Windows 10 Can I Use Someone Elses Win 10 Key?

Lakis01

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2016
Hey everyone,

my friend has legally purchased a Win 10 Key (I suppose it's home) by buying a notebook, but he uses Win 7 instead.
However I recently bought a LapTop without an OS and I can use his key.
Now my question is whether I can legally download the Win10 iso-Image (which build, from which source?) and will the key work, if I USB-Boot it, or is it tied to a specific motherboard?

Thanks in advance!

Markus
 
has legally purchased a Win 10 Key (I suppose it's home) by buying a notebook
an oem | msdn key is for that machine only but your friend got a key as part of a seperate licence i.e, with a disc or usb then yes that key may allow you to swap it out... check the docket
 
I didn't get a USB or Disc-Source from him, but could download it via the MediaCreationTool available at microsoft / en-us / software-download / windows10 [I'm sorry, the forum doesn't allow me to post links, which is kind of silly, but whoever is interested will figure it out] The Key works, I'm just having trouble installing it on my SSD, but that is for another thread ;)

Thank you anyway!
 
Well, it's like Norway said, for the most part. If you got a Microsoft COA license sticker from him; that's the one with the hologram ID on it, it may work, and then again it may not. Does the Sticker you got look like this:
Windows7_Profeesional_COA_Label_Product_Key_Sticker.jpg


It's trickier if you are using a key that's not glued to the laptop case, and no media accompanies it. They are often tied to the Motherboard hardware as you suspected. You say your friend bought the key legally; where EXACTLY did he buy it? From ebay, Amazon, Newegg, etc.? Or did he buy it from some website he found? Many of those websites sell keys illegally, so you can't really take his word for it that it's legal. We can determine that based on where he actually purchased it. Even then, it's not a done deal without seeing the actual hardware and the media. Since he didn't buy Media with the key, I'm already suspicious.

Best of luck,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>
 
I don't know where he got the key from, but anyways it works now. That was a problem with installing the OS on a drive with MBR-Partition Table, but I managed to solve that.

Thanks for your concern anyway and to everyone who helped!
 
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