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Windows 10 licenses are expensive—almost painfully so. That amount of cash can easily be a third of a budget PC build. Make sure to check our Home and Pro listings before settling for full price.

But with less developer support for Linux and the end-of-life deadline rapidly approaching for Windows 7, Windows 10 is an inescapable necessity for most of us. If you have an old Windows 7 or Windows 8 PC lying around, you may still be able to reuse its key to activate Windows When Microsoft first launched Windows 10 back in , it offered Windows 7 and Windows 8 users a truly free, no-strings upgrade to the new operating system.

The promotion was only available for just one year—presumably to accelerate push up Windows 10 adoption rates—and expired in July But even though Microsoft officially ended this program three years ago, it still has yet completely shut everything down.

The activation servers have been allowing Windows 7 and 8 keys on some Windows 10 installs. The Windows 7 or Windows 8 product keys that commonly work for this method are the retail and OEM varieties, while only sporadic reports exist for volume license keys i.

You can read our step-by-step guide for how to use that particular program here. License types are different than operating system versions: They dictate what you can do with the software, while OS versions are distinguished by the features available. Multiple Windows license types exist, but the two commonly available to a home user are the retail and OEM varieties.

If you visit an online retailer like Amazon Remove non-product link or Newegg , you can find both retail and OEM licenses for sale. All the features of the operating system version are the same for both license types. The difference is that with a retail license, you can transfer the license key to a different PC later on.

The process for activating a Windows 10 OEM license is the same as for a retail license. In exchange for a lower price, you get to use the license key on only one PC, period.

Microsoft has historically been kind about such situations, however; you can usually call to reactivate the license after replacing a fried mobo. But it is an extra hassle. Not all student discounts are reserved for the under set. As mentioned above, license types determine what you can do with Windows—and who can use it, as well. Through the Academic Volume Licensing agreements, schools can purchase access to Windows 10 Education for their students, faculty, and staff.

Some make it available only on campus machines. Others will grant a license for use on a home machine. The catch: You have to sign up for at least one course to qualify for campus discounts.

Other states use OnTheHub , which has a tool to look up your school. Many community colleges use OnTheHub as their distributor, so you can use their lookup tool to begin research about your school’s options. The storefront will require verification of your student status before you can “buy” Windows Typical options are usually of the physical education or dance variety swim, ballet, jazz, boot camp workouts, etc.

In those cases, your main options are the OEM license outlined above or buying through Kinguin detailed below. Note: If you use this method, also keep an eye out for other software deals through your school. Kinguin is a website that allows buyers to purchase product keys from third-party sellers—think of it like an eBay or Amazon Marketplace for digital software sales.

Opponents of Kinguin swear the keys will eventually lose their activation status because of their unknown origins. Like on Amazon Marketplace, you pick a specific seller from which to buy the product in this case, the Windows 10 license key. So as mentioned above, if these keys are already somehow tied to an original but unactivated PC, things could go sideways during your own activation process.

On top of that, if the hardware used to identify your system i. Each camp makes valid arguments, so ultimately, your comfort level with risk and gray market goods should determine whether this is the option for you.

If you opt for this path, we recommend ignoring Windows 10 Home. Her favorite article to write is an annual piece combining her two loves : bargain hunting and PC building. You can find her on Twitter at morphingball. How to save serious cash on Windows 10 Closed captioning available on our YouTube channel.

We explain how to get a copy of Windows 10 Home or Pro for cheaper than normal, and even one way to get Windows for free. Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission.

Read our affiliate link policy for more details.

Windows 10/11 Subscription Activation – Windows Deployment | Microsoft Docs – Create Windows 10 installation media

 
User control over data storage and processing locations No. User authentication 2-factor authentication Identity federation with existing provider for example Google Apps Username or password Other. Note : Before you install Windows 10, check to make sure your PC meets the system requirements for Windows The license administrator can assign seats to Azure AD users with the same process that is used for O

Windows 10 enterprise license fee free download

If you want to manage all your infrastructure in the cloud, you can safely configure your domain controller remotely to integrate your computers with Azure AD, but you won’t be able to apply fine controls using GPO.

Azure AD is best suited for the global administration of devices when you don’t have any on-premises servers. Customers who are federated with Azure Active Directory are also eligible. For more information, see Review requirements on devices , later in this topic. When you have the required Azure AD subscription, group-based licensing is the preferred method to assign Enterprise E3 or E5 licenses to users.

