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.
This is the real blow. Truly the end of an era.
Looks like it's time to start using reactos i guess... ☹️
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!
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.
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.
I called support, they said no. Asked for a one time exception, still no. The key to my knowledge was only used once on the laptop when I bought it new.
I wasn’t investing any more time in 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.
the devs that get punished for chargebacks from those keys.
Just to be clear... in the case of Windows, that would be M$...?
Tbh if you want gray area keys. Microsoftsoftwareswap has always had verified users selling business generated licenses keys. If you HAVE to buy a key, at least buy one from vetted people and not some rando on a seller site
On 10 right now, but honestly have had enough of the whole Windows ecosystem. (Like today I ran across a look at these exciting Windows 11 September updates! woo! aren't you excited! video, and it was almost all embarrassingly cosmetic. Except for the part where they're finally adding native support for archive formats (.7z, .rar, .tar) that everyone else has supported for decades: how fucking charming am I supposed to find that announcement after all these years of using 3rd party apps, when the probability of the native support being buggy as hell is very high? And that was just one example; there's a full list in the description box.
No thanks. It's clear they did all this just to be able to simultaneously slather AI hooks all through the OS works, free for now but not forever, and I'm just not interested in that either. Nothing against AI, I just don't want it integrated into my OS. I also like my privacy, believe in keeping my own shit on my own computers, and enjoy not having a significant portion of my hardware computing load dedicated to the collection and sale of my data.
But MS isn't the only game in town anymore. I tried some hardware-light Linux distros on a 13 year old MacBook recently just to see what the fuss is about, and was gobsmacked at how well they ran with 4GB of RAM and a slow (by today's standards) processor. Holy shit. So I did a bit of hardware upgrading so I could run even more, and yesterday I installed Fedora 38 with KDE Plasma on that same MacBook with 16GB of RAM and a 1T SSD. It picked up every bit of that hardware on its own, too; I didn't have to configure a thing.
It's almost too easy, lol. It's Linux so I thought I was going to be overwhelmed with command line shit, but no, not at all: the few times I needed the command line, the exact syntax was a web search away, with plentiful discussion, documentation, and even demo videos to choose from.
And if I don't like it, I can try as many as I like off USB drives until I see something I like and decide to install that instead, and there are literally dozens, if not hundreds of distros now.
So Microsoft can keep that AI-ridden ad-ware Windows 11 shit. I'll keep 10 for now (installed on a 7 license, lol) until I'm fully comfortable with Linux, and then that's that.
Put it this way. I now have a screaming fast machine that runs on 13-year-old hardware where every software I could want for it is free, open source, and backed by a gazillion gurus both pro and amateur for whom no question is too arcane; why the hell should I give that up for the baggy, bloated, slow, privacy-invasive advertising delivery service that is Microsoft Windows?
I know there will be issues with Linux as I get to know it and use it, just because there are issues with every OS. There may even be things I find I can't get past, and if that happens I try other distros or suck it up, lol. But fuck MS if they think I am going to pay actual cash to help them serve up my privacy while they deliver unwanted ads to me every time I boot it up.
Thank you for coming to my Ted talk, lol.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
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.
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.
I have around 30 windows 7 pro COAs (used to work in a pc repair shop, pulled the COAs on every dead pc that came through). Most of them are from dells, but I haven’t had an issue activating on custom pcs. If anyone wants one, let me know
If you're handing out free keys, I'd happily take one! Pretty smart to yoink em from scrapped PCs lol
DM’d you
You guys are using keys?
My first legit Windows Version I installed(not pre-installed) was when my university gave keys out for free.
Before that I used sketchy tools to activate my Windows. Since I am using Linux only my vms don't get activated. Windows 10 runs fine without activation.
Wym man I pacman -Syu 20 times a day with no problem. You guys need keys?
You guys need keys?
Yeah, sometimes if I haven't booted up my laptop in a while, I'll run pacman -Sy archlinux-keyring to get the keys I need.
I wish we could just get back to an updated version of 7. Everything since has sucked.
If you don't use any software that requires Windows, you should give Kubuntu a try. I've found it very easy to use, as someone coming from Windows.
No problem. I’m still staying on 10 though.
Yeah, same for me.
Getting rid of the automated 11 upgrade was a pain already, took me months to finally find what was making it resurface all the time.
Thing is, I wasn't even opposed to it originally. It just didn't work and failed systematically. And my PC wasn't even supposed to support it, since I don't have TPM 2.0, so no idea why it even tried.
Now with all the reports of new ways to fuck with privacy I don't even see any reason to upgrade.
I've had the same Win8 Pro key that I purchased for $40 when it released 12 years ago. I've used it for Win10 and 11. Is this saying if I format my drive and reinstall Win11 that I won't be able to activate using this key anymore?
Not like I wanted to, my older PCs running windows 7 aren't eligible for Windows 11 anyway
Try installing fresh from USB. Typically works for me on any machine that says it couldn't install on
Hmm, this shouldn't affect me, as my Win 7 Pro key is now a Win 10 Pro key, right?
I finally ran out windows 7 keys and had to buy a new one for win11, they cost 4-9$ online.
Yeah, volume keys are what I've been using the past ten years or so. Only one office key got blacklisted so far. Overall a pretty good deal.
Activate Linux
So I can't upgrade my sistem that works perfectly fine because it doesn't meet one of their frivolous requirements. And now I can't use the key that I legally purchased? Sounds like MS doesn't want me to use their products.
Activate Linux
I have some trusty KMS activator that I have to use every year once, so far no problems
I had to fire up a Windows VM yesterday. Holy shit its gotten so bad. Glad I don't need to deal with that shit on a daily basis anymore. I wish people weren't so scared of Linux.
Scared?
Despite what Linux aficionados think, the Linux world is fractured and broken for the average person. I’ve been running dual boots or standalone linux for decades, but I still consider myself a relative beginner because I get pissed at Linux not doing what I want when I need it to and I’ll just give up trying to sort it out. Packages don’t install .make doesn’t work. .configure the same. Windows applications don’t work because Wine sucks, if it even installs correctly. Too many distros, too many versions that won’t accept apps built for previous versions, repositories disappearing and upgrade paths that aren’t intuitive. Online searches offer multiple “fixes”, but good luck. It probably doesn’t work for your distro, version, user privileges, etc. Linux for the average person sucks, and it sucks bad. Even popular ones like Ubuntu are a pain in the ass. I have all sorts of boxes running linux, from raspberry pi to Ubuntu, to Debian. The Pi’s are the best, they don’t break shit on updates or upgrade. The rest? Apt-get update is fraught with peril. I grew up with command line work, I still use it all the time, but I don’t have the patience to deal with trying to get Linux to do what a Windows machine does.
I've put countless elderly individuals like yourself onto PopOS! and they're getting by just fine. This sounds like a you problem.
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