Digital activation coming from nowhere ?!?

MaloK said:

After setting devices Windows restarted and booted to a Digitally Activated Windows...
So I took it back to the initial machine and did the same, With the same outcome, Windows is still Digitally Activated... I added the VHD to a VM and booted in when to activation an there it was: Windows is not activated because your hardware changed... What I was expecting as normal behaviour.
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The Digital Licence for Windows 10 is tied to the hardware ID of a PC and stored on Microsoft's activation servers. If that PC has ever been upgraded to Win10 in the past, even if it is now back to running Windows 7, then it has a permanent digital licence. If you now run Windows 10 on it, whether by a clean install or from a VHD, then Windows will query the activation servers with the hardware ID of the PC it finds itself running on. If that ID has a digital licence linked to it, then Windows activates.

Have you ever, at any time since 2015, run Windows 10 on these machines, even if only as a brief test? If so, then that explains where the activation came from.

It's actually very difficult to find any PC that has never tried Windows 10. I did have one set aside for testing activation issues. I then used it to test W10 activation, so it is no longer of any use for that purpose. There's no way to remove a digital licence once a PC's hardware ID has one. So I sold it, then went out and bought another W7 machine that has never been activated (yet) for W10.

MaloK said:

... I was surprised that Windows Would not Block having multiple activation on different hardware in one install.

Windows 10 doesn't care how it got installed. The only thing it cares about is whether the machine it's currently running on has a digital licence on the activation servers. If the hardware ID is licensed, then Windows activates.

MaloK said:

Yep... Your right I did on the W7 machine, years ago... and used the Key that was on it... But how come the same thing occurs when I move the VHD to another machine... The second used is not supposed to have a Digital License "Free" at the moment...

I have a couple other tests to do... But this is interesting.

Because the way it looks... As long that I use any computer with a Digital Win10Pro license embedded my WinTogo will activate on startup ??? (this is going to be verified soon)

I don't really like the idea... But since The License is tied to the hardware there is never concurrent execution of both... It's not like if it was an illegal activation... But I was surprised that Windows Would not Block having multiple activation on different hardware in one install.

This is quite normal behaviour for a wtg drive. It activates according to activation status of hardware you connect to i.e. if pc has a digital licence, your wtg will activate. If pc does not have digital licence, it will not. You can prove this by connecting wtg vhd to a new virtual machine.

As an aside, this technically contravenes the EULA which says you need a licence per installation but absurdly you cannot comply as 2nd installation always activates if same edition.

Same happens if you dual boot two of same edition on a pc.

My host pc will boot to main W11, and 3 vhds (w11RP, W11Beta, W11Dev) and they all run activated of same digital licence.

Before anybody accuses me of violating EULA, it does not as Insider EULA is different to main host EULA.

MaloK said:

Thanks Bree, I'm going to check it out on a machine that is not licensed for Pro.

You can check it in a virtual machine.