A couple of months ago, I wiped Windows off my old laptop and installed Kubuntu instead. Now, I was thinking of dual booting Windows additionally for a certain game (definitely not League of Legends, for sure not) and will need to buy a new key. Am I fine getting a copy of Windows 10 despite Microsoft’s discontinuation, or should I get a Windows 11 key? I have a different laptop I use as a daily driver (11, Surface Go 3), so this would exclusively be for the game that shan’t be named.
Sorry if this post isn’t fit for this community - I’ll delete it if it isn’t.
You should not have to buy a new key for a machine that came with windows. That will most likely automatically activate back to whichever edition you had before the wipe.
I haven’t used windows in quite a while, but while I did, on laptops sold with windows there was a recovery partition on them you could reinstall windows from. If you removed that partition you had no legal way of reinstalling, because no key was made available to you at any point.
This is not true. OEM serial key is usually tied to the motherboard. I once had to replace my HDD, but granted i downloaded the Windows recovery file from the laptop manufacturer’s website. That way it will recreate the recovery partition for you.
It is no longer true, but it was at one time (the key thing, it was never illegal to reinstall). It also wasn’t too uncommon for systems to have a sticker with the OEM key listed on it (then verified during activation), because without it you were SOL. Manufacturer recovery discs had their own way around it.
Nowadays the key is embedded in the firmware and applied automagically, even if you use a normal iso.
That’s not accurate any more (if it ever was, I don’t think I ever encountered that scenario). The key is stored in the BIOS.
This must have been xp or earlier. Since vista there was a shared key and certificate for each OEM that paired with a code on the motherboard. And since 8 or 10 there is now a key in the motherboard that has been pre-registered with the activation servers. Now when you activate a retail key, it registers the motherboard not the install, so a reinstall gets activated automatically.
Do you know off the top if it’s intact if I “fully wiped” it during the installation of a different OS?
Microsoft just lets you create install media now.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11
Like mentioned, if the machine was registered before you should be able to click that in a radio button during install and it should just workTM.
Edit: I see you mentioned 10 but I think same applies and the media tool is also available.
You can use Windows 10 indefinitely without using a key. You’ll lose out on a few settings, mainly to do with personalisation, and you’ll have a watermark on your screen - but if it’s just for one game, then perhaps that’s something you can live with.
…there are also Certain Methods to permanently activate Windows without a key at all if necessary.
Don’t go to https://massgrave.dev/ and follow the instructions there, that would be copyright infringement and would deprive an already insanely wealthy corporation of some funds.
Don’t buy a Windows key. If Windows was installed initially it should remember your hardware and activate. If it doesn’t, there’s numerous ways to pirate Windows.
Sorry if this post isn’t fit for this community - I’ll delete it if it isn’t.
You’re asking a Linux community about what key you should buy for Windows, how is this at all relevant?
