How would I keep my offline Windows 10 Enterprise-computers activated?

hajen · 23 Mar 2020

Hi,

I have hundreds of computers running genuine versions of Windows 10 Enterprise but due to them not being allowed under any circumstances to reach the Internet, they are now starting to say "Windows is not genuine" one after another.

If I understand correctly, am I able to set up a server on my site which would act like our very own KMS and those servers can activate using that local KMS-server? If so, can anyone point me in the right direction?

If I've misunderstood, does anyone have any idea how I can activate my Windows 10 Enterprise-computers without allowing any kind of Internet-traffic? Temporarily allowing them Online in order to activate and then taking them offline is not an option.

Thank you, kind regards.

Samuria · 23 Mar 2020

They dont active online never have they us a local kms server if you dont hold VL for them then they are pirated copies and we dont support that

hajen · 23 Mar 2020

Samuria said:

They dont active online never have they us a local kms server if you dont hold VL for them then they are pirated copies and we dont support that

Sorry what are you saying? Windows never use online activation? What is "VL"? They are not pirated copies. We have tens of thousands of machines and they are all activated, but we have a few hundred machines which are completely offline and one after another are starting to say they are not genuine versions of Windows. Upon troubleshooting (i.e. looking at Settings > Activation) it says that Windows can not reach the activation server.

If I was running pirated copies then I could just download a crack for KMS which is 5 minutes away, do not take me for a fool.

Samuria · 23 Mar 2020

If the are genuine volume licence you MUST have a MS local KMS server to activate as that records how many you are running as an audit so they know how much to charge you. Most pirate kms server come with lots of nasties

Berton · 23 Mar 2020

VL or Volume Licensing or Enterprise and Education activation is somewhat different from Home and Pro versions. I tried to use a Win8.x Ultimate key to change Win10 Home to Pro [Yes, it was allowed in a certain circumstance] and ended up reinstalling because Win10 couldn't find an Enterprise server to do the activation and I couldn't otherwise get out of it. A lot of VL has to do with where it was purchased. Could be the company/s the computers were purchased from are involved. But then a lot of countries have different laws that could be of interest.

But to confirm previous information, legitimate forums do not assist in illegal actions.

hajen · 23 Mar 2020

Samuria said:

If the are genuine volume licence you MUST have a MS local KMS server to activate as that records how many you are running as an audit so they know how much to charge you. Most pirate kms server come with lots of nasties

So, the possibility to activate Windows on these machine is possible because some sysadmin somewhere on the site should have a local KMS server? I will look into this, thank you.

Berton: None of the software is pirated.

Berton · 23 Mar 2020

hajen said:

Berton: None of the software is pirated.

Sorry, can't picture in my head the part about

We have tens of thousands of machines and they are all activated, but we have a few hundred machines which are completely offline and one after another are starting to say they are not genuine versions of Windows

and where they are being used.

hajen · 23 Mar 2020

Berton said:

Sorry, can't picture in my head the part about and where they are being used.

It's okay. I work at a very large company and I'm simply working at the IT departments service desk.

hawkman · 24 Mar 2020

Hi

ASSUMING that all of the Non-genuine comps were imaged, ie syspreped
They (your IT dept) would have had to included the required Volume Activation company server, further
and more likely because your seeing it now on multiple machines the "phone home to activate period" has been reached, and thats what the're trying to do and failing, no internet - result = non-genuine.

you can check via this command prompt

slmgr /dlv

If it was me i would have deployed them with a one time MAK activation key, then they could merrily stay Disconnected

further reading
SLMgr Commands and Options for Windows Product Key / KMS / Token / AD Activation - Tech Journey

Roy

LMiller7 · 24 Mar 2020

It is very likely that there is a KMS server somewhere in your organization and that is how the computers were originally activated. But these computers must periodically contact the KMS server to renew activation. For some reason they are not able to do that or the server is unable to comply. It is possible that the computers must use the Internet to access this server. You can set up a KMS server locally but that won't do any good unless it has the appropriate licenses installed. You need to contact someone in your organization that is familiar with the situation.