Disclaimer: Diving into the grey market has certain risks, and treading it would require yourself to exercise necessary caution. We at Back2Gaming are not liable should you wish to take the course and fall short. I like going on adventures from time to time, and I do it almost always just to save up a bit of money should the occasion arise. Apparently, one opportunity arose while I was browsing the front page of the internet and found out quite a nifty way in getting Windows 10. The place to be? Reddit’s Microsoft Software Swap page. Prices currently range from $12 to $45 depending on your capacity and patience in getting Microsoft’s latest desktop OS. Of course, since we’re trying to effectively maximize our savings, we went for the most efficient route and got ourselves a license for Windows 8.1 Pro ‘N,’ which is at the same price or cheaper than listings for Windows 7 in the market place. You can still go with other Windows versions if you find another that’s cheaper or if it fits your bill. Just do take note of the ‘N’ version. These versions are exactly the same as their standard variant, the only difference is that they don’t carry Windows Media Player with them and they’re relatively cheaper. If you’re reading this, you probably have enough in your knowledge base to go with VLC anyways, so we’re pretty much going for what will yield the best results.
Here’s Microsoft’s upgrade editions:
Windows 7 Starter Windows 7 Home Basic Windows 7 Home Premium | Windows 10 Home |
Windows 7 Professional Windows 7 Ultimate | Windows 10 Pro |
Windows 8.1 | Windows 10 Home |
Windows 8.1 Pro Windows 8.1 Pro for Students | Windows 10 Pro |
Now for the nitty-gritty details on getting cheap copy of Windows for you.
Instructions:
If you still haven’t signed up for a Reddit account, it will probably be in your interest to do so just about now. Afterwards, here comes the tricky and nerve wracking part. First off, go to the place we mentioned (Reddit’s Microsoft Software Swap page) and do check out which sellers have the “verified seller” flair beside their user names. That would at least ease up your anxiety by a huge margin. Now that you’re browsing from a verified seller, see if they’re offering what you’re looking for. If they do carry Windows 8.1 Pro N, go for it and shoot a PM to the seller. Now, the key here is patience, some will reply fast, others will take days. It all depends on their mood and your luck. While you’re waiting for a response, it’s advisable that you download the installer for the OS. That will save you some time since you’re going to want to try the key you acquire the moment you get it. And you know how debilitating the internet speed here in the Philippines is.
If you’ve established contact with a seller, go with whatever payment option they allow. There are some who take PayPal (probably what most folks would have at hand, too), but others prefer bitcoins and Amazon and gift cards since they have little to no transactions fees. In my convenience, I have a Master Card for buying Amazon gift cards, and that relatively worked in my favor.
Do take note that the seller requires that you follow his steps in purchasing keys. Most cases, they want you to only write your Reddit username as an indication that it’s you. Sellers list what they want you to do when paying, so read them up on their threads. Once you finalize the payment and acquire the key, that’s when the magic happens. The key we bought pushed through without any hitch, and installation went fine and dandy. The same went for activation, which you can do by going into your PC’s properties and click on “Activate Windows.” Now that you have an activated Windows 8.1, it’s high time you shoot for Windows 10, too. Download the media creation tool from Microsoft. Choose “Create installation media for another PC, and just use the recommended options for your PC. This way, you’ll have a clean installation of Windows 10. When done, boot it up through USB and follow the installation procedures. Don’t worry about the license that you’ve bought since that is tied to your PC. If a message does pop up asking you to enter a license key, simply skip it.
Once you finish installation and you’re on the Windows 10 desktop, go to Settings and activate Windows 10. Now, you have a legit one. Grats.
Hope this helps!
high end pcs with pirated softwares. *laughs hard
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And here I am offering help. The nerve… lol
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haha no hurts intended. I’m laughing at the irony of life XD
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Hang around PC enthusiast group and they’re pretty commonplace. I feel like buying Windows is being treated like a mouse pad… completely optional when you can bum one off for free.
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Well I am buying one now. Time to jump off the pirated OS/High End PC/Expensive Steam account train
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I buy legit not because I can, but because its on sale.
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My pirated win7 was upgraded to genuine win10.
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Don’t you have to activate that? Pretty sure you can download Win10 on a non-genuin Win7 but you’ll need to activate sooner or later. How’s that going for you?
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I also upgraded my pirated win 7 to win 10. Been using it since September last year and I got no problems. I even activated windows updates.lol
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My windows is activated even my ms office word, excel was activated
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Dami uploader ng windows 10 iso sa mga torrent sites
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A high end systems with pirated software. Omg my side hurts. I’ve seen several PC shows before here @ sm mall. They have fancy rigs, some have logitech steering wheel. But you know what? They have pirated games. You hear me B2G? A f*cking pirated games. I mean everyone tries to pirate games but at least they should buy the game if they like it. Okay I think that’s enough. Im being ironic as im also using a pirated win10
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Drop by any cafe shop anywhere and its the same thing.
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Naah! thanks..
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pwede naman ata mag download ng preactivated version ng windows 10, also I read somewhere, please correct me if I’m wrong, Windows will allow you to update to Windows 10 kahit na bootleg version and Windows OS mo. Pero sabi nila lahat din daw ng bootleg or cracked games and software mo e magbaba-bye bye din :)ex. microsoft office.
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Yup that’s what I know, bale ung jack sparrow edition mo magiging trial version ng Win10. That I can confirm kasi natry ko na yan sa mga naliligaw na units dito.
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sa mga naka Windows 10 jan how is the Os going so far?
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Ganda ng windows 10, using it since it’s official public release july 2015 no problem after all. Happy user here from version 10240 up to 1511
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Ditched it. Some older games have issues with it. I like to play older games haha
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Back2Gaming Ahaha hence my skepticism in upgrading 🙂
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yep. I tried playing old games on Windows (forgot which game is it). It’s not working
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what is this? multiple installation or single installation only? (reformat several times due to virus infections)
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Single lang, Win8 license upgraded to Win10 bale.
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wew! wala rin pag nagdating na ung time na mavirus ung pc o d kaya na corrupt ang mismong boot record patay na wala na ulit license
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Ohhhh yan pala prob mo. Pag ganyan magrereactivate ka. Either automatically or by phone, madali lang yun. Yung online activation matic na, ung by phone enter mo lang ung code sa activation screen then bibigyan ka ng code ni operator. Automated lahat un, walang taong kakausapin.
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pwede pala ipa reactivate?
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san po ba makakakuha nyang windows 8 na 400 pesos lng 6k pataas nakikita ko eh
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Anjan sa post un intructions bro. Suggest ko if you want a legit license, go for it.
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Downloaded Win10 Pro Pirate version and installed it activated it with MS Toolkit, so far it’s still receiving important updates… no errors, hang ups or whatever since installation been running it for 6 months now
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I can still get it for free, but I don’t want it, at all, whatsoever.
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windows 7 pa rin
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Just download and install pirated Windows 7 Ultimate via torrent, activate it using Daz Loader 2.2.2, then update your Windows 7 Ultimate, then wait for the notification to Upgrade to Windows 10. That’s it. This is much way faster and easier.
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I wasn’t able to get the $12 Windows 8.1 N version because the seller won’t message me back. I settled for the $25 Windows 8.1 Pro.
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I’ve used fake windows 7, updated until the latest version win7 can offer so far and when the windows 10 notif came in, I installed it. Once I see that it’s on digital entitlement, I fresh install windows 10 from the iso I downloaded from microsoft. I skip the activation as I have digital entitlement before, and after couple of mins my newly formatted pc goes in activated with digital entitlement, legit. Even confirmed by my friends in sutherland who you used to know as “microsoft customer care chat”
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