Free Activation from Windows 7/8 key or upgrade to Windows 10/11 Ends

Microsoft has closed the free Windows 11 upgrade loophole - The Verge

Brink said:

Microsoft has closed the free Windows 11 upgrade loophole - The Verge

The Verge article says that they tested by using a Win7 key to clean install Windows 11.

The Verge said:

I’ve tested several Windows 7 keys on a clean install of Windows 11 (22H2) today — and while I could use the keys to install the OS, it wouldn’t activate. “We can’t activate Windows on this device because you don’t have a valid digital license or product key,” reads the error message when you now attempt to activate a Windows 7 key on Windows 11.

It's not clear if the tried changing the installed key to the Win7 key after a clean install without providing a key (ie. the install has a generic key). It sounds like they provided the key when asked during the install. Nor does it say if they tried the same test with a clean install of Windows 10. In my experience Windows 10 Setup has never accepted a Windows 7 key during the install, but would activate later by changing the installed key.

If anything still has a chance of working, it would be a clean install of Windows 10, then trying to activate with a Windows 7 key after Windows 10 is installed and running (but not yet activated). I'll see if I can find a machine to test that on.

Possible further twist to this saga: now a suggestion that activation rights based on Win 7/8 upgrades may not be transferable to a new PC - thoughts? experiences?

Getting new motherboard, have Win 10 Pro, would like to keep install

Bree said:

If anything still has a chance of working, it would be a clean install of Windows 10, then trying to activate with a Windows 7 key after Windows 10 is installed and running (but not yet activated). I'll see if I can find a machine to test that on.

I've now tested changing the installed key to a W7 Pro key after a clean install of Windows 10 Pro. That no longer activates.

dalchina said:

Possible further twist to this saga: now a suggestion that activation rights based on Win 7/8 upgrades may not be transferable to a new PC - thoughts? experiences?

I have just tested using the Activation Troubleshooter to activate this machine, telling it that I have changed hardware. That no longer works either. It may be that the changes MS have made have broken all such activation transfers, not just those for machines that got a digital licence by a Win 7/8 upgrade.

OEM keys will be the only ones that have any shot working because of the tie to hardware i think its inevitable because they actually did stop it this time and they really want to push people to exodus pre windows 11 computers.

Thanks Microsoft You are starting to look like Apple with this crummy move.

Where we are heading but imo its going further than that. We are entering a dark times in computers there is room for. When they are starting to Authenticate chat logs with crypto in Microsoft owned IP that is painting the future to come.

Had you heard MS is taking over Activision Blizzard? (Major games franchise.. Call of Duty etc). Was on news today...

Game on MS!

Take this as literally and the map that in on the page is just an example but take it literally this is were we are heading imo, tied to the computer because TPM and "trusted computing" and "singed code" but really the end goal is they want to know who is using the computer.

Generation 8 for a reason moving forward and they are exoding mass computers on purpose. This is why TPM is a requirement moving foward because in the future we are going to be tied to the computers and cyborgs and stuff eventually.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/az...tion-solutions

= pretty soon we won't be able to log in to our own PCs without current government-verified id ?