Install Windows 10 Pro (Free and Authentic)

Friday, December 22 2023

Note: These steps were last tested during November, 2023.

Yes, it is 100% possible to install a genuine copy of Windows 10 Pro for free. Moreover, this can be done even if you only have a Linux system available. Here are the steps.

  1. Download WoeUSB, https://github.com/WoeUSB/WoeUSB/releases.
  2. Install WoeUSB dependencies (I only had to install wimtools and grub-pc via sudo apt install wimtools grub-pc )
  3. Download the Windows 10 ISO from https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10ISO.
  4. Run WoeUSB against a USB or SSD. For example, sudo ./woeusb-5.2.4.bash --device /path/to/Win10_22H2_English_x64v1.iso /dev/sdX.
    • Note: An SSD is preferred since it's faster.
    • Note: Set your ISO path and your device. List devices with df -H
  5. Get an additional storage device to install Windows on. This must be either a SSD or HDD. A USB will NOT work. Plug it into your computer's SATA port.
  6. Plug in the WoeUSB formatted device.
  7. Boot and go through the Windows 10 installation process.
  8. Use MAS, https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts, to activate your Windows license.

Congrats! You will now have a 100% valid, and activated digital license for Windows 10 Pro.

The WoeUSB output should be something like following. Note that the step Installing for i386-pc platform. can take some time if you're using a USB.

glish_x64v1.iso /dev/sdb
WoeUSB v5.2.4
==============================
Info: Mounting source filesystem...
Info: Wiping all existing partition table and filesystem signatures in /dev/sdb...
/dev/sdb: 8 bytes were erased at offset 0x00000200 (gpt): 45 46 49 20 50 41 52 54
/dev/sdb: 8 bytes were erased at offset 0x739fffe00 (gpt): 45 46 49 20 50 41 52 54
/dev/sdb: 2 bytes were erased at offset 0x000001fe (PMBR): 55 aa
/dev/sdb: calling ioctl to re-read partition table: Success
Info: Ensure that /dev/sdb is really wiped...
Info: Creating new partition table on /dev/sdb...
Info: Creating target partition...
Info: Making system realize that partition table has changed...
Info: Wait 3 seconds for block device nodes to populate...
mkfs.fat 4.2 (2021-01-31)
mkfs.fat: Warning: lowercase labels might not work properly on some systems
Info: Mounting target filesystem...
Info: Copying files from source media...
Splitting WIM: 4903 MiB of 4903 MiB (100%) written, part 2 of 26%
Finished splitting "./sources/install.wim"
Info: Installing GRUB bootloader for legacy PC booting support...
Installing for i386-pc platform.
Installation finished. No error reported.
Info: Installing custom GRUB config for legacy PC booting...
Info: Done :)
Info: The target device should be bootable now
Info: Unmounting and removing "/tmp/woeusb-source-20231104-105415-Saturday.ykuZnT"...
Info: Unmounting and removing "/tmp/woeusb-target-20231104-105415-Saturday.RH6lVi"...
Info: You may now safely detach the target device

 

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