Windows 7/8 Product Key to install Windows 10 workaround - possibly no longer

I cpu swapped a i7 12700k to a i7 12900k and lost activation. The pc would not reactivate and I could not get it reactivated without going through an online ms account. (I only do local account). So that has absolutely changed in the last month. I had to use massgrave to reactivate.

I pissed around with a few other local (no ms account) activations.

Offline/local z270 build
Windows 7 Pro oem and Windows 7 Home oem to Windows 10 Pro/Home 22h2 : Activation did not work
Windows 8 Home oem and Windows 8 Pro oem to Windows 10 Pro/Home 22h2: Activation did not work
Windows 8 Pro Retail to Windows 10 Pro : Activation did not work


Offline/local Z690 build
Windows 7 Pro oem and Windows 7 Home oem to Windows 11 Pro/Home 22h2 : Activation did not work
Windows 8 Home oem and Windows 8 Pro oem to Windows 11 Pro/Home 22h2: Activation did not work
Windows 8 Pro Retail to Windows 10 Pro : Activation did not work
Windows 8 Pro oem to Windows 10 Pro : Activation did not work

So yes, 7/8 to 10/11 activation is bricked.
 
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Wow just for changing a CPU? I have in the FS forum a WTB thread for a i7 CPU to replace my old i5 CPU. So if this is true, that probably means that mine will also deactivate. I to have a local account.
 
Executioner said:
Wow just for changing a CPU? I have in the FS forum a WTB thread for a i7 CPU to replace my old i5 CPU. So if this is true, that probably means that mine will also deactivate. I to have a local account.
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chips and board are the most common tigger but it is random if it happens.


but trying to reactivate with an oem key has never worked. what we have been talking about is using them for a fresh install.
 
Normally when I swap parts around there is no problem. Rarely, windows deactivates and then reactivates itself via ms servers as long as the motherboard/cpu is the same. I can't think of too many times when that hasn't worked and I have built hundreds of custom pcs in the last 5 years. The few times it didn't reactivate, I would just throw another key at it and off we go. That no longer works as far as I can tell. Inserting the original key or a new key did nothing. Wiping and starting over with a new key did nothing.

Massgrave hwid option 1 did work. Don't quote me, but as far as I can tell, it uses a temp key to generate a legit hwid activation code on your pc and then feeds it to the ms servers. The ms servers seem to use your pc/os as the only check point for os activation. The ms servers just assume everything is fine if they get fed a hwid activation notice from a pc. This worked as an in place reactivation and a clean install activation. Out of curiosity I did wipe a hd after activating with massgrave and reinstalled the os, it activated like normal as soon as it went online. So it isn't just a temporary activation bypass that stays on the hd/os. The hwid/activation id is actually stored on ms servers. The real question is, will ms ever audit their servers and deactivate stuff in the future? I doubt it. I would bet 2/3rds of their activation hwids are w7/w8/keygen/etc stuff.

MS updates runs fine with no issues after using massgrave activation.

I will try a bios update next and see if that messes anything up.
 
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I can state that a Win7 key no longer works. I just tried it on an old Dell E6440 laptop. I guess the person that had the laptop never upgraded to 10, so the sticker under the battery where the win7 pro key is did not work. I even tried some keys that I had saved when I decommissioned a laptop by using the "slmgr.vbs /upk" command. These keys had worked before and now they don't.
 
Ya it seems the fun is over. But the alternative I posted above works well.
https://hardforum.com/threads/windo...nd-possibly-no-longer.2030748/post-1045745438
Executioner said:
I can state that a Win7 key no longer works. I just tried it on an old Dell E6440 laptop. I guess the person that had the laptop never upgraded to 10, so the sticker under the battery where the win7 pro key is did not work. I even tried some keys that I had saved when I decommissioned a laptop by using the "slmgr.vbs /upk" command. These keys had worked before and now they don't.
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The massgrave option works for me as well, this AM.
Last night I installed win10 on a 2012 iMac, did the massgrave process, activated fine.
This AM I pulled out the 5400rpm drive, installed a 7200rpm drive and reinstalled Win10 ,low and behold, the W10 siad it was activated with a digital license...I didnt have to redo the massgrave process
 
i just used a HP oem 7pro key on a Dell, seems to have activated fine. i am feeding them during setup not from within windows, thats never worked....
using "setup for work/domain join" also still allows a local account to be created.
not sure why this is still all working for me...
 
