Time of death: 4:22 PM UTC September 26th

Notes, please read:

For those of you who don’t know, HWID was the holy grail for Windows activation, letting you generate licenses straight from Microsoft licensing servers, being registered as fully legitimate in microsofts servers and letting you keep the activation permanently, even after windows reinstalls being completely undetectable and with nothing on your system being modified. If you’re still using outdated activation methods and you missed out on this, I’m sorry

Existing HWID licenses are left unaffected. Only new requests are blocked, no licenses were revoked.

By the way, MAS still works and is the best option for Windows/Office activation. For permanent Office activation use it’s Ohook method (supports subscription products such as 365 as well) and KMS38 for Windows

ALL OTHER ACTIVATION METHODS ARE STILL WORKING, ONLY METHOD AFFECTED IS HWID.

All HWID activators are affected, not only MAS

Around that time, Microsoft servers unexpectedly started blocking the licensing requests HWID activation method sends to Microsoft. This was a slow rollout that spanned over a few hours, at the moment the exploit is completely dead. The best options for Windows activation now is KMS38 or vlmcsd.

Patching this would boost illegal key reselling websites which causes more harm to Microsoft than HWID exploit. We can only wonder why they patched this.

{“code”:“BadRequest”,“data”:[],“details”:[],“innererror”:{“code”:“PermanentTSLRejection”,“data”:[],“details”:[{“code”:“113”,“message”:“avsErrorCode”,“target”:null}],“message”:“The Purchase Service rejected the provided TSL; the client should destroy the TSL.”,“source”:“PurchaseFD”},“message”:“The calling client sent a bad request to the service.”,“source”:“PurchaseFD”}

TLS=Temporary Signed License=The tickets HWID activation sends. Microsoft servers are now just responding with “kill it.”

Transferring existing HWID licenses to other computers using Microsoft account is broken too.

    • Jtskywalker@lemm.eeEnglish
      67·
      2 年前

      That is my biggest gripe with modern windows. The OS itself is pretty decent, but WHY am I paying at minimum $100 and seeing ads all over the start menu? Even with a vanilla MS sourced USB there are so many bloat apps. It didn’t used to be that way.

      I set up a PC for recording in a sound system and got a fresh install of Windows 11 on a custom PC and it was still super bloated with garbage games and a video editor that watermarks footage instead of the perfectly functional basic software they used to have.

      I am in the process of repairing and setting up an old macbook with Linux since it stopped getting Apple updates. When I get a new laptop I will likely go with Linux there as well.

    • Andi@feddit.ukEnglish
      16·
      2 年前

      Install as “English (World)” and all adverts and additional software is missed, as it doesn’t know your region, therefore doesn’t know what to serve.

      If you need the Windows Store, you can change the region post install, and it’ll remain clean and the store will then populate.

    • ALostInquirer@lemm.eeEnglish
      81·
      2 年前

      It’s absolutely bonkers for Microsoft to even consider that paying $99 or $199 for their ad ridden software is fair and reasonable.

      Have you seen their Xboxes? Somehow they get by with charging even more for those with more blatant ads and they charge you to play online multiplayer.

      • thesmart1@lemmy.worldEnglish
        21·
        2 年前

        Doesn’t MS lose $ on Xbox hardware so ads and software is the only way to make up that revenue

        • ALostInquirer@lemm.eeEnglish
          2·
          2 年前

          They do reportedly sell them at a loss and compensate via software sales and these days more than ever, subscriptions. Ads are just icing on the cake for them, I imagine, compared to the software sales & subscription revenues.

  • redcalcium@lemmy.instituteEnglish
    62·
    2 年前

    I always thought microsoft allowing HWID activation was a deliberate move to get as many people to use windows and got them enrolled into windows updates, which bolster their market share and allow them to push ads/promotion for their various services to windows start menu. I think microsoft got a lot more to lose from ending HWID activation.

    • Polar@lemmy.caEnglish
      3621·
      2 年前

      How do you know if someone runs Linux? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.

    • DreadPotato@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      52·
      2 年前

      I recently tried ubuntu on my laptop, every time i brought it back from sleep/hibernation my touchpad wasn’t working and i had to reboot. It’s been a few years since i used it last, i was expecting significantly better stability than that…

      • CeeBee@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        2 年前

        There’s sometimes the odd little issue here and there with things like touchpads. The issue is that device manufacturers keep their device drivers closed sourced, and have zero interest in contributing to things like Linux. So it’s up to open source devs to develop their own drivers.

        Sometimes there’s a bug or two, especially in things like laptops. If you’re using Ubuntu, you’re on an older kernel. The bug may have already been fixed but not made into Ubuntu yet.

        I bet if you tried out something newer like OpenSUSE Tumbleweed or an Arch based (like EndeavourOS, I recommend it) you might find the issue gone.

        • DreadPotato@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          1·
          2 年前

          It’s a 9 year old laptop, so things really should be ironed out on the HW side IMO. It didn’t have issues last i used ubuntu, think it was 18.04 i used back then.

          • CeeBee@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            2 年前

            Regressions happen. One bugfix might introduce a new bug, or interfere with an old one.

            Code is incredibly complex and pulling on one string can unravel another.

    • astraeus@programming.devEnglish
      34·
      2 年前

      This is why I’m very happy with Valve’s efforts to port Windows functionality to Linux/GNU kernel. The clock is ticking for my main desktop to become a Linux desktop, my only holdouts are games and some of my music production plugins. I could probably abandon some if I had to honestly.

