Probably blocks the MAS activation scripts from working too.
Sure enough, on their site:
Note: Microsoft servers are currently rejecting HWID activation requests when activating through MAS, we’re checking what’s going on now. Use the KMS38 activation option for now.
I was lucky to receive 10 Windows 7 and Visual Studio Ultimate keys for personal use, in the Windows 7 era.
Once the “you can use Windows 7 keys to activate Windows 8/10” thing, combined with Microsoft accounts came around, I created 10 Microsoft accounts with 10 of my email addresses.
I’ve been able to activate Windows versions 7-11 with all 10 keys (and I can change to older Windows without issue) and been able to upgrade Visual Studio Ultimate to the current version year after year this way.
I wonder if the already upgraded keys attached to Microsoft accounts, that become a bit version fluid, will remain able to use higher versions.
You can buy a used mini PC for less than the price of a new Windows 11 license. I know there are cheaper license sites out there (unclear how legit they are) but this way you get a Windows license and a spare PC to run Linux!
They cost like $5 online, it’s not like it’s a huge risk. I’ve bought OEM keys before and they work fine. Just use a credit card so you can easily get a refund if it’s fake.
There could be a bit of a caveat here. I when I purchased my laptop it had windows 10 installed. When I installed Mint, I could not reuse that key in a VM because it was “different hardware”. The license, could not be transferred under any circumstance. I had also purchased the upgrade to Pro through the windows store. That’s also lost.
I seldom run windows, even in the VM, but it still leaves one a bit bitter.
I reused a Win10 Pro key from a mini PC from 2015 onto a brand new build and it worked right away. Not sure what the difference is with your situation. Maybe it was your license type?
Usually calling Windows support, they’ll give you a key if you just tell them you replaced some piece of hardware due to failure, assuming you haven’t been transferring the same key around for awhile. They tend to be more invested in keeping you in the Windows ecosystem than they are are just getting one more license sold.
Windows 10 links their license to the motherboard.
So as long as you use the same motherboard, the key will work.
This isn’t possible with VMs sadly.
You can extract the SLIC value from the ACPI table, and then pass it through to QEMU
See more details here: https://gist.github.com/Informatic/49bd034d43e054bd1d8d4fec38c305ec
It is my understanding that this can only be used to run the OEM license one one instance in a VM, on the specific hardware that is originally licensed. IE, you virtualize the license if the bootOS is Linux, but you can’t run 2 instances of the same windows license inside each other.
When I build a new PC, I could not transfer my old 7 pro retail license, even though it worked fine on my old PC running Windows 10 and it even said it was a digital license connected to my MS account.
So I bought a Win 10 pro key from one of the ebay resellers aber everything was fine… until it wasn’t. I updated the firmware for my mainboard and Windows took that for a replacement of hardware. Troubleshooter did not show three option “I recently changed my hardware” and did not give me the option to call Microsoft’s support.
Turns out it was a “one time install” key which was invalidated by changing the hardware. So it couldn’t activate a second time. And since the key seller was out of business at that time (they’ll change accounts every few months), I had no way of getting the key replaced.
Luckily, I still had an old Windows 7 COA with key and CD lying around from an old Dell business Workstation. That activated just fine.
But yeah, even if you have a valid license connected to your Microsoft account, there’s no way of seeing it in your account, and it’s not guaranteed MS will honor it.
Dumb q, if I install Linux and later decide to reinstall Windows, is that OEM license still good?
The answer is a resounding maybe. If you activated with a Microsoft account or if there’s a TPM chip, the chances of it still working increases. There are different kinds of licenses, but if it fails, there’s a better than not chance calling MS support and just telling them you had a hardware failure on your laptop and you need to reinstall, they’ll get you going. Not a guarantee though. And I’ll caveat and say this information is a couple years old (I don’t work in tech support anymore).
You can just reactivate by troubleshooting your activation in Windows.
No need to call Microsoft about it.
Cheap license sites (windows, games, etc) usually use keys bought via stolen credit cards. Pirating it is much better than buying from those sites, including for the devs that get punished for chargebacks from those keys.
I’ve had the same Win8 Pro key that I purchased for $40 when it released 12 years ago. I’ve used it for Win10 and 11. Is this saying if I format my drive and reinstall Win11 that I won’t be able to activate using this key anymore?
If I’m not mistaken your key is linked to your motherboard as well as your Microsoft account. So I think you should be fine. I just formatted my drive yesterday and it didn’t even ask me to type it in, I skipped that step and it verified once I logged in.
That on laptop or desktop? I had a laptop and always did like you said. For the first time I have a desktop and don’t know how things go now
Super late reply to your question, but when you add Windows and punch in the key it links to the motherboard of the PC (laptop or desktop, doesn’t matter). Once you sign in to your Microsoft account, the key and mobo serial gets stored there. If you bought a new PC and with it a new motherboard you can find your key in your account or use the one on the back of your old laptop and delink it from your old device so that you can reuse it on your new one. It moves with your account.
Of you do a standard format, you shouldn’t have to worry, but if you ever upgrade your mobo, just make sure you get a screenshot of your serial in the windows settings and make sure you are logged in to your windows account (maybe check the account settings on a browser and see if you can find your devices, not sure of this is a necessary step… but just to make sure it’s linked I guess)… then once you format, you can punch in the old serial and log in, if it pops up a warning, it may ask you to migrate the serial and delete the old device or you may have a step or two on the Microsoft website to do this, I’m a bit hazy on the details as I did this a good 4 years ago, bit it wasn’t much of a headache.
OEM keys are linked to motherboards I believe. Mine is a retail key and I’ve used it across many different builds over the years.
Keys are usually stored in the TPM chip and/or tied to Microsoft accounts if you use one. If you don’t have an account, there’s actually a limit to how often a key can activate new hardware. If there’s no TPM, there’s simply a limit within a certain timeframe that it can be used to activate on the same hardware.
Jumped the windows ship long ago. So glad I don’t need to deal with this nonsense anymore.
To be fair, nobody actually NEEDS to deal with this nonsense. Windows works just fine without an activated key, literally the only downside is the “Please activate Windows” bug on your desktop. That’s it, everything else works fine.
But yes, using Linux is also a great option.
Not exactly, can’t customize it either or change certain settings. I know this because I just built a new PC and the key I had didn’t work for 2 days while I had support figure it out.
Yeah, but nothing that prevents you from using your computer.
Customisation is just aesthetics
I don’t think system wide dark theme works without a key, although there are workarounds of course.
I did recently and have regrets yet . Been using to run yuzu perfectly and most games I’ve tried work great other than some games that use certain anti cheats . Going to work on RGB control soon once I have time. And I have a windows VM to adjust the controls easily on my mouse and gaming keypad which I almost never need to change.
I’m going to fully assess what actual windows software I rely on any more and migrate all of my systems to a Linux based os this weekend I think.
The amount of games that I play that work on my Steam deck already confirms that I’ll be fine there.
I probably spin up a windows vm that I could remote into from my homelab if I’ve missed anything I do need to run.
