zero comeback.

This company seems to be hiding behind what they claim is a German federal court ruling that they state allows them to sell these keys. Even if this is correct, given that they're not original, you're going to have to gamble.

TL;DR no, not legit. It's a gamble that'll probably work but who knows for how long.
 
Just as a data point... I have been working off an OEM product key sold on eBay from like 2016..

Never a hitch or issue through reinstall on multiple machines as the Key gets tied to your MS account.
 
I bought one of these cheap keys for windows 10 pro and it worked fine. Sure if you want to spend a few hundred dollars to help out Microsoft by all means go on their website and buy it.
 
TiggrToo said:
It's called buying something legally and not engaging in software piracy.
Click to expand...
So buying a key from anyplace other than the Microsoft store is illegal? I hope you only buy your Apple products from the Apple store. I wouldn't want to see you get arrested 😂😂
 
russell_314 said:
So buying a key from anyplace other than the Microsoft store is illegal? I hope you only buy your Apple products from the Apple store. I wouldn't want to see you get arrested 😂😂
Click to expand...

Did I say that? No, I did not. However I can all but guarantee that your key is not legitimate.

Of you paid anything less enabled $79 for Windows 10 Home then the chances are high it's a fraudulent key. If you paid less than $19 then it's an absolute given.

Feel free to attempt to justify this to yourself if you want. That won't change any of the facts though.

If you feel so gosh darned sure it's legit then feel free to run
Code: 
slmgr /dli
in an elevated prompt to see if it's a Licensed Retail key.
 
TiggrToo said:
Did I say that? No, I did not. However I can all but guarantee that your key is not legitimate.

Of you paid anything less enabled $79 for Windows 10 Home then the chances are high it's a fraudulent key. If you paid less than $19 then it's an absolute given.

Feel free to attempt to justify this to yourself if you want. That won't change any of the facts though.

If you feel so gosh darned sure it's legit then feel free to run
Code: 
slmgr /dli
in an elevated prompt to see if it's a Licensed Retail key.
Click to expand...
What are you basing your assumption that the key I purchased is illegal or stolen? The only information I posted about it was cheap and it's not from the Microsoft store. You just said it wasn't because of not being on the Microsoft store so the only thing left is being cheap. I'm sure Microsoft just lets websites sell stolen keys. You know it's not like they have a team of lawyers just for that. You should look up the story about the guy Microsoft sent to prison for selling install disks so old computers wouldn't go to landfills.

My point is just because of the price doesn't mean it's illegal. Microsoft would destroy these people if it was.
 
oem keys are often fine. They may not be transferable like a retail key. Whether it activates is irrelevant to whether it's a legitimate seller.
 
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russell_314 said:
What are you basing your assumption that the key I purchased is illegal or stolen? The only information I posted about it was cheap and it's not from the Microsoft store. You just said it wasn't because of not being on the Microsoft store so the only thing left is being cheap. I'm sure Microsoft just lets websites sell stolen keys. You know it's not like they have a team of lawyers just for that. You should look up the story about the guy Microsoft sent to prison for selling install disks so old computers wouldn't go to landfills.

My point is just because of the price doesn't mean it's illegal. Microsoft would destroy these people if it was.
Click to expand...

Running that command I supplied will tell you.

It's a game of wack-a-mole with these companies. One shuts down and three start up.
[automerge]1588294662[/automerge]
thekev said:
oem keys are often fine. They may not be transferable like a retail key. Whether it activates is irrelevant to whether it's a legitimate seller.
Click to expand...

Only retail keys can be sold retail. Any other key type us not authorized to be sold in retail channels.
 
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TiggrToo said:
Running that command I supplied will tell you.

It's a game of wack-a-mole with these companies. One shuts down and three start up.
[automerge]1588294662[/automerge]


Only retail keys can be sold retail. Any other key type us not authorized to be sold in retail channels.
Click to expand...
Well apparently Microsoft hasn’t yet whacked the mole that sold me my license.

Yeah I’m not running some command on my computer that I have no clue what it does just because someone in a form tells me to.... It could be totally legit but yeah I’ve grown up with a lot of pranks like that where people tell you to type something in and all of a sudden your computer doesn’t work anymore 😂
 
russell_314 said:
Well apparently Microsoft hasn’t yet whacked the mole that sold me my license.

Yeah I’m not running some command on my computer that I have no clue what it does just because someone in a form tells me to.... It could be totally legit but yeah I’ve grown up with a lot of pranks like that where people tell you to type something in and all of a sudden your computer doesn’t work anymore 😂
Click to expand...

Kind of a sad response as doing a search would have confirmed the legitimacy of the command.

docs.microsoft.com

Activate using Key Management Service

Learn how to use Key Management Service (KMS) to activate Windows.
docs.microsoft.com

There, that make you feel any safer now?
 
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TiggrToo said:
Kind of a sad response as doing a search would have confirmed the legitimacy of the command.

docs.microsoft.com

Activate using Key Management Service

Learn how to use Key Management Service (KMS) to activate Windows.
docs.microsoft.com

There, that make you feel any safer now?
Click to expand...
Well since you were the one saying my Windows copy was illegal and were so concerned about me breaking the law I figured that's the least you can do. Well I checked out your command and it was legit so I ran it and guess what?


