So I see this deal today https://www.techbargains.com/deal/82903/microsoft-windows-10-deals and am techy enough to do the install. However, having said that, will I lose all of my programs settings, etc? I own Macrium Reflect so if I just image my program files (and anything else you might suggest) and restore, would that work? Thank you!
Hello @ratchet, Maybe this link will help: Upgrade Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro This would be an upgrade installation so you should retain most if not all of your settings and softwares (Note: I have not done this myself nor do I know anyone that has so I can not answer with 100 % confidence but maybe someone else can). I hope this helps ...
Hi Ratchet To answer you question, 1) you image the whole disk. and 2) what ever you change restoring the image will take it back. I've gone back and forth between win 7 and win 10 by simply restoring the image.
I have done this before, more than once. It worked without any issues and nothing was lost. Just FYI to anyone reading.
Try what? I'm not sure what you're asking. All of the links above seem to work for me, and as stated above, I have done this type of upgrade in the past without issue. Not from this seller though.
Sorry. Could have been more exact. Did anyone try to purchase via the link from post 1? If I click on "Open SCDKey" there I get the "Bad request" error (the link on that page is incorrect?).
If You will upgrade from Home to Pro, You don't lose absolutely nothing. You only need legal Pro version key and windows will update itself, ie automatically and You may need make some changes in settings, but it is only if You need some new options to take in use. Sometimes may happen, that some right click menu costum links are missing, it means You need repair them or reinstall some software, but nothing more. And even this happens rarely. You need key to activation, but to upgrade, You may use generic key. Usually these lowe-price-keys are fake keys and may not work or works only for short time. Never don't buy any key from unknown reseller. The English say, "I'm not so rich to buy cheap things." And that is true.
The go to SCDKey link? Works for me. Maybe a script or ad blocker is stopping it? I'm not going to buy it myself, but all of the links I clicked seemed ok. As for how legitimate it is, sometimes it is possible but at that price I would be suspicious.
Cheap OEM Windows keys, are usually volume license keys, that are not intended for individual sale. The majority of the time, Windows will activate with the OEM key. But, on occasion the key won't activate, but the seller should be able to provide you with another key, which most likely will work this time. However, because these keys are not meant to be sold, sometimes they will get blacklisted at some point and then your copy of Windows will be deactivated by Microsoft. Sometimes the keys won't get blacklisted, but it's a risk you take. There is a good article about cheap OEM licenses at Tom's Hardware. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3436194/grey-market-windows-licenses.html
They claim that the single Windows 10 Home retail CD key that they sell is good for 3-5 computers... (and yes, price alone was already a good indication that this is probably not trusthworthy)
A funny article. As a matter of fact, if you have a pirated game/Windows = no problem. Problems/crashes are often caused by protections. I bought dozens of Windows keys ($10), not OEM, never had a problem. The old one for Windows 8 Pro Upgrade works for clean 10 Pro. It is safer to buy a cheap key than to use a crack with a probable backdoor/malware included.
I've had a cheap Windows 7 key, blacklisted 6 months or so after buying it. After this, Windows was deactivated by Microsoft. It is important for people buying these keys to understand that maybe in the future the key will be blacklisted and that while they are usually genuine product keys, they are not meant to be sold individually. Having said that, I have bought several cheap Windows keys over the last few years.
