Cheapest [Legal] way of getting a Windows 8 Product Key?

Long story short - I want to give Windows 8 another try. A nice fresh installation and a fair shot at impressing me on my main notebook. Big thing is I don't want to spend a bunch of money on something which is more or less an Experiment. I know I can download the ISO from Microsoft. I'm just curious what the cheapest, Legal way is of obtaining a Product Key? Can I buy a new HP, Dell, Lenovo etc "Restore" disc and extract a Product Key somehow without actually using the disc for installation? Any other ideas?

Thanks

 

You can upgrade Win 7 for ~$40, at least thats what I paid for Win 8 x64 "upgrade." So... you can instal a Win 7 "trial" (just any restore CD without a product code) than Upgrade to Windows 8, cheaper than buying it as a full version. I did this with windows Vista to Windows 7.

 

That won't work, because the unique key is burned in bios now. Discs do not have keys anymore. Guess why it was changed

 

Interesting. I've seen lots of the Windows 8 authentication/key stickers on the side of PC's. I figured the bios embedded key was just a Windows RT thing.

I didn't know it was 90 days. Let's say I get a W8 or W8 Pro Key. Will I be able to enter it and continue using beyond 90 days or will a reinstallation be required?

 

Those are probably regular OEM copies.
https://www.modsticker.com/product_images/w/892/windows-8-COA-sticker__93708_zoom.jpg
Usually it looks like that, under laptop or on a side of a desktop.

Stickers with keys are probably OEM sold separately like Windows 7 had.
Several different activation schemes available.

 

I guess they figured it was way too easy for anybody to simply "borrow" a key from the bottom of a friend's laptop.

 

My buddy has a desktop he got during Black Friday a year or two ago he no longer wants. It was running Windows 8 before the HDD crashed. Could I Replace the HDD, Install Windows(Probably W7) and use one of the many programs I've seen to extract the W8 product key from the BIOS? Could the key be used on a different PC for activation? Little convoluted but he only wants $25 for it and its a decent spec PC. I could use up one of my extra W7 product keys and give it to someone who could use it.

 

I think finding someone with a .edu email address and purchasing Windows 8.1 Pro for $69.99 would be a lot easier.

 

what i bought on ebay.

 

i bought a W8 pro upgrade key for $71.99 this week without any promotion.

Sent from my Lumia 1520 using Tapatalk

 

I was able to get a Pro Upgrade Key from Amazon for $70. Jumped to $79 the next day. Not too bad I guess.

Where from?

 

snagstuff.com. it was a clean install from a W8.1 pro ISO -- installed using the generic key and activated with the upgrade key. i've also purchased upgrade keys from discountmountainsoftware.com for $78 and installed/activated the same way. $70 from amazon is a good price and is equal to MS's student discount (like Qing Dao mentioned).

 

Interesting. How long did it take for you to get the key? And it passed Genuine Validation? I think I came across that before but it appeared a little "Sketchy".

 

it takes <5 minutes via email if you order before the same-day processing cutoff. and yes, they've all activated successfully.

 

Found a Promo code and got it for only $68.39! My Amazon order hadn't even shipped yet so I just cancelled it. Thank a lot!

 

You can get the oem windows 8 on ebay for around $80. That's cheap for an OS that you'll probably use for 5 years or even a decade I'm guessing. Windows 8 performance seems great to me. I have no issues with it at all.

 

I'll just do one of the many "tricks" out there to use my upgrade key for clean installs in the future. I think its a pretty safe bet Windows 7 is the new Windows XP and Windows 8 will probably go the way of Vista. Unless for some reason Microsoft royally screws up Windows 9 next year.

 

I got it free from a friend who studies in some IT school. It is like a bonus, don't need to download illegaly, although totally would.

 

I'd be leary of purchasing from any place not on official channels. Now that TechNet is dead, it's a bit more difficult to scam, but still possible for users to buy mass time-limited activation licenses. Like with TechNet originally you could get 10 keys for each variation of Windows (i.e. Windows 7 Home, Windows 7 Pro, Windows 7 Home N...), each with 10 activations, for $300/yr, then it was bumped down to 5 keys per year. But people would buy a subscription, sell their keys for cheap, it would pass genuine validation, but within a year when the subscription expired, or some other sucker with the same key used up the activations, it would no longer activate. By then it was too late to get money back, and you'd be sitting there with egg on your face while on the phone with Microsoft and they say the key is from a cancelled TechNet subscription.

I always thought they should have the system tell you that this is a TechNet license and can expire within a year of activation.

 

I know Windows can show you a
Volume activation expiration date. I can't quite remember how but nothing a Google search won't reveal.
Before buying I checked the SKU they list (3UR-00001). Its the SKU for the retail upgrade boxes. I would bet they remove the product keys (and send by email to customers like me) and sell the discs on eBay for additional profit. I remember seeing a lot of "Only Discs - No COA" listings.

 

Quite a few of the methods discussed in this thread are not entirely legal...

Remember folks: "Successfully passes activation" and "legal" are two entirely separate things. There are many scenarios in which one is able to successfully activate despite being in violation of the EULA. There's also a few scenarios where one is (electronically at least) unable to activate despite being in a legally compliant situation.

 

A violation of the Eula does not "Illegal" make.

 

Anyone know how to tell if a product key is Upgrade Only or Full? I bought an Upgrade key but when I installed it on a new HDD it didn't complain at all.