Hey everyone, I'm dealing with an unusual situation where my Windows 11 Home has been activated for no clear reason. To provide some context, I built my PC about two years ago with a Ryzen 5 3600, MSI B450M-A Pro Max, 16GB of Corsair DDR4 RAM, a 1TB Kingston SSD, and an RX 6600. I bought all the parts from a reputable site and they were brand new.
Initially, I didn't have Windows activated and didn't want to pay for it, so I stumbled upon a GitHub page claiming to offer free Windows activation. I executed some commands in the command line, and it activated Windows 11 Pro. After a bit of time, I noticed my PC running sluggishly, so I decided to reinstall Windows and again used the activation scripts. A week later, Windows Defender flagged something that resembled malware, but it was taken care of.
Eventually, I reinstalled Windows again, this time opting for the Basic Home version and skipping any activation scripts. After installing updates and restarting, I could change my wallpaper, and it showed that Windows 11 Home was activated with a retail license. I chatted with someone to troubleshoot, but we couldn't pinpoint the reason behind the activation.
I'm curious if anyone else has experienced something similar or if there's a chance there's hidden malware in my system that's somehow activated Windows. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
2 Answers
Honestly, it sounds like you may have had a Windows license baked into the UEFI firmware all along. You might've unlocked it without needing to use those activation scripts. Also, home licenses aren't too pricey; I've seen them going for around $3 to $12 in my region, so you might have saved yourself a hassle!
Sounds like you might have had a KMS key linked to your motherboard without realizing it. Sometimes, those keys can activate Windows if the hardware is still recognized by Microsoft's activation servers.
That’s interesting! I thought it was just a local account. I did have it connected to a Microsoft account previously.
But I bought the motherboard brand new! Do you think it had the activation already?