what happen if not using bought Windows activation for too long?

Nandels · 23 Dec 2021

Sorry for my bad english. I tried my best to be understandable. Hope this is a right place to ask about this, since microsoft support not answering my curiosity.

So I have my computer that i build and then broke for really long time. And i also have Windows 10 Pro Retail (Its Retail and genuine iam 100% sure) that also i bought when build that pc. I have planned to repair that computer soon but not now since i don't have time and iam not really into it for now.

My question is, what if i am not use that Windows 10 Pro i bought for too long?
what if i am not activated it to my computer? do i need to transferred and activated it to another computer?

I am sure that windows 10 pro i bought never connect to internet for long time maybe 1 or 2 years.
do i need to concern about my activation windows not connect to server for long time?
will it blacklisted for some reason?

and my apologies if this not fit, but does this applies to windows 8.1? i have another windows too

the reason i ask for this that iam really afraid cause my distant friend far from city i live, once had problem with his windows he bought with the message "This product key doesn't work" and another message said something like "The activation server determined the product key has been blocked" even though its new.

Oh yeah my very last question (my apologies for so many questions, windows in my country so expensive),
RETAIL windows means i can transferred my key right? to another computer whenever i want right? let say if i transferred it to another computer over and over. Is it posible to get activation blocked for doing this (Iam not doing it just wondering?)

THANK YOU in advance for whoever answering question :)
I really appreciate it

dalchina · 23 Dec 2021

Hi, retail licenses can be transferred. I'm not aware of an issue arising if the PC to which a license applies not being used for a long time. E.g. plenty of people have used a valid Win 7 license they've had unused to install Win 10 directly, but that's not the same thing as your digital activation for Win 10 of course.

There are tutorials to help with activation in the searchable tutorial section here. See above.

Should you still have issues MS has regional activation centres you can phone for help.

Megahertz · 23 Dec 2021

As you have a Win 10 Retail license, make sure you have the key code in a safe place.
A retail license can be transferred to another computer so you can use on other computers that you buy or build.

Regarding the computer, if it was once activated it will be forever. You can even do a clean install, deleting everything, skipping entering a key code and it WILL activate. The computer ID is stored on MS servers and now it has a so called digital license.

Matthew Wai · 23 Dec 2021

Megahertz said:

Regarding the computer, if it was once activated it will be forever.

Could the above be out of keeping with the following?

Superfly said:

digital licences are renewed at regular intervals after initial activation - it's not permanent.

NavyLCDR · 23 Dec 2021

I've had computers operate for six months without being connected to the internet and had no problems with activation. I've never heard of a digital license (OEM or retail) needing to be renewed at regular intervals. If you run "slmgr /xpr" you should get a message back telling you that your computer is permanently activated.

In regards to @Nandels questions. The age of product key does not matter. I've got product keys over 8 years old that still work. Microsoft does track how often a product key is used, though and it will block product keys, even retail, if they are used too often to activate new computers. For example, if a retail product key is published on the internet and Microsoft sees that same product key being used to activate 10 different computers in one day (just as example, not a real number), they will block it because there is no legitimate reason for a real owner to activate 10 different computers with the same product key in one day.

Superfly · 30 Dec 2021

NavyLCDR said:

I've had computers operate for six months without being connected to the internet and had no problems with activation. I've never heard of a digital license (OEM or retail) needing to be renewed at regular intervals. If you run "slmgr /xpr" you should get a message back telling you that your computer is permanently activated..

Run https://github.com/Superfly-Inc/Wind...ensingDiag.ps1

You will see these entries from event log - these are the digital licence renewals.

Code:

--------- Clip Event log data ---------
Lease successfully installed.
License Id: 1ba08830-af08-db85-e3f8-a3cb7e5a717b
Associate Id: 1ba08830-af08-db85-e3f8-a3cb7e5a717b
Package (if available): Microsoft.Windows.48.X19-98841_8wekyb3d8bbwe
UserId (if available): NULL
Time Created: Thursday, 30 December 2021 10:26:58 


Lease successfully installed.
License Id: 1ba08830-af08-db85-e3f8-a3cb7e5a717b
Associate Id: 1ba08830-af08-db85-e3f8-a3cb7e5a717b
Package (if available): Microsoft.Windows.48.X19-98841_8wekyb3d8bbwe
UserId (if available): NULL
Time Created: Tuesday, 28 December 2021 16:11:32 

...

PS: Slmgr pertains to product key activation - ClipUp.exe is used for digital licences.

