Windows 10 - Where to buy and SSD recommendation

[Dolf Stoppard]

I need to upgrade my Dad’s PC to Windows 10. Anybody bought a MS licence recently and can recommend a site?

I’m also planning on upgrading him to an SSD drive. He’s only a very light user so I was thinking something like the below and a 2.5” to 3.5” bracket.

https://amzn.eu/d/eUh36Ah

Any better options out there?

Thanks all.

[Captain_Morgan]

Nothing wrong with that, you should be able to download a win10 downloaded to usb from ms directly & install it using his existing licence

[xeny]

Double sided tape works pretty well for mounting SSDs.

If that's a QLC drive, it definitely is only really suitable for a light user.

[conkerman]

Just use it without a license for the time being.

Download the media creation tool software from Microsoft, and create a bootable USB drive.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/...

For the SSD, Spend a couple of quit more and get an MX500. It has DRAM cache and boosts performance.

Edited by conkerman on Tuesday 13th December 19:01

Edited by conkerman on Tuesday 13th December 19:04

[xeny]

If it has a licence for 7 or 8, that should work with 10.

[Mr Pointy]

I think this is the MS download site where you can create Windows 10 installation media. It used to be free to upgrade from an old version of Windows but i haven't done it for a while so I'm not sure if it still works - it's certainly worth a shot.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/...

I'd stick with Samung for the SSD:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Intelligent-Magic...

Edited by Mr Pointy on Tuesday 13th December 19:09

[somouk]

I would be going with Samsung or crucial for an SSD, used both brands extensively and never had issues.

[Dolf Stoppard]

Thanks all. Will cough up a bit extra for the SSD.

It all seems a bit confusing as to whether Windows 7 will upgrade to 10 or not. Some sources say yes, others no.

Anybody used Kinguin to buy a licence key?

https://www.kinguin.net/

Quite happy to buy a separate key for £20 or so as this will mean his old version stays activated should he need to switch back for any reason.

[Paul-j4zwd]

Why do you "need" to upgrade? If Win 7 or 8 are doing an adequate job I'd leave well alone. They are good operating systems.

[conkerman]

Win 10 works fine (although mising some personalisation features) without a key. You may see a watermark. Don't sweat it.

[Fastpedeller]

We had to get Win10 as our bank wouldn't let us continue to use online banking with Windows vista. As suggested by a very helpful Pistonheader, we looked at refurbished towers with Win 10 included. Got a really good deal from Gigarefurb £62 to the door IIRC. (I have no other 'interest' other than being a satisfied customer). They are approved by Windows (we checked) and thus supply genuine licenced product. Another refurbished at the time (about 5 years ago), when asked "is it correctly licenced" responded with "it will work" Hmm .... not quite the same. Not a SSD at that price, but a lot faster/better than our old unit, with Win10. At the time the software alone was £102 unless pirated from unknown sources.

[Rumblestripe]

Paul-j4zwd said:

Why do you "need" to upgrade? If Win 7 or 8 are doing an adequate job I'd leave well alone. They are good operating systems.

They are no longer supported by MS and any vulnerabilities will not be fixed.

It's a while since I have done it but I believe that the upgrade should still work, you might have to tick a box to say that you qualify for the free upgrade (IIRC?)

[Dolf Stoppard]

Rumblestripe said:

Paul-j4zwd said:

Why do you "need" to upgrade? If Win 7 or 8 are doing an adequate job I'd leave well alone. They are good operating systems.

They are no longer supported by MS and any vulnerabilities will not be fixed.

It's a while since I have done it but I believe that the upgrade should still work, you might have to tick a box to say that you qualify for the free upgrade (IIRC?)

This. MS is stopping support from Jan.

[fuzzymonkey]

You can now install 10/11 on any PC without a licence, you will just be unable to change the desktop wallpaper!

[eeLee]

You can install Win10 fresh on the new SSD and it should activate automatically when it connects to MS. Do not buy a licence because you will be licenced.

[xeny]

Rumblestripe said:

They are no longer supported by MS and any vulnerabilities will not be fixed.

It's a while since I have done it but I believe that the upgrade should still work, you might have to tick a box to say that you qualify for the free upgrade (IIRC?)

I think if you run the installer from within an activated install it "just works" and does an upgrade which is activated.

[Condi]

GameKeyDiscounter has always been good for licences before. Standalone office is £20 for example, compared with O365 at £60 a year or whatever it is. Windows licences too are cheap.

[Dolf Stoppard]

Quick update on this. Windows 8.1 updated to Windows 10 no problem at all. I installed onto the existing drive and it’s working pretty well. I’ll tackle a new SSD in the new year but no reason to think the Media Creation Tool won’t generate a bootable version which can be installed and activated on the new drive.

Thanks all.

[OutInTheShed]

I've bought Win 10 licenses on fleabay for under a fiver, clean install, they have authenticated OK with Microsoft.

Just back up your data, contacts etc and lose all the mess and history.

A year or two has passed though.

[onlychengy]

Dolf Stoppard said:

I need to upgrade my Dad’s PC to Windows 10. Anybody bought a MS licence recently and can recommend a site?

I’m also planning on upgrading him to an SSD drive. He’s only a very light user so I was thinking something like the below and a 2.5” to 3.5” bracket.

https://amzn.eu/d/eUh36Ah

Any better options out there?

Thanks all.

Hi Dolf,

I bought this exact drive earlier this year, computer boots up super fast and it's been great for my usage which consists of internet browsing and some gaming (light games/older titles).

Not sure about reliability as not had it too long but I'm very happy so far, made such a huge difference coming from HDD.
I don't keep important documents on it but could just backup the cloud if you wanted to?

Thanks