Time of death: 4:22 PM UTC September 26th
Notes, please read:
For those of you who don’t know, HWID was the holy grail for Windows activation, letting you generate licenses straight from Microsoft licensing servers, being registered as fully legitimate in microsofts servers and letting you keep the activation permanently, even after windows reinstalls being completely undetectable and with nothing on your system being modified. If you’re still using outdated activation methods and you missed out on this, I’m sorry
Existing HWID licenses are left unaffected. Only new requests are blocked, no licenses were revoked.
By the way, MAS still works and is the best option for Windows/Office activation. For permanent Office activation use it’s Ohook method (supports subscription products such as 365 as well) and KMS38 for Windows
ALL OTHER ACTIVATION METHODS ARE STILL WORKING, ONLY METHOD AFFECTED IS HWID.
All HWID activators are affected, not only MAS
Around that time, Microsoft servers unexpectedly started blocking the licensing requests HWID activation method sends to Microsoft. This was a slow rollout that spanned over a few hours, at the moment the exploit is completely dead. The best options for Windows activation now is KMS38 or vlmcsd.
Patching this would boost illegal key reselling websites which causes more harm to Microsoft than HWID exploit. We can only wonder why they patched this.
{“code”:“BadRequest”,“data”:[],“details”:[],“innererror”:{“code”:“PermanentTSLRejection”,“data”:[],“details”:[{“code”:“113”,“message”:“avsErrorCode”,“target”:null}],“message”:“The Purchase Service rejected the provided TSL; the client should destroy the TSL.”,“source”:“PurchaseFD”},“message”:“The calling client sent a bad request to the service.”,“source”:“PurchaseFD”}
TLS=Temporary Signed License=The tickets HWID activation sends. Microsoft servers are now just responding with “kill it.”
Transferring existing HWID licenses to other computers using Microsoft account is broken too.
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That is my biggest gripe with modern windows. The OS itself is pretty decent, but WHY am I paying at minimum $100 and seeing ads all over the start menu? Even with a vanilla MS sourced USB there are so many bloat apps. It didn’t used to be that way.
I set up a PC for recording in a sound system and got a fresh install of Windows 11 on a custom PC and it was still super bloated with garbage games and a video editor that watermarks footage instead of the perfectly functional basic software they used to have.
I am in the process of repairing and setting up an old macbook with Linux since it stopped getting Apple updates. When I get a new laptop I will likely go with Linux there as well.
If you pay for something, you shouldn’t see ads. Ads should support free (or eh even cheaper) tiers. Fix your monetization strategy.
Nope maximum revenue per user. Always leads to ads since it is free money. Even Apple is moving this way and wants tomincrease their ad business.
I understand your complaint about ads in the start menu but if you’re still going into Start menu these days, you’re using Windows wrong :P
Powertoys!
Yep! And pin to taskbar!
Install as “English (World)” and all adverts and additional software is missed, as it doesn’t know your region, therefore doesn’t know what to serve.
If you need the Windows Store, you can change the region post install, and it’ll remain clean and the store will then populate.
You can’t have it both ways.
I get what you’re saying, and I agree with you, but I think they’ve proven that they absolutely can have it both ways. 99% of people just don’t care.
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It’s absolutely bonkers for Microsoft to even consider that paying $99 or $199 for their ad ridden software is fair and reasonable.
Have you seen their Xboxes? Somehow they get by with charging even more for those with more blatant ads and they charge you to play online multiplayer.
Doesn’t MS lose $ on Xbox hardware so ads and software is the only way to make up that revenue
They do reportedly sell them at a loss and compensate via software sales and these days more than ever, subscriptions. Ads are just icing on the cake for them, I imagine, compared to the software sales & subscription revenues.
I always thought microsoft allowing HWID activation was a deliberate move to get as many people to use windows and got them enrolled into windows updates, which bolster their market share and allow them to push ads/promotion for their various services to windows start menu. I think microsoft got a lot more to lose from ending HWID activation.
Great time to switch to Linux
Ya! And then just quit my job, since none of it runs on Linux.
Probably shouldn’t be running pirated windows at work…
I don’t? Are you assuming because I clicked a random post I saw on the active tab that I run pirated Windows?
Then why would you need to quit your job if you installed Linux on your personal devices?
You are the one that brought up that installing Linux would require you to quit your job, on a post announcing that one method to pirate windows no longer works, implying that either you use pirated windows at work, or your employer has the right to fire you if you install Linux on your personal devices.
Since the latter is extremely bonkers and, quite frankly, unheard of, assuming the former seems much more reasonable. Especially considering that tons of people do indeed run pirated windows at work, and I myself witnessed as much.
Or… Linux can’t run the software and hardware I require for my job? I literally said in the original comment.
I also have my own business. I don’t have a boss.
So, again, you are either implying that you run pirated windows on your work machine, or you are saying you can’t install Linux on your work machine. Neither is what this is being discussed. Having a boss is completely irrelevant
… I genuinely don’t understand how you jumped to those conclusions. You’re a troll.
What software do you require for your job that you’re a business owner that won’t run on linux? Or are you just a troll?
Roland Versa Studio.
Cut Master 4
Affinity Designer
Adobe Illustrator
Do you call everyone a troll that isn’t a Linux fanboy like you?
I mean if you’re already using a Windows machine for work you’re not gonna have to switch.
I imagine unless you’re self employed, you are probably given a machine to work on with a predefined operating system picked by your employer. If someone is in a place where they’re forced to use windows and the employer is making them pay for this equipment and software out of pocket, then that’s wicked scummy of the employer.
I’m just saying this cause I imagine the original comment your replying to has some implicit context of “when possible” or “on my own machine”.