My copy of Windows is a licensed retail copy...


As to your comment "Only retail keys can be sold retail. Any other key type us not authorized to be sold in retail channels.".... Umm websites like Newegg sell OEM copies of Windows 10. Is MS waiting to whack that mole? I actually bought an OEM copy of Windows Vista for my last system build in 2007 from them so MS must have lots of patience. Please don't call the FBI on me because I no longer have that PC... It gave up the ghost years ago.

This was an interesting discussion and I did learn something from it. I confirmed that my copy of Windows is legit and also you don't have to buy from the M$ store or pay their outrageous prices for license keys. Of course some people have enough $$$$ where it's just a non issue. A few hundred is pretty much coffee money so for them perhaps the M$ is the best bet.
 
Last edited:
TiggrToo said:
Only retail keys can be sold retail. Any other key type us not authorized to be sold in retail channels.
Click to expand...

They do come up through legit sellers, so it's possible that Microsoft simply tolerates them. They aren't necessarily stolen though in the sense that Microsoft was never paid.
 
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thekev said:
They do come up through legit sellers, so it's possible that Microsoft simply tolerates them. They aren't necessarily stolen though in the sense that Microsoft was never paid.
Click to expand...
I don't see Microsoft tolerating anything that costs them money. They sent a guy to prison for selling Windows CDs (not the product key) so people with old computers could keep them thus saving the landfills from e-waste. The reason it was costing M$ money is these people weren't buying new computers with new Windows licenses. If sites like Newegg were selling illegal copies of Windows they would be shut down a long time ago.

I think eventually M$ will change to an advertiser supported revenue system since selling the information of everything you do on your PC will make them much more than selling you a single license.
 
russell_314 said:
I don't see Microsoft tolerating anything that costs them money.
Click to expand...

I don't mean that they may tolerate the sale of stolen keys. I mean they may tolerate the resale of OEM keys, provided they are not stolen. Microsoft gets something for the license this way. OEM keys are sold in bulk and locked to a given machine upon activation. They can never be transferred. If it's taken out by warranty service, a new license is used for the replacement machine. That's why they're cheaper.

Most of their licenses sold are probably in the form of OEM keys due to bulk purchases from PC manufacturers.

Now stolen oem keys obviously come up. I wouldn't expect Microsoft to tolerate those. I think you're right about long term licensing changes.
 
thekev said:
I don't mean that they may tolerate the sale of stolen keys. I mean they may tolerate the resale of OEM keys, provided they are not stolen. Microsoft gets something for the license this way. OEM keys are sold in bulk and locked to a given machine upon activation. They can never be transferred. If it's taken out by warranty service, a new license is used for the replacement machine. That's why they're cheaper.

Most of their licenses sold are probably in the form of OEM keys due to bulk purchases from PC manufacturers.

Now stolen oem keys obviously come up. I wouldn't expect Microsoft to tolerate those. I think you're right about long term licensing changes.
Click to expand...
So you think legitimate sellers like Newegg buy these OEM keys from some black market seller? I don't see why a legitimate business would even take the chance and why M$ would just look the other way for years? This would be like saying Walmart is buying iPads somehow on the black market because they're cheaper than what Apple charges on their online store. I have to believe that perhaps M$ is selling these to retailers for resale.
 
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russell_314 said:
I have to believe that perhaps M$ is selling these to retailers for resale.
Click to expand...

That's entirely possible. I figured OEMs might make license purchases in large quantities, in which case they may dump excess to sellers like New Egg on a down quarter. That's not really a black market, considering that such keys would have been legitimately purchased from Microsoft.
 
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I'm glad we've established that not all deals on Win10 keys out there are "piracy"..

Microsoft, I think, is likely just looking the other way because they did in fact get paid for them at some point.
 
turbineseaplane said:
I'm glad we've established that not all deals on Win10 keys out there are "piracy"..

Microsoft, I think, is likely just looking the other way because they did in fact get paid for them at some point.
Click to expand...
Again I don't see M$ "looking the other way" on any type of illegal sale or piracy that could hurt their income stream. They've proven that they will come down hard on anyone who attempts this. If these OEMs are legally allowed to resell the keys then I can see it but that wouldn't be M$ looking the other way but rather it's a legal sale. I'm no lawyer so I couldn't tell you what the law is on reselling a key that you purchased.
 
TiggrToo said:
It's called buying something legally and not engaging in software piracy.
Click to expand...
It is perfectly legal in EU (and UK) to sell the OEM license after one has sold the computer. By the EU law, the operating system license is tied to the hardware only on the initial sale and becomes a self-contained, individual object of sale afterwards. Owner may sell it as he pleases, as long as the hardware the license was initially tied to has been sold separately and does not entertain this very license.

Also, it's not OEMs "dropping surplus" as they can NOT sell their OEM licenses without the hardware. This is a side business for firms refurbishing end-of-term computers from leasing companies.
 
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