I'm curious if this will be an issue on a laptop that I'm currently working on. I had to replace the mobo on this Dell E6540 laptop. While doing my testing on the DVD drive, I simply hit the eject button and the laptop shut off. Would not power back on even with the power brick removed and running only on battery. I bought a used one on Ebay, but I'm curious if it will reactivate with the replacement mobo.
 
Executioner said:
I'm curious if this will be an issue on a laptop that I'm currently working on. I had to replace the mobo on this Dell E6540 laptop. While doing my testing on the DVD drive, I simply hit the eject button and the laptop shut off. Would not power back on even with the power brick removed and running only on battery. I bought a used one on Ebay, but I'm curious if it will reactivate with the replacement mobo.
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Typically Widows will need reactivation with a new MB as that is a major change.
 
narsbars said:
Typically Widows will need reactivation with a new MB as that is a major change.
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That is what I found. I have an ASUS TUF Gaming (2022) laptop. It came with Windows 11 Home. I upgraded it to Windows 11 Pro. I had to send it in for repairs. They replaced the motherboard. When I got it back it said it needed to be activated. After I reentered the Windows 11 Pro key it received a new digital license.
 
Some people mentioned KMS volume license keys which require a corporate activation server. There are also MAK volume license keys that are activated with Microsoft activation servers. Years ago I bought a volume license copy of Windows 8 Pro. I activated it with a MAK key. When Windows 8.1 Pro came out I did the free upgrade to it. I was surprised I was able to do a free upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. BTW, this was a legitimate purchase of Windows 8 Pro VL because it was for a non-profit.
 
OtherMisterEd said:
That is what I found. I have an ASUS TUF Gaming (2022) laptop. It came with Windows 11 Home. I upgraded it to Windows 11 Pro. I had to send it in for repairs. They replaced the motherboard. When I got it back it said it needed to be activated. After I reentered the Windows 11 Pro key it received a new digital license.
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That was the same as buying the laptop from ASUS in the first place. The MB had been registered with MS as legit. Good customer service!
 
I installed the replacement mobo with the same CPU and I did not have to re-activate. The mobo replacement is the same model number as the one I removed. The only difference was the service tag number.
 
did another one this morning, HP 7 pro key on a Dell, fed the key during setup and its activated.
also, i found that 11 edu completely ignores the tpm requirements. I was able to install it on the HP that the oem key came from but using our volume 10/11 key. didnt bat an eye, its active and updating right now, its got an i5-3427U.
 
the trick is...
Install windows 7, crack it with KMS, 'upgrade' to 10, let Microsoft take your hardware info, then hard wipe and reinstall 10 fresh...
 
I need to upgrade an old desktop running 7 Home. I just want to make sure I understand the process before a start (already backed everything up).

So, can I just install 10 as a new install, then use the massgrave.dev process to activate it? Do I need to 7 key for that process, or does it just use its own key?
 
Yippee38 said:
I need to upgrade an old desktop running 7 Home. I just want to make sure I understand the process before a start (already backed everything up).

So, can I just install 10 as a new install, then use the massgrave.dev process to activate it? Do I need to 7 key for that process, or does it just use its own key?
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I believe it uses it's own key. I put in my own key but I remember it saying it replaced it.
 
Yippee38 said:
I need to upgrade an old desktop running 7 Home. I just want to make sure I understand the process before a start (already backed everything up).

So, can I just install 10 as a new install, then use the massgrave.dev process to activate it? Do I need to 7 key for that process, or does it just use its own key?
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i recently did a new build a few months ago and the massgrave tool worked perfectly, no key was needed from me.
 
Shoganai said:
I would much rather have the OS that's running my entire everything legitimately registered.
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please explain to me the advantage of that to me ??
it is activated and receives updates, so what am i missing ?
 
bluestang said:
You're missing nothing. Some people just don't understand how massgrave works.
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Or some people would rather use their operating system in a legal manner. I know legal will be a semantic term to someone with your attitude, but the heart of the problem is still piracy. Whether the tool registers Windows legitimately or not via Microsoft activation scripts is irrelevant. It's still a bypass.
 
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Not to mention, massgrave, yes it is open source, and you can see everything it does, but all it takes is a small edit one day from them, and what was a trusted script, is now turning computers into botnets and people wont know the better. People run activation scripts and app cracks all the time and believe the tools who say "its a false positive, you can run it, it is safe!" meanwhile their browsers been scraped and all saved creds stolen...

