Windows 10: Activation troubleshooting

Uhmmm .. that was what you wanted right... no PID.txt and stuff...?

I don't think it's got to do with free upgrade... it was a nuisance that was removed...and MS may be giving in to OEM pressure to promote Win 10 PC sales..? .. anyway, just playing devil's advocate.

 

Yes it was what I wanted, no "having" to mess with a PID.txt file now. It was mentioned to Microsoft that it caused issues. People did the free upgrade to 10 Pro. Then latter on did a clean install and ended up with 10 Home because of the OEM key. Followed by Microsoft ripped me off complaints. Some even did a second clean install thinking they clicked the wrong option or missed something. It seemed to fall on deaf ears though. It looks like somebody might have actually listened though?

 

This interesting, and confusing, to me anyway?
Description Windows Operating system Volume MAK channel.
But farther down it say activation Microsoft.com.... configextension=Retail.
KTPJR is the last 5 of my MSDN key.

 

OK, Alpha, finally figured the activation path for MAK and retail are the same...same server (seems glaringly obvious now,, but had to test the MAK)

(some lighthearted stuff.. Mark Morrison - Return Of The Mack [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO] - YouTube)

 

One wonders how many PC's one could activate with a MAK key? I still think this should not happen and or wasn't intentional. But I gave up wondering why Microsoft does things like this years ago.

 

MAK Keys appear to vary in my experience I've seen them Quoted as "Up To 3" and also others stated as "10 Use MAK" depending on the intended use I've also noticed that this is either not checked diligently or thought of as more of a guideline than a set restriction

 

MAK keys have allways validated via MS servers,
because in the old days, VLK licences dont and they also needed a SLIC table as part of validation, so if Volume customers had users without a SLIC table they had to issue a MAK
The other difference was that VLK licences were X day dependent
MAK were one-off's.

Roy

 

I hardly ever use MAK keys. Only if that's the only option for the version of Windows I want to run. Like when I want to have a look see at the Enterprise version. Usually, if there is a Retail key available via my MSDN sub I use it. MAK keys are a bit of a special case. It's VL but activates through Microsoft, not via your companies KMS server. Up until now though, I always showed "activated with a Product key", no DL. Now I get a DL. I currently have 3 PC's running Enterprise, all activated with that same MAK key, and all showing activated with a DL.

 

As an eg.. here's a MAK with 5000 activations...

 

It appears, if you activate with a MAK, you don't get a new generic key with the DL? Like what happens with Home or Pro. showkey just returns BBBBB-BBBBB-.... . slmgr though shows the last 5 of my MAK key.

 

Exactly as i woud expect Alphanumeric, slmgr was originally setup and designed for Volume licence users.
But as everybody now knows about it, its ended up being an all user tool, especially /rearm.
note i knew that MAK keys have multiple licence users per key, i meant they only need to be activated once.


Roy

 

Ah, OK, no calling home every 90 days, or what ever it is for KMS. I suspected that, just never bothered to prove it. I think that changes though, if its converted to a DL? I do believe there are periodic rechecks of activation status with a DL.

 

Did a clean install or Windows 10 Education with the latest (updated Jun) MSDN ISO and was not prompted to enter a Key. No PID.txt file either. It appears it looked for a DL, found one, and thus didn't prompt for a key? No having to click I don't have one.

 

Only if the Hardware ID of the computer changes. People like Navy deployed on ships will have computers that won't be connected to the internet for months that will stay activated.

 

I think this is specific to a single verson ISO...

I'm not sure it would know which verson to install if eg. both Home and Pro were included. It will most likely check for an OEM key then, if not found prompt...