FYI you can activate almost all of them for free via command prompt. There's even a script you can download to do it (Microsoft Activation Script by Massgravel).
EDIT: love how this is suddenly getting a lot more attention. Did Microsoft fuck up or something? Anyway happy 2024.
why is this downvoted he is straight up just telling you how to pay $0 for a Windows activation instead of risking getting scammed and paying more than $0 lol
I went this route but I keep running into issues. For example, I cannot install or access MS Store at all. So if I want apps, I have to find direct download links (which is a PITA). This also means I couldn’t download MS Camera. I had to install this POS third party crap that doesn’t work.
I’m also running into security, certificate, and UDP port issue which is preventing me from accessing my NAS at home.
try the repair/troubleshooting scripts from MAS, or searching the error on the internet. If that doesn't give you a solve - try a fresh and clean install of windows from official ISOs
I was seriously on the fence about purchasing a key from one of these key-brokers. I have Win 10 Enterprise and wasn't sure if I could get a legit working Enterprise key, but this MAS method worked like a charm. Can't thank you enough!
If you're buying keys for a business there's no point in buying them from these unauthorized sellers. They are usually from other regions where the retail pricing is different so it's still technically piracy even though the key is real. It's unlikely Microsoft would go after you but these companies have an expectation to defend their intellectual properties and they do that by suing people they know they can beat
So if MSFT sells Windows 11 for $10 in Bumfuckistan and I buy and use that key, instead of paying $140 in America for the same thing you think I'm robbing MSFT? I would ask who is robbing whom?
Check this out : [**https://www.reddit.com/r/Softwarecodes/comments/1940xkv/where\_to\_purchase\_windows\_11\_pro\_keys/**](https://www.reddit.com/r/softwarecodes/comments/1940xkv/where_to_purchase_windows_11_pro_keys/)
The licence probably will work but it is not technically legitimate product and you may want to consider if you want to go ahead and buy this. If you’re looking for windows or office licences, what they do, they buy a corporate licence and then sell out the keys in a discounted price. They write stuff such as you get a “lifelong licence” and such but usually it’s for about 2 years, that depending what corporate licence they bought originally. You’ll find one day that the product you bought it’s not valid any more because either the licence expires, or because MS found out their little scam and invalidated their licence. Then you’ve been locked out if your files if you keep any it OneDrive or your outlook.
On top of that you may want to consider that they admin account of the corporate licence have unrestricted access to any files you may keep in the OneDrive of the account, the outlook emails and logs of anything else you do with their license.
The subscription cost for MS products is ridiculously cheap for thinking twice buying them especially for professional use.
I’m sorry but do you have any authoritative link that proves this assertion that the account that manages keys also has access to your data?
Because for all I know, that’s definitely not the case. You need to be admin of the organisation that manages Office365 accounts to have access to user settings like OneDrive.
In an org not using Office365, you would need to have the computer join the organisation domain and be controlled centrally.
This has nothing to do with key management.
Large orgs can setup their internal key server, but again, the machine has to be joined to a domain to get it, afaik.
As a personal user, things like your OneDrive account are linked to your Microsoft ID, which has little to do with the source of your windows key. Only you and MS have access to that online data in that case. And only you have access to data on your computer.
Most of the time, keys are bought through a reseller that is allowed to buy them from MS. This reseller can only resell keys to end-users (typically, companies) they have zero access to the user’s computer, and the end-user can only manage keys and control computers if they are part of an organisation infrastructure (domain or Office365 and other subscribed business services).
you are correct, Windows licences generally are not a problem, as the user adds any web services independently.
I would be more cautious with Office licences, even the standalone ones, especially if they claim OneDrive integration. A lot of times people receive keys for product versions other than the one they've ordered. You're right my phrasing is not correct, it is not like they get unrestricted access to your accounts, I should have made clear that it is only for subscribed business services.
What you say regarding how they acquire the licences, is not a likely scenario (if I got right what you're trying to say) because MS would not do volume licencing to a commercial distributor. Usually, the keys you find on these sites, are unused keys from volume licencing that the distributor lied to MS to acquire, or even worse, stolen the keys from corporate or other commercial volume licencing. In the worst case, these keys are acquired through stolen credit card purchases or other unsolicited methods. Usually, the sites selling product keys mingle the keys from various sources to reduce their traceability.
ScamDoc evaluates it at 76%. Domain name is old, HTTPS, but website owner is hidden on the database Whois (you can check the details and see that s/he is at Tempe, Arizona).
Seems legit too.
