Microsoft is investigating Windows activation issues that appear to be linked to the company’s recent move to block Windows 7 and Windows 8 keys from activating copies of Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Microsoft has confirmed that users can no longer use old Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 keys to activate Windows 11. And that applies not only to Canary builds, as it was last month—from now on ...

If your key is not accepted and activation fails ... To update, you need to have Windows 8 or Windows 7 already on your PC. To upgrade to Windows 11, you need Windows 10. If you formatted or ...

At least for now, though, it seems like this change will only apply to future Windows versions. We were able to activate a fresh Windows 11 Pro 22H2 install with a Windows 8 Pro product key as of ...

Many users opting for a free upgrade of Windows 11/10 will not get a product key ... on the Microsoft activation servers for the PC when you upgrade Windows 8.1 or Windows 7.

I’ve tested several Windows 7 keys on a clean install of Windows 11 (22H2) today — and while I could use the keys to install the OS, it wouldn’t activate. “We can’t activate Windows on ...

Alex Kochis, director of Genuine Windows, acknowledges that an activation key given to Lenovo for Windows 7 installs has been exposed, distributed on the Internet. CNET editor Dong Ngo has been ...

Windows PowerShell is a utility that lets you automate Windows features including activation of the operating system. You must activate Windows with a valid license before all Windows features are ...

Microsoft is currently investigating a problem that prevents the activation of Windows 10 and Windows 11, as The Verge reports. The issue affects computers on which users have upgraded from ...

The installation path to obtain the Windows 7 / 8 free upgrade is now ... This means that those with old Windows keys will no longer be able to use them to activate a new version of Windows ...

The Windows 95 activation key has a straightforward format ... “SSSSS” is a random number whose sum is divisible by 7, and “ZZZZZ” are random numbers. Enderman cited that only one out ...