Windows 10 is the latest release from Microsoft in their operating system department. This time, Microsoft focused on releasing fewer versions, unlike they did with Windows 7. This helped to reduce the mess between flavours and overcome the paradox of choice.
Fortunately, this version remains simple to activate with a method that's almost hassle-free. In this tutorial we will guide you to activate Windows 10 without needing any external software or activator.
How to download Windows 10 from Microsoft
We share three common ways to download updated Windows images from the official source.
Download Windows 10 Disk Image directly
With this simple trick, you can download the Windows ISO file directly without the need of Media Creation Tool.
First go to the official site for Windows 10 Download.
If you're using Google Chrome, type F12 to open the Developer Console.
Press Control + Shift + M simultaneously to enable the Toggle Device Toolbar (if not active) or click on the top-left icon in the console.
Now refresh your page with F5 and press F12 again to close the console.
It will show you the option to select your Edition. The ISO download contains both Pro and Home versions indeed. At the time this article is published, the latest version is May 2020 (Build 2004).
Next, you can select the product language.
Finally, choose your system architecture. As we know, 64-bit is the norm these days.
Download using Media Creation Tool (MCT)
Microsoft provides an utility called Media Creation Tool. This software allows us to download a Windows 10 installation image. From there you can also create a bootable USB ready to deploy.
This software is quite simple to use and gives us the confidence that there's a company like Microsoft behind it.
If you don't have the Media Creation Tool, you can download it from Microsoft.
It's required to accept the company agreement at first launch.
After getting a few things ready, the aplication will ask you to decide if you want to upgrade your existing installation - if possible - or create a installation media for another computer.
Next, you need to specify the language and system architecture
If you choose to do a version upgrade, then the tool will proceed to check for the latest updates. Later you can decide if you want to keep your personal files and apps or to install from scratch.
If you select to create a installation media, you can choose to create a USB Flash Drive (Bootable USB) or an .ISO image that you can burn to a DVD or optical disk later.
Fortunatelly, this tool is designed to be very intuitive even for less experienced users.
This tool will download a Windows 10 installation image that contains both Pro and Home versions. We ask you to be patient at this point 🙂
Download from Microsoft's repositories (TechBench)
Microsoft has public download links for several of its products, but they're often not so easy to locate.
For this reason a site called TechBench is dedicated to collecting and organizing these links in multiple languages. Downloads are always available from the official servers.
From a simple menu you can look for the software product, version and language you desire.
Just skip typing a product key when the Windows installer asks for it, because we're going for the KMS method 🙂
Activate Windows 10 Pro without any software
The cheapest, most secure and straightforward way to activate your copy of Windows 10 is through KMS servers
Manual activation using Powershell console
With just a few commands you can connect to a modified KMS server that will validate any generic volume key assigned to your Windows.
Open a Powershell instance with elevated permissions. Right click at your Windows start menu.
Step 1. You must install the generic product key that we will use to activate Windows 10 with the following command
slmgr /ipk YOURPRODUCTKEY
Depending on the version of Windows 10 that we want to activate, we need to choose between the following keys
- Windows 10 Pro: W269N-WFGWX-YVC9B-4J6C9-T83GX
- Pro N: MH37W-N47XK-V7XM9-C7227-GCQG9
- Windows 10 Home: TX9XD-98N7V-6WMQ6-BX7FG-H8Q99
- Home N: 3KHY7-WNT83-DGQKR-F7HPR-844BM
For a more extensive list of Generic Volume License Keys please «Visit Here»
Step 2. After the license gets installed we proceed to configure the KMS Server to establish a connection. Use this command.
slmgr /skms kms.digiboy.ir
Alternative KMS Servers for activation: kms7.msguides.com or kms8.msguides.com
Step 3. Finally, we can activate Windows 10 with this command.
slmgr /ato
After the confirmation message displays, we can stay sure that Windows 10 was activated.
With the slmgr /xpr command you can check for the remaining grace period since the last validation against the KMS Server
Using a script to activate Windows 10
Don't want to type console commands? Prefer to automate this process?
Don't worry, there is no need to make use of third-party activators that could contain malware. With a simple batch script is enough to activate Windows 10.
Step 1. Copy the text contained in the script and paste it into a notepad
Step 2. Go to File > Save and give the document any name, but don't forget to put the .cmd extension at the end so it can be executed!
Step 3. Right click on the file with the .cmd extension you've just saved and execute it as administrator
The script will take a few seconds to activate your Windows 10. Then it will show Product activation successful, and that's all!
From now you can enjoy Windows 10 without any limitations or annoying activation messages, but bear in mind that the activation will last up to 180 days.
With the slmgr /xpr command you can check for the remaining grace period since the last check against the KMS Server
Before the 180 days pass, eventually you need to validate your key against the KMS server to keep Windows 10 activated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Microsoft provides the slmgr.vbs script as part of the system tools for volume activation purposes
KMS is the abbreviation for Key Management Service. It's a method developed by Microsoft to simplify activation of volume-licensed products.
As long as you have a KMS server configured that remains active, you can keep the product activated for unlimited time. Just make sure you have an internet connection, as every 180 days the license is rechecked against the server.