Question Windows product key

SteveCritten

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Hi all, it seems being an amateur hasn’t paid off this time. I ordered a new CPU for my sons birthday. He wanted the upgrade to run games better. I ordered the best that would fit which was an i7 7700. Long story short they messed up with postage and it was delivered to the other side of the country. Sent me a replacement and it was the wrong one they sent an i7 8700.

I thought oh well rather than wait for another I will just order a new motherboard as that was next day from amazon prime. Again turns out I didn’t do enough research and the board didn’t fit so had to order a new case.

CPU didn’t come with a fan so tried moving the old one across but the legs would not go click in the new board no matter what. So I ordered a new fan, better quality though and a few extra case fans. All is running great and he is very happy even if it is now 2 weeks after his birthday but I have had a few hugs so I know he is happy with his new machine and it is also whisper quiet.

The final problem though was the old machine was a zoostorm and the windows product key was embedded in the motherboard bios. Who knew eh, everybody except me apparently. So what is the cheapest way of reactivating windows? I have seen some for £19.99 from software geek and my wife bought a cheap key for her Mac years ago and it is fine. I just don’t want another problem for my sons late birthday. Thanks for any help.
 
Seems like you've been put through the mill.

Take a look on amazon for W10 Pro product key, they work
 
I built a PC for my son a couple of years ago, and picked up a Windows 10 Pro key on eBay for a fiver.

I wasn’t 100% that it would work, but it was worth finding out for a fiver.

Activated absolutely fine.
 
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Yes they are cheaper on the bay and I know folk who have used them without issue for years. Whichever way you go you'll be happy I'm sure, as will be your son. Didn't post a link as that may be deemed going too far by some.

Try activating it first by typing Activation in the search bar, chose Activation settings, then Change product key and enter your new key before you try a fresh install as the seller might suggest.
 
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The 8700 is a generation newer than the 7700, but as you say, it also means a new motherboard. The change from 7th gen to 8th gen always requires a new motherboard. Thankfully, 8th gen motherboards also support 9th CPUs and rumour has it, 128GB RAM.
 

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