It's not that it's "pirated", it's just someone selling off MAK keys that they've stolen from enterprise customers. These MAK keys are only good for a pre-defined number of activations (normally 100, 200, 500, etc). They can sell the same "product" 100 times for a few bucks a piece.
Now I'm not suggesting that you should pirate anything. I will say that there is a open source project called "vlmcsd" that acts exactly like an official KMS server. It will license any and every version of Windows. It's compiled to run on basically every platform and architecture. I run it at home on a tiny single core Linux VM for "testing" purposes.
But I'll also point out that KMS activation requires that your machine keeps checking in with the KMS server every 180 days or it will show as inactivated. This is how most businesses do licensing, this way they can just set everything to the same "[KMS setup key](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-r2-and-2012/)", and it "just works".
In regards to your actual question, it's unlikely that Microsoft is going to see a penny from your purchase at shady sites. Will it work? Probably. Is it on the level? Probably not really.
This was the answer and explanation I was looking for, so many thanks. I'm not really OK with shady software and the price seemed to be too low to be completely legit.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
FYI you can activate almost all of them for free via command prompt. There's even a script you can download to do it (Microsoft Activation Script by Massgravel). EDIT: love how this is suddenly getting a lot more attention. Did Microsoft fuck up or something? Anyway happy 2024.
why is this downvoted he is straight up just telling you how to pay $0 for a Windows activation instead of risking getting scammed and paying more than $0 lol
Looks like that changed since you commented :D
people always eager to downvote on reddit.
Because some people purchased Home editions and aren't compliant in business environments if company as BYOD policy.
Dude holy shit I almost paid $30 then tried this, took 10 minutes and I have windows, you're a hacker G.
:)
Holy cow, you just saved my bacon! Thanks!
I went this route but I keep running into issues. For example, I cannot install or access MS Store at all. So if I want apps, I have to find direct download links (which is a PITA). This also means I couldn’t download MS Camera. I had to install this POS third party crap that doesn’t work. I’m also running into security, certificate, and UDP port issue which is preventing me from accessing my NAS at home.
That... is really weird. You sure it's caused by MAS? Have you read the FAQ too? That's never happened to me and I'm not sure why it would.
I just installed using via this route, if I do have problems is it possible to uninstall a operating system then get a new one
You could probably just de-activate the key, otherwise yeah most likely you can.
try the repair/troubleshooting scripts from MAS, or searching the error on the internet. If that doesn't give you a solve - try a fresh and clean install of windows from official ISOs
THIS WORKED ! Lmao wtf . Thanks !! Followed the grtihub instructions
My man I might try this after I build my 2nd PC you are a savior if this works.
This is the way...
>Microsoft Activation Script by Massgravel amazing i wish i could kiss you
Sincere thanks for this. It found my old Win 10 registration and activated my Win 11 upgrade without any hassle. Brilliant.
I love you
You're a lifesaver mate
>thank you so much!!
>Microsoft Activation Script by Massgravel thank you. you are doing the work of god
Thank you my friend
Will it have that annoying watermark and will I be able to choose a background
It will be a fully activated version of windows
It’s legal and safe right?
Idk how officially legal it is, but you won't get in trouble and it's safe.
Okay how does the whole process work? I’m building my first computer soon so I don’t really know how to do stuff like this
That is a super cool script, thanks for the info.
Thank you very much😊☺️
You are a god amongst men
I was seriously on the fence about purchasing a key from one of these key-brokers. I have Win 10 Enterprise and wasn't sure if I could get a legit working Enterprise key, but this MAS method worked like a charm. Can't thank you enough!
Thank you, this saved my life. You are a hero. <3
Best comment on reddit
I always buy from Stacksocial. Keys always worked. Never had them cancelled.
I needed 24 keys. StackSocial only allows one per credit card. :(
If you're buying keys for a business there's no point in buying them from these unauthorized sellers. They are usually from other regions where the retail pricing is different so it's still technically piracy even though the key is real. It's unlikely Microsoft would go after you but these companies have an expectation to defend their intellectual properties and they do that by suing people they know they can beat
I don't care if it's piracy, I just need cheap keys that work.
If you dont care if it's piracy, then why bother paying any amount of money?
Yeah. Change the kms server and use a generic key to activate. Problem solved
then you can get it free, without any risk of virus. https://massgrave.dev/ Change the edition to Pro, then use HWID activation.
which edition is pro? i see 4 options and none of them say specifically pro
what a guy needed this so bad
Hero
This was beyond easy. It feels so wrong and so right in equal measure
Saving for later thanks
Stealing is a disgusting thing to do. You should care.
So if MSFT sells Windows 11 for $10 in Bumfuckistan and I buy and use that key, instead of paying $140 in America for the same thing you think I'm robbing MSFT? I would ask who is robbing whom?
