Great points! I definitely wanted to share this so people know what to look for, even if it's not on Amazon. I tried buying from Microsoft back when I filmed this, but they just pointed me at other places. So frustrating that they didn't want to sell it to me directly!

I bought one from eBay for 50.00, and it is definitely real. ​@LukeofAllTrades.

You know the logo better than I do!

Unboxing videos are helpful that way! You learn what to expect.

@@LukeofAllTrades. yup

@@LukeofAllTrades. the fake one looks similar to the windows 10 one so my guess is that they made those before the official one and ether put stolen keys in them or those cheap one you get off a grey market website for a huge mega profit which in my opinion ether way qualifies as a scam product

A more obvious branding change would have made it easy to spot, that's for sure!

No idea, I was wondering that too. Maybe it's a legit reseller key that they buy?

Great question! Unfortunately, I don't know the answer. It could be that everything is the same as a legitimate copy and they just produced the copies very cheaply to make more money. It's also possible that the copy of Windows has been modified to steal your information. I would guess what is most likely is that they got ahold of some license keys and are selling copies with those keys to make money. Microsoft may figure out that they're not legit and notify you, but they may not. The safest option is to not install it at all, but you could install it and not give it access to any personal information (in any software) until you have done some updates to see if Microsoft detects any issues. Good luck!

Glad the video helped you spot the fake! Be sure to report it using the links in the description!

Nope. There's a card with the license key, and several hologram stickers (which shouldn't be stickers on the real one).

I got mine from Best Buy.

@@LukeofAllTrades. oh! Will check there next time Thanks!

It is very hard to know if there is any malware running in the background, so the best idea is to delete it and purchase a legit copy and use that. If that is impossible, then make sure your friend is installing all the security updates from Microsoft and other software, and make sure the firewalls are running that detect any strange outbound traffic.

Hopefully you can return them, I was able to return mine without any issue!

@@LukeofAllTrades. no dice I bought from an Amazon liquidation reseller. No return policy, I did contact Amazon though, I knew I wouldn't be refunded but I wanted them to know they illegally resold the software. Amazon should have destroyed all the fakes. Now I'm left holding the bag because I refuse to sell someone something that I know is fake.

@@LukeofAllTrades. oh also I scanned the red barcode with the Amazon and Walmart app it's a barcode and seal from windows 10.

@@robertbrewington4222 That's crazy! Sorry to hear you had that problem, thanks for sharing as a warning to others though.

Good eye! What tipped you off?

The Window 11 packaging doesn’t look like that and the Window 10-Shaped hole.

I'm sure you're not alone!

@@LukeofAllTrades. does the counterfeit have a good license key or an incorrect fake one?

@@FirstLast-tx3yj It seemed to be good, in that it let me continue on, but since the install never completed, I don't know if it would ever get detected as a counterfeit when it went online.

Yes, part of my mistake was trusting someone selling on Amazon, fulfilled by Amazon, but not Amazon or Microsoft. Kohl's is a department store that processes returns for Amazon. You can drop things off at the store instead of having to mail it back yourself.