I was very hesitant to do this. I mean I know better as an IT admin. However, I was not willing to pay retail and OEM price for a CD key for a piece of hardware I won't be using myself. I said it was worth the risk to lose 15 dollars if I never got a CD, much less a working one. The risk paid off. It was a little scary for literally 4mins as I paid, then got an email saying the payment went through, then when I went to the site it said payment issue. The link that was originally sent from the payment confirmation explained what happens sometimes, and how to resolve it. I replied to the email saying payment saying not posted, I literally refreshed the site and my code generated. I was still shaky as I was typing it in to activate windows. I felt like a kid receiving an ice cream cone after a bad game. Microsoft activation window said "your key worked" Very pleased! I also received a follow-up email, with no misspellings, and proper grammar. Excellent service! To my techs out there, let's make em rich! Buy buy buy!