A per-user PowerShell scripted method of assigning licenses is available. Organizations can use synchronized AD groups to automatically assign licenses. What will the users experience? How will they upgrade their devices? During the initial setup, on the Who owns this PC? To join a device to Azure AD when the device already has Windows 10 Pro, version installed and set up. If your device is running Windows 10, version or later, this step isn’t needed.

From Windows 10, version , the device will automatically activate Windows 10 Enterprise using the firmware-embedded activation key. Figure 7a – Windows 10 Pro activation in Settings. Once the device is joined to your Azure AD subscription, the users will sign in by using their Azure AD account, as illustrated in Figure 8. The Windows 10 Enterprise E3 or E5 license associated with the user will enable Windows 10 Enterprise edition capabilities on the device.

You can use this information to help you diagnose the licensing and activation process. Active Directory-joined and Azure Active Directory-joined clients are supported. The most common problems that users may experience are as follows:. Figure 9 see the section above illustrates a device in a healthy state, where Windows 10 Pro is activated and the Windows 10 Enterprise subscription is active.

Figure 10 below illustrates a device on which Windows 10 Pro isn’t activated, but the Windows 10 Enterprise subscription is active. Figure 10 – Windows 10 Pro, version edition not activated in Settings. Figure 11 below illustrates a device on which Windows 10 Pro is activated, but the Windows 10 Enterprise subscription is lapsed or removed.

Figure 11 – Windows 10 Enterprise subscription lapsed or removed in Settings. Figure 12 below illustrates a device on which Windows 10 Pro license isn’t activated and the Windows 10 Enterprise subscription is lapsed or removed.

Figure 12 – Windows 10 Pro, version edition not activated and Windows 10 Enterprise subscription lapsed or removed in Settings. You can use the following procedures to review whether a particular device meets requirements. If a device is running a version of Windows 10 Pro prior to version for example, version , it will not be upgraded to Windows 10 Enterprise when a user signs in, even if the user has been assigned a subscription in the CSP portal.

This delay is by design. In summary, if you have a Windows 10 Enterprise E3 or E5 subscription, but are still running Windows 10 Pro, it’s simple and quick to move to Windows 10 Enterprise using one of the scenarios above.

If you’re running Windows 7, it can be more work. A wipe-and-load approach works, but it’s likely to be easier to upgrade from Windows 7 Pro directly to Windows 10 Enterprise. This path is supported, and completes the move in one step. This method also works if you’re running Windows 8. Licenses can be reallocated from one user to another user, allowing you to optimize your licensing investment against changing needs.

When you have the required Azure AD subscription, group-based licensing is the preferred method to assign Enterprise E3 and E5 licenses to users. For more information, see Group-based licensing basics in Azure AD.

If you’re running Windows 10, version or later, Subscription Activation will automatically pull the firmware-embedded Windows 10 activation key and activate the underlying Pro License. Subscription Activation doesn’t remove the need to activate the underlying operating system, this is still a requirement for running a genuine installation of Windows.

If you’re using Windows 10, version , , or and have already deployed Windows 10 Enterprise, but you want to move away from depending on KMS servers and MAK keys for Windows client machines, you can seamlessly transition as long as the computer has been activated with a firmware-embedded Windows 10 Pro product key. If the computer has never been activated with a Pro key, run the following script.

Copy the text below into a. The license administrator can assign seats to Azure AD users with the same process that is used for O Organizations with MPSA are automatically emailed the details of the new service. They must take steps to process the instructions. Existing MPSA customers will receive service activation emails that allow their customer administrator to assign users to the service. See Deploy Windows 10 Enterprise licenses.

Active Directory-joined and Azure Active Directory-joined clients are supported. Skip to main content. This browser is no longer supported. Download Microsoft Edge More info. Table of contents Exit focus mode. Table of contents. Note The Subscription Activation feature is available for qualifying devices running Windows 10 or Windows Note The following requirements do not apply to general Windows client activation on Azure. Note The above recommendation also applies to Azure AD joined devices.

Important If Windows 10 Pro is converted to Windows 10 Pro Education by using benefits available in Store for Education , then the feature will not work.

Note The following Windows 10 examples and scenarios also apply to Windows Submit and view feedback for This product This page. View all page feedback. In this article.