You can save up for a Windows license and buy it when you’re ready. If you want to use Windows 10 on a secondary computer or in a virtual machine where you don’t care about the minor restrictions imposed by not activating it, you may never have to bother. Microsoft seems cool with it, so until their stance changes you might not actually have to pay any money for a Windows key. So why would your copy be cracked unbeknownst to you? Obviously, if you cracked your copy of Windows yourself you wouldn’t be reading this article. The short answer is that the counterfeit software business is big money.
You may have bought a cheap copy of Windows 10 from a third-party seller who is in fact selling cracked versions of the operating system. If your computer came preloaded with Windows 10, it might be that the system builder is inflating their profits by cutting Microsoft out and loading compromised Windows copies on their systems. If you see a box like this, which only shows entries for “partial product key” and “license status”, then your copy of Windows is genuine.
Instead, if you see “activation expiration” or “renewal interval” it’s likely that your Windows installation has been cracked using an activator hack. One simple way to make sure if your product key is legitimate is to use a product key checker.