Also it’s a bummer your software doesn’t work on Linux, nothing worse than being locked into a platform.
I imagine unless you’re self employed, you are probably given a machine to work on with a predefined operating system picked by your employer.
And it’s all managed by the IT department. I use Linux on all my personal devices, but on my work computer, I don’t deal with ads, bloatware, or most other things that people complain about Windows because IT took care of that already through group policy and whatnot.
K38 still works. But yeah just switch to Linux.
enshittification continues. windows activation is such an annoyance more than anything. one part change and your activation is gone.
This is why I’m very happy with Valve’s efforts to port Windows functionality to Linux/GNU kernel. The clock is ticking for my main desktop to become a Linux desktop, my only holdouts are games and some of my music production plugins. I could probably abandon some if I had to honestly.
People have been saying “the year of the Linux desktop” for 20 years now. I definitely think it’s closer than ever now that gaming (aside from some anticheat stuff) is mostly there thanks to Valve putting in the work, for sure. Once Win 10 hits EOL, this being the last Windows holdout I have, it’ll get Linux like the rest of them.
Sorry for possibly a stupid question, but what’s the point of activating Windows?
I never seriously used Windows, but I have a Windows 7 VM that’s not activated, and it works. Just the wallpaper is black. Also most of our school computers don’t have activated Windows, yet it seems to work fine, there’s just the watermark. And on some it shows the “You may be the victim of…” message. Same seems to be the case for Office 2016 installed on those. Other than the “non-genuine” message, it works.I guess it’s just a personal thing. I personally cannot stand the “Please Activate Windows” watermark and MAS is such an easy tool that it just makes sense to do it. It’s not like this announcement kills MAS, you can still use the other activation methods
this is even more funny since there are apps that literally target this shit and remove it. Its unregistered, and the watermarks are removed, allowing you to forget the existance you are in. (disclaimer: I didn’t do W11, but I doubt they were that good at their job)
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I’m so happy now that I’ve finally fully migrated to linux.
What’d you end up on, out of curiosity? I was on Fedora for a couple years, but with the whole Red Hat thing (that I don’t fully understand the implications of), I switched to openSUSE Tumbleweed. Still have love for Mint, though, after all these years.
The whole red hat thing (you mean the centos drama?) has no implications whatsoever on fedora, fyi. If you liked it feel free to go back to it.
I’m using endevour os now, though I started on mint a few months ago and loved it. The wife is using mint now and just commented yesterday that it was a very seamless transition from windows. Only problems have been related to nvidia being dumb.
Glad you’re enjoying it. I haven’t messed with Endevour much myself, as Arch-based stuff is a little more hands on than I want to be, personally, most of the time. I think the switch to Linux is easier than a lot of people think. It really just takes some patience, knowing that it’ll be an adjustment, and accepting that you’ll need to find alternatives to some apps.
I’m still a Fedora guy, started on Ubuntu years ago, tried arch (loved AUR) and all the Ubuntu derivatives but once I hit fedora it just stuck.
I made the mistake of fucking around and finding out with the AUR on Manjaro (before all the major drama). Broke it - though, it did make it 2 years beforehand, amazingly. But yeah, totally about Fedora. Fedora made me stop distrohopping.
i want to switch but acer laptops man
What’s up W it?
i tried installing linux there. doesn’t work. apparently needs a bootable device
Good thing i switched to linux
How do you know if someone runs Linux? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.
Good. Free and Open Source Software should be the standard.
Hopefully I don’t need to point you towards the endless list of enshittification for why.
How do you know someone participates in pirating?
Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.I also use linux btw
btw™ is owned and operated by the Arch gang.
All rights reserved.
I recently tried ubuntu on my laptop, every time i brought it back from sleep/hibernation my touchpad wasn’t working and i had to reboot. It’s been a few years since i used it last, i was expecting significantly better stability than that…
Now, you can’t perma-crack your new PC with a “real” HWID key, then years later reinstall Windows and keep your “real” license anymore! And you can’t upgrade anymore on that new PC either! You have to patch Windows every time!
I guess Microsoft didn’t like that their support staff cracks Windows with HWID activation using MAS when their infrastructure breaks down for legit licenses.
Someone said “meh I’ll just use a win 10 22h2 iso with a win 7 key”. It will accept the key during the setup but it won’t actually activate it, right?
what is MAS?
Microsoft Activation Scripts
EDIT: https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts
How did Microsoft not crush this project already?
I should really switch over to Linux full time. I basically have no uses cases that require Windows anymore. Not that this activation patch tipped me over the edge or anything. Microsoft is allowed to fix bugs in their software.
I think they were for a number of reasons tactically “not fixing” this “bug” up to this point.
Microsoft has always been something of a free nagware business model, like WinRAR.
I’ve managed to never pay for Windows my whole life despite using legitimate copies since Windows XP. I guess I probably paid for XP through the hardware OEM, but I got Vista from University and then Win 7 and Microsoft has somehow let me upgrade that version all the way to Win 11. 😅
But if I ever actually had to pay for it I’d likely just switch to Linux forever.
I tried doing a full swap from Windows earlier this year. I do a lot of local game streaming from my gaming pc to my laptop and I had issues getting this working. Didn’t have the energy to keep looking for solutions so I just went back to windows. Next time I try I will probably keep my pc on windows and only swap my laptop to Linux. One step at a time.
Have you tried Parsec? You can download the client as a host on your gamer PC and the guest on your laptop and honestly it works very well in my opinion.
Yes I’ve been using Parsec for quite some time. Love it. Doesn’t work as host on Linux.
I hope this means we’ll finally get activation methods that patch windows itself rather than playing along with their key system. Obviously it can be done since Windows AME has activation Functions completely removed yet it will never try to deactivate itself.