      • OverfedRaccoon 🦝@lemm.eeEnglish
        15·
        2 年前

        People have been saying “the year of the Linux desktop” for 20 years now. I definitely think it’s closer than ever now that gaming (aside from some anticheat stuff) is mostly there thanks to Valve putting in the work, for sure. Once Win 10 hits EOL, this being the last Windows holdout I have, it’ll get Linux like the rest of them.

      • Melody Fwygon@lemmy.oneEnglish
        61·
        2 年前

        More major software developers should be doing this and porting everything to Linux as fast as they can. Microsoft is getting greedy these days; and pretty soon we will find ourselves in a world where too many users can’t and won’t afford Windows anymore.

        • astraeus@programming.devEnglish
          52·
          2 年前

          It’s like people are beginning to realize they shouldn’t have to pay for an operating system just so they can use their hardware

    • r00ty@kbin.life
      6·
      2 年前

      Tell you a weird thing. I activated with a £5 Windows 7 ultimate OEM key on my old system. I upgraded from Intel 9th gen to AMD ryzen 7 (AM5), new mobo, ram, CPU.

      Still enabled and active. I fully expected to need to activate again.

      • SeducingCamel@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        2 年前

        I’m still running the same windows 7 license that I put on the PC I built almost 10 years ago, I’ve changed mobos at least 3 times as well as every other component

  • Fedora@lemmy.haigner.meEnglish
    27·
    2 年前

    I guess Microsoft didn’t like that their support staff cracks Windows with HWID activation using MAS when their infrastructure breaks down for legit licenses.

  • AndreTelevise@lemm.eeEnglish
    19·
    2 年前

    Now, you can’t perma-crack your new PC with a “real” HWID key, then years later reinstall Windows and keep your “real” license anymore! And you can’t upgrade anymore on that new PC either! You have to patch Windows every time!

  • u/lukmly013 💾 (lemmy.sdf.org)@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    191·
    2 年前

    Sorry for possibly a stupid question, but what’s the point of activating Windows?
    I never seriously used Windows, but I have a Windows 7 VM that’s not activated, and it works. Just the wallpaper is black. Also most of our school computers don’t have activated Windows, yet it seems to work fine, there’s just the watermark. And on some it shows the “You may be the victim of…” message. Same seems to be the case for Office 2016 installed on those. Other than the “non-genuine” message, it works.

    • yoichi@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      20·
      2 年前

      I guess it’s just a personal thing. I personally cannot stand the “Please Activate Windows” watermark and MAS is such an easy tool that it just makes sense to do it. It’s not like this announcement kills MAS, you can still use the other activation methods

      • BrownianMotion@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        8·
        2 年前

        this is even more funny since there are apps that literally target this shit and remove it. Its unregistered, and the watermarks are removed, allowing you to forget the existance you are in. (disclaimer: I didn’t do W11, but I doubt they were that good at their job)

        • viking@infosec.pubEnglish
          6·
          2 年前

          In Windows 11 they lock down the customization/personalization options, but you can get around that with some registry edits regardless. So I guess it’s pretty straightforward to build a third party tool that replaces the internal customizer.

          But… MAS was so nice and easy.

  • Melody Fwygon@lemmy.oneEnglish
    3216·
    2 年前

    Microsoft is stupid, someone high up is getting greedy or desperate.

    Patching HWID is annoying and doesn’t stop piracy. In fact it will break a lot of legacy systems in general; which is probably what they intended and why they are guilty of corporate greed in this case.

    I hate Micro$hit but I am REQUIRED to use Windows by too many stupid fucking different idiots, apps, and games to count. Linux is still not there yet for me usability-wise; though it probably is still improving.

    No; I will never accept that CLI is an acceptable end-user implementation; GUI is required; along with ease of use and the polish that comes with it. I don’t mind CLI interfaces; but I do feel they’re not user-friendly enough usually. They REQUIRE YOU to LEARN a few things to get used to them; which is the opposite of an intuitive interface.

    NOTE: I am very FLOSS accepting when it meets my needs; but I will not hold back criticism. Do not try to shout me down. You will always be wrong. Windows is factually more user-friendly and application compatibility diverse than Linux.

    I genuinely hope that Linux finds more ways to 100% match Windows functionally without forcing the user to compromise. We need to punish Microsoft for all these years of monopoly holding and reclaim computing more effectively.

    • CeeBee@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      2 年前

      I will never accept that CLI is an acceptable end-user implementation

      This is a very terrible stance. Anytime you type something into a search engine it’s basically like a command-line. Computers used to only be terminals and users were just fine with it then.

      Literally every OS (including Windows) has some things that can only be done in a command window. How about each having their appropriate uses and we use the best tool for a task?

      • radostin04@pawb.socialEnglish
        2·
        2 年前

        I don’t think they mean that everything should have a GUI, but everything that a regular user is expected to do. I still haven’t been able to figure out how to create a .7z file in Linux without using the CLI, and that’s a pretty normal thing to want to do I feel

  • ZeroEcks@lemmy.mlEnglish
    15·
    2 年前

    By the way you can still use a windows 7 key for windows 11, I just have an old laptop with the OEM sticker on it, works fine on every computer I ever tried. Consider just trying to find one in the trash or just take a photo of one on a computer in public that won’t likely get reinstalled.

  • berserker@lemm.eeEnglish
    11·
    2 年前

    After reading through the docs on the MAS site, KMS38 still looks pretty robust. I get that it’s not ‘permanent’ but are there any major drawbacks aside from having to re-run MAS after a fresh Windows install?

  • Draconic NEO@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    10·
    2 年前

    I hope this means we’ll finally get activation methods that patch windows itself rather than playing along with their key system. Obviously it can be done since Windows AME has activation Functions completely removed yet it will never try to deactivate itself.