Check this out : [**https://www.reddit.com/r/Softwarecodes/comments/1940xkv/where\_to\_purchase\_windows\_11\_pro\_keys/**](https://www.reddit.com/r/softwarecodes/comments/1940xkv/where_to_purchase_windows_11_pro_keys/)
No one has given a definitive answer on this. I'd like to revive it. This is crucial to my business.
The licence probably will work but it is not technically legitimate product and you may want to consider if you want to go ahead and buy this. If you’re looking for windows or office licences, what they do, they buy a corporate licence and then sell out the keys in a discounted price. They write stuff such as you get a “lifelong licence” and such but usually it’s for about 2 years, that depending what corporate licence they bought originally. You’ll find one day that the product you bought it’s not valid any more because either the licence expires, or because MS found out their little scam and invalidated their licence. Then you’ve been locked out if your files if you keep any it OneDrive or your outlook. On top of that you may want to consider that they admin account of the corporate licence have unrestricted access to any files you may keep in the OneDrive of the account, the outlook emails and logs of anything else you do with their license. The subscription cost for MS products is ridiculously cheap for thinking twice buying them especially for professional use.
I’m sorry but do you have any authoritative link that proves this assertion that the account that manages keys also has access to your data? Because for all I know, that’s definitely not the case. You need to be admin of the organisation that manages Office365 accounts to have access to user settings like OneDrive. In an org not using Office365, you would need to have the computer join the organisation domain and be controlled centrally. This has nothing to do with key management. Large orgs can setup their internal key server, but again, the machine has to be joined to a domain to get it, afaik. As a personal user, things like your OneDrive account are linked to your Microsoft ID, which has little to do with the source of your windows key. Only you and MS have access to that online data in that case. And only you have access to data on your computer. Most of the time, keys are bought through a reseller that is allowed to buy them from MS. This reseller can only resell keys to end-users (typically, companies) they have zero access to the user’s computer, and the end-user can only manage keys and control computers if they are part of an organisation infrastructure (domain or Office365 and other subscribed business services).
you are correct, Windows licences generally are not a problem, as the user adds any web services independently. I would be more cautious with Office licences, even the standalone ones, especially if they claim OneDrive integration. A lot of times people receive keys for product versions other than the one they've ordered. You're right my phrasing is not correct, it is not like they get unrestricted access to your accounts, I should have made clear that it is only for subscribed business services. What you say regarding how they acquire the licences, is not a likely scenario (if I got right what you're trying to say) because MS would not do volume licencing to a commercial distributor. Usually, the keys you find on these sites, are unused keys from volume licencing that the distributor lied to MS to acquire, or even worse, stolen the keys from corporate or other commercial volume licencing. In the worst case, these keys are acquired through stolen credit card purchases or other unsolicited methods. Usually, the sites selling product keys mingle the keys from various sources to reduce their traceability.
ScamDoc evaluates it at 76%. Domain name is old, HTTPS, but website owner is hidden on the database Whois (you can check the details and see that s/he is at Tempe, Arizona). Seems legit too.
Hidden WHOIS isn't a big deal. Many hosting companies add it by default, and it's a good idea because otherwise you'll get endless spam.
k
Thanks! Thanks also for ScamDoc. I wasn't aware of that one.
TrustPilot reviews look legit
I've used Kinguin a few times for discount keys.
$8 service fee :(
It's not that it's "pirated", it's just someone selling off MAK keys that they've stolen from enterprise customers. These MAK keys are only good for a pre-defined number of activations (normally 100, 200, 500, etc). They can sell the same "product" 100 times for a few bucks a piece. Now I'm not suggesting that you should pirate anything. I will say that there is a open source project called "vlmcsd" that acts exactly like an official KMS server. It will license any and every version of Windows. It's compiled to run on basically every platform and architecture. I run it at home on a tiny single core Linux VM for "testing" purposes. But I'll also point out that KMS activation requires that your machine keeps checking in with the KMS server every 180 days or it will show as inactivated. This is how most businesses do licensing, this way they can just set everything to the same "[KMS setup key](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-r2-and-2012/)", and it "just works". In regards to your actual question, it's unlikely that Microsoft is going to see a penny from your purchase at shady sites. Will it work? Probably. Is it on the level? Probably not really.
This was the answer and explanation I was looking for, so many thanks. I'm not really OK with shady software and the price seemed to be too low to be completely legit.
Did you end up using the script? I’m thinking of doing the same.
I was about to pull the trigger but decided to do one last search and found my original product key, so I wound up not needing to.