Microsoft uses a combination of hardware IDs (specific components on the system with unique serial numbers) and an actual license key to ensure a device is licensed. This is how sometimes you appear to do a fresh reinstall but the drive activates without a key. You can still pull a traditional license key and it can usually be used to activate 2 distinct devices, but the actual licensing terms are pretty ambiguous in that they say you can only do one device but actually allow 2 or more. Sometimes replacing too many components and activating windows again results in the activation check.
this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2023
6 points (100.0% liked)
techsupport
2468 readers
10 users here now
The Lemmy community will help you with your tech problems and questions about anything here. Do not be shy, we will try to help you.
If something works or if you find a solution to your problem let us know it will be greatly apreciated.
Rules: instance rules + stay on topic
Partnered communities:
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS