Windows expiring ?

[Joinaman]

Hi there

Started getting a pop up telling me my windows is expiring soon

Says I ned to validate ? supply number? 

The windows came with the machine, around 3 years ago, so have no idea what, or how to provide the information

Any ideas ??

If I ignore, what will happen , Just not receive updates ?

Any help and advice would be much appreciated

Thanks

[worgeordie]

I suspect you have a fake copy of windows, Win 7 or Win 10,

you can buy very cheap Win10 licenses off Ebay UK, 

£2.95, I have bought a few and they all work.if you already

have Win 10 installed, just validate with license number.

regards worgeordie

[Joinaman]

7 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

I suspect you have a fake copy of windows, Win 7 or Win 10,

you can buy very cheap Win10 licenses off Ebay UK, 

£2.95, I have bought a few and they all work.if you already

have Win 10 installed, just validate with license number.

regards worgeordie

Thanks 

So they issue you with fake copies when you buy a computer from a large shop here in Thailand ?

What happens if i don't buy, get a number ? 

[chrisinth]

OP, I would guess that the shop you purchased your computer from 'helped' you out by installing an image on your HDD/SSD. Did you also receive Microsoft Office, Photoshop, etc? This is/was pretty standard and most people didn't realize it is breaking the rules. I even know some people that are adamant that MS Office comes installed with a windows installation, because they have always had an image installed when getting a new computer.

 

A lot of these shops base their images on an Enterprise version of the OS; this will activate automatically without keys needed or KMS tools, hence the reason they use it. The downside of this is that most enterprise copies only validate for 180 days, then they need to be re-activated which seems to be true in your case. If you open a command prompt (type cmd into search and enter, or windows key + r and type cmd into the run box) and type slmgr /xpr, this will show you the validation of your OS; the example below is from one of my machines, you'res will be different.

 

 

To confirm which version of Windows you are running, type sysinfo into search and click on the System Information entry. This will open the sysinfo module and show you everything about your computer, similar to below. You will see which OS and version you are running.

 

 

Now, I am not 100% sure about this, but I believe you can't just buy a cheap key and change that key on an enterprise version of windows. (Perhaps someone could clarify this?). If that is the case, best scenario is to backup all your data, get a cheap key and download a clean ISO copy of the version you want from MS and build an installation USB with something like Rufus and do a clean format. Note that if you do this, you will not be able to transfer any third party software without their installation media.

 

Going a different route, there are many, many ways to 'activate' windows OS. Can't discuss here as it is against forum rules, but Google is your friend........

 

Good Luck.

[Joinaman]

36 minutes ago, chrisinth said:

OP, I would guess that the shop you purchased your computer from 'helped' you out by installing an image on your HDD/SSD. Did you also receive Microsoft Office, Photoshop, etc? This is/was pretty standard and most people didn't realize it is breaking the rules. I even know some people that are adamant that MS Office comes installed with a windows installation, because they have always had an image installed when getting a new computer.

 

A lot of these shops base their images on an Enterprise version of the OS; this will activate automatically without keys needed or KMS tools, hence the reason they use it. The downside of this is that most enterprise copies only validate for 180 days, then they need to be re-activated which seems to be true in your case. If you open a command prompt (type cmd into search and enter, or windows key + r and type cmd into the run box) and type slmgr /xpr, this will show you the validation of your OS; the example below is from one of my machines, you'res will be different.

 

 

To confirm which version of Windows you are running, type sysinfo into search and click on the System Information entry. This will open the sysinfo module and show you everything about your computer, similar to below. You will see which OS and version you are running.

 

 

Now, I am not 100% sure about this, but I believe you can't just buy a cheap key and change that key on an enterprise version of windows. (Perhaps someone could clarify this?). If that is the case, best scenario is to backup all your data, get a cheap key and download a clean ISO copy of the version you want from MS and build an installation USB with something like Rufus and do a clean format. Note that if you do this, you will not be able to transfer any third party software without their installation media.

 

Going a different route, there are many, many ways to 'activate' windows OS. Can't discuss here as it is against forum rules, but Google is your friend........

 

Good Luck.

Thanks Chris

I bought the computer around 3 years ago, so not sure how this ties in with the 180 day ?

Will look at the rest 

If a new computer bought here, can i insist on the actual sealed disc of Microsoft Windows  and install it myself ? Do they do that here ?

Always used to get discs when buying in Uk, and kept these safe if required later, but never gave it a thought here 

[luckyluke]

Pretty sure I got a fake Windows installed, I paid 1000 ThB.

 

I have now permanently a banner ( On screen right down )  with the mention =

 

" Activate Windows ".

 

But I am still able, so far, to work without any problems.

[chrisinth]

2 minutes ago, Joinaman said:

Thanks Chris

I bought the computer around 3 years ago, so not sure how this ties in with the 180 day ?

Will look at the rest 

If a new computer bought here, can i insist on the actual sealed disc of Microsoft Windows  and install it myself ? Do they do that here ?

Always used to get discs when buying in Uk, and kept these safe if required later, but never gave it a thought here 

Yeah, not sure about the timeline, I was only guessing as to what might have happened. If you type slmgr /xpr into a command window it should give you more clues.

 

As for the operating system, certainly you can purchase a legitimate copy of windows. But, if purchasing direct, this can be expensive, or rather a lot more expensive than purchasing a cheap key. Just looking quickly at Lazada for an example of costs it looks like this (I'm assuming these are legit, I haven't looked at the MS prices))

 

 

On the other hand, you can get legit retail keys for as little as 90 baht on the same page. If it is only for home use I know what I would do.

[Joinaman]

3 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

Pretty sure I got a fake Windows installed, I paid 1000 ThB.

 

I have now permanently a banner ( On screen right down )  with the mention =

 

" Activate Windows ".

 

But I am still able, so far, to work without any problems.

Thanks Lucky. will try and see if i can get a code, but if not, maybe live with the banners if necessary. Just surprised that a supposedky reputable shop would not install an original one. Would go back and give them a piece of my mind, but would be wasting my time here i think

[chrisinth]

11 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

Pretty sure I got a fake Windows installed, I paid 1000 ThB.

 

I have now permanently a banner ( On screen right down )  with the mention =

 

" Activate Windows ".

 

But I am still able, so far, to work without any problems.

As long as you don't need themes and can work with a black desktop, you will be fine with an unactivated OS.

 

If you want to get rid of the Activate Windows watermark, try this registry fix:

 

 Open Regedit

 

Navigate to: computer\hkey_local_machine\software\microsoft\windowsnt\currentversion\softwareprotectionplatform\activation

 

Change the value of "manual" from zero (0) to one(1)

 

Exit Regedit and reboot

 

As a disclaimer, you should always backup the registry before playing with it. If you aren't comfortable with it, don't go there.......

 

 

[luckyluke]

4 minutes ago, chrisinth said:

don't go there.

I won't.

 

[KhunHeineken]

9 hours ago, worgeordie said:

I suspect you have a fake copy of windows, Win 7 or Win 10,

you can buy very cheap Win10 licenses off Ebay UK, 

£2.95, I have bought a few and they all work.if you already

have Win 10 installed, just validate with license number.

regards worgeordie

I understand those cheap keys work, but I am wondering for how long. 

 

How can they be legit for that price?

[Eindhoven]

8 hours ago, Joinaman said:

Thanks Chris

I bought the computer around 3 years ago, so not sure how this ties in with the 180 day ?

Will look at the rest 

If a new computer bought here, can i insist on the actual sealed disc of Microsoft Windows  and install it myself ? Do they do that here ?

Always used to get discs when buying in Uk, and kept these safe if required later, but never gave it a thought here 

 

Did you identify the edition and report back, as requested?

[Eindhoven]

7 hours ago, Joinaman said:

Thanks Lucky. will try and see if i can get a code, but if not, maybe live with the banners if necessary. