Windows OEM VS Retail Keys | Are They Safe? Which is for You?

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I use OEM keys... and have used OEM keys on every build for the last 10+ years. They are different than retail keys in several key (pun intended) ways. Let's talk about it so you can decide if a Windows 10 or 11 OEM key is better for you than a retail key (or not).

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#ChristmasSale# Windows10pro #whokeys #oem #windowskey

[MarryDegon]

What you're saying about OEM is misleading. You don't become a "manufacturer" when you buy an OEM key. Manufacturers buy a license to generate them. If they distribute their licenses it's against the terms of the contract. They will all get deactivated. This is why they're typically only a few bucks. The ones you have linked is an extorsive price for an OEM key. You always want to buy a Retail key and you should be able to get them around the price of the OEM keys you linked.

[Lifeis]

Thanks for the video! I have Windows 11 now, but what do I do with the product key?

[nickvirgili]

honestly I was just looking for a straight concise explanation so thank you for that. just saw a bunch of people talking about buying bad keys so I wanted more info since the other guy I saw pushing it was not explaining.

[gergemall]

Thank you. I’ve never had a problem with the OEM keys . Liked and subscribed. Glad I found you.

[Sharkman]

Awesome help from you on this issue. I just rebuilt a machine and this is huge help! thank you!

[Lilith]

Thanks man! This was very helpful about to go activate windows 11 on my first pc build!

[batyeeter]

Thank you for the thorough explanation. This has been a huge help and I can confirm the keys do work.

[vicious]

This is really awesome dude, I truly appreciate you doing this man. I feel a bit more confident and educated about this! Thank YOU very much

[SterlingSword]

Your my newest thing. You spoke clearly and precisely. To the point. I can appreciate that. SUBBED

[StenIsaksson]

Back in the day you could only activate OEM keys a certain amount of times.
If you did a clean install of you PC too many times you were kind of locked out.
Retail keys can be activated how many times you want.

[Traintech]

Wanted to throw this out: on occasion, I was able to call Microsoft and have them reactivate a key as you describe in the video and I couldn't believe it worked. I even did this with a windows LTSC key I purchased. If you had a virus, or maybe your motherboard tanked, they can be cool about it. At the $20ish price area, it's almost not worth the work to get them to reactivate it though. Great content. I have bought OEM since windows xp/Win 7. Don't be scared to be your own OEM!

[Feckerhead]

Love your content so very helpful. Second win key I've purchased in the past year, needed a new key for my sons new PC. Thank you a ton!

[JayP.]

Just upgraded to windows 11 pro from home on my new laptop. Was able to use your discount code and the discount code for opening a new account at the same time. I got like $12 off. Thanks for the video!!

[jasonroberts]

Updated the BIOS on an MSI Pro Z690-A DDR4 and windows 11 all of a sudden became deactivated, after an hour long call with MS troubleshooting & letting them screen share / access my PC remotely they couldn't figure it out and told me to call MSI or try downgrading to previous bios, I ended up just buying a key from whokeys and had no problems, after Tek's 25% coupon & first time buyer coupon it came out to $23 for Win 11 Pro, didn't have to reinstall windows (it was already win 11 pro) just entered the key and it re-activated, Thanks!

[VTOLfreak]

You can also buy retail keys from these sites at discount prices. Usually these are gray market, meaning they are legit keys but meant to be sold in another region with different pricing. I have half a dozen retail keys that I bought when Windows 7 came out. Years later, they activate just fine on Windows 11. I think at some point MS stopped caring which version you were upgrading from, they just want everyone on Windows 11 as fast as possible so they can start pushing Windows Store apps and O365 subscriptions.

[hectorgramajo]

I will be building my first PC in the immediate future and I found this information helpful. Thank you!

[emmanuelballeza]

Awesome thanks been trying to find a reputable place to get a key worked on first go 🎉

[johndough]

Can confirm that WhoKeys works just fine. I finally decided to get an SSD and upgrade my old Win 7 box to Windows 10. I had a retail version of Windows 10 on a thumb drive that I used to set up the computer. I didn't remember that is was Windows "Home" and I really need things like Remote Desktop Access so I decided to upgrade to Windows Pro and I definitely wasn't going to pay full price.

Just a word of advice. Since my boxed version of Win 10 was a "retail" version, the OEM key I purchased would not activate my version of Windows to "Pro". Not a huge surprise. Luckily I had only installed video drivers and browsers, so I just downloaded the official Windows installer from Microsoft's website and put it on an 8GB thumb drive. I wiped the drive and reinstalled Windows, this time with the OEM key and it worked perfectly. Thanks for the discount code! I was able to fine cheaper keys online, but finding a reputable source like you made me feel much safer with my purchase.

[cperch]

Thanks bro, I bought a windows 10pro key and it worked perfectly. Much appreciated.

[MrSquidyG]

Glad i found this video. i'm getting ready to build my own PC next week, and was looking for windows 11 keys