Code:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\ClipUp.exe Usage:
-?/-h   This help menu
-p      Attempts to migrate data from the legacy Windows Phone database
-o      Attempts to migrate data from Windows Genuine Authorization blob
-altto  [path] Optional alternative Windows Genuine Authorization blob folder location
-d      Generate a genuine ticket for the BIOS key
-k      [5X5 product key] Windows product key
-pfm    [package family name] Optional package family name to look for a migratable license
-l      [path] Optional folder of legacy Windows Store licenses
-v      Enables optional verbose logging
-previd         Device ID prior to hardware-related changes
[path]  Optional alternative output location for migrated data

eg: it is used after genuine ticket creation.

NavyLCDR · 30 Dec 2021

However, there is nothing to indicate that periodic online digital license renewal is required to retain activation.

Superfly · 30 Dec 2021

NavyLCDR said:

However, there is nothing to indicate that periodic online digital license renewal is required to retain activation.

It's not a re-activation requirement - just a check - if off-line the status quo remains.

If corruption is found with the installed licence when online Windows becomes de-activated - happened to me once in the early days of Win 11 - unfortunately I no longer have the diagnostic report I did at the time.

BLaZiNgSPEED · 31 Dec 2021

If you don't activate Windows 10 you will get a watermark notification every 4 hours and 10 minutes approximately in the right corner of your screen.

This will appear in the middle of your games and may cause lag. It's a complete nuisance that will ruin your experience. Otherwise nothing else will happen.

The Retail Key doesn't have a duration, you can activate whenever you wish as long as someone else doesn't have it and uses it. A friend gave me Windows 10 Pro license key for free 2 years ago. Never had any issues with activation or watermarks since.

Megahertz said:

As you have a Win 10 Retail license, make sure you have the key code in a safe place.
A retail license can be transferred to another computer so you can use on other computers that you buy or build.

Regarding the computer, if it was once activated it will be forever. You can even do a clean install, deleting everything, skipping entering a key code and it WILL activate. The computer ID is stored on MS servers and now it has a so called digital license.

This however, is wrong. Only if you have a Microsoft Account attached with your Windows 10 key will it not require the key to be entered.

But if you use Local Account during your Windows 10 installation, you must enter the Retail key to activate. Simply logging in with your Microsoft Account will not work as the device isn't attached. This isn't quite the same as an OEM license where you require an MS Account to reactivate Windows.

NavyLCDR · 31 Dec 2021

BLaZiNgSPEED said:

This however, is wrong. Only if you have a Microsoft Account attached with your Windows 10 key will it not require the key to be entered.

But if you use Local Account during your Windows 10 installation, you must enter the Retail key to activate. Simply logging in with your Microsoft Account will not work as the device isn't attached. This isn't quite the same as an OEM license where you require an MS Account to reactivate Windows.

@BLaZiNgSPEED, actually, it would be you who is wrong, and @Megahertz is correct. The first time that Windows 10 or 11 is activated, a digital license for that COMPUTER, not the Microsoft Account, is created and stored on Microsoft Activation Servers based upon the unique hardware ID (mostly motherboard information) of that computer and the edition of Windows 10/11 installed (IE: Home, Pro, Education, ETC.) It does not matter if it is an OEM license or a retail license. Using a local account or a Microsoft Account has no bearing on this.

After the first activation, which requires a product key to occur, subsequent activations can happen with no product key entered by the user. When the computer connects to the internet, it will send the unique hardware ID of the COMPUTER, not the Microsoft Account, along with the edition of Windows 10/11 that was installed to Microsoft Activation Servers. If there is a digital license found matching those two parameters, it is returned to Windows and Windows will activate - again, having a Microsoft Account or not has no bearing on this process. The user really has no control over this digital licensing process. You can wipe a computer's HDD or SSD clean and give away or sell the computer to someone else. As long as they re-install the same edition of Windows 10/11 that was on the computer before, it will activate for them (without any product key) by retrieving the digital license from Microsoft based on the computer's unique hardware ID and the edition of Windows 10/11 installed. The user has no ability to erase the digital license stored at Microsoft once it is created.

The only advantage to a Microsoft Account is that a link to the digital license is created in the Microsoft Account. The user can transfer the digital license from an old computer to a new computer through the Microsoft Account without a product key by using the link created to the digital license in the Microsoft Account. If the user does not use a Microsoft Account on both the old and new computers, then the user would need to enter a product key (or have a product key stored in BIOS) in order to activate the new computer the first time.

The interesting thing about the digital licenses is that Windows 10 and 11 share the exact same product keys and digital licenses, there is no differentiation made in the digital license. Also, there is no differentiation in the digital license between OEM and retail. Microsoft does track product key usage, and places restrictions on the number of digital licenses a product key can be used to create within certain time periods before it gets blocked from automatic online usage - but once the digital license is stored at Microsoft, the digital license acts exactly the same regardless of whether it was created with an OEM or a retail product key.