So glad I just ended up moving to linux for my daily driver...no more worries about this stuff.
 
MrGuvernment said:
Not to mention, massgrave, yes it is open source, and you can see everything it does, but all it takes is a small edit one day from them, and what was a trusted script, is now turning computers into botnets and people wont know the better. People run activation scripts and app cracks all the time and believe the tools who say "its a false positive, you can run it, it is safe!" meanwhile their browsers been scraped and all saved creds stolen...

So glad I just ended up moving to linux for my daily driver...no more worries about this stuff.
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Same here. Once you lose the Windows mentality, Linux is beautiful.
 
I also do love how people think because an MS tech used it, it makes it legal, it does not, read MS fine print on their OS agreement...or cause MS owns github, still doesnt make it legal.

I guess i find it funny, people will drop $100+ to pre-order a game, and thousands on a computer, but scoff at the idea of paying for the OS that lets you run everything on it.. cause "big bad MS" but hey Blizzard, Activision , here is all my money before you even have a product.

MS has been able to stop pirated keys for a very long time, but they do not, why, because they would rather you use their OS, than another OS and just mine all your data
 
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MrGuvernment said:
I also do love how people think because an MS tech used it, it makes it legal, it does not, read MS fine print on their OS agreement...or cause MS owns github, still doesnt make it legal.

I guess i find it funny, people will drop $100+ to pre-order a game, and thousands on a computer, but scoff at the idea of paying for the OS that lets you run everything on it.. cause "big bad MS" but hey Blizzard, Activision , here is all my money before you even have a product.
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That is not the problem. The problem is that you cannot buy a new Windows 10 key from Microsoft anymore. I will NOT put Windows 11 on any of my machines. When that day comes, they all will be switching to linux. I've already done that on my laptop.
 
Are Windows 10 and 11 activation interchangeable though. Meaning. if you building a brand new system, buy and license and activate 11, then install 10, would the digital activation from 11 take on 10. Just a thought.
 
Yippee38 said:
That is not the problem. The problem is that you cannot buy a new Windows 10 key from Microsoft anymore. I will NOT put Windows 11 on any of my machines. When that day comes, they all will be switching to linux. I've already done that on my laptop.
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You are an exception then, most it is exactly what I said. So if you are always building new systems or something, should of bought a full retail version? You can transfer it between systems?
 
MrGuvernment said:
You are an exception then, most it is exactly what I said. So if you are always building new systems or something, should of bought a full retail version? You can transfer it between systems?
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BTW, I bought a(n apparently) valid license key from G2A for <$20.
 
G2A can be questionable pending on the seller, which is like 99.999999% of everything on the sitre, but in the end, one still has to ask, why is it G2A and "sellers" can sell MS Windows "legit" keys for $20 vs no one else can? Because they are not legit..as in actually legal to be sold
 
MrGuvernment said:
G2A can be questionable pending on the seller, which is like 99.999999% of everything on the sitre, but in the end, one still has to ask, why is it G2A and "sellers" can sell MS Windows "legit" keys for $20 vs no one else can? Because they are not legit..as in actually legal to be sold
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Yeah. I get that. It's shady. But it's probably a lot less shady than the "stores" online that are selling licenses.
 
Better to keep the $20 in your pocket if you are going to flirt with a key that most likely isn't legit anyway... at that rate... just use the M A S S G R A V E script and sail the high seas

1703270116086.png
 
THUMPer said:
New work around.

https://massgrave.dev/index.html

https://massgrave.dev/hwid.html
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Just wanted to say thanks for the info on mass grave. I've got 6 win7 keys that I didn't know could not be used for upgrade anymore. And I just spent all day cloning a win7 install, getting a win10 iso to work for the update (couldn't loss my kids data) and debloating windows 10 before I let it connect to the internet. All because valve didn't want to make their own code anymore. Now I'm off to learn how to use mint, for my PC.
 
n64link said:
Just wanted to say thanks for the info on mass grave. I've got 6 win7 keys that I didn't know could not be used for upgrade anymore. And I just spent all day cloning a win7 install, getting a win10 iso to work for the update (couldn't loss my kids data) and debloating windows 10 before I let it connect to the internet. All because valve didn't want to make their own code anymore. Now I'm off to learn how to use mint, for my PC.
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I've used massgrave when a Windows key I bought ... from the Microsoft store ... wouldn't work. Apparently Microsoft uses massgrave as well to address this problem.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...-windows-for-customer-after-activation-fails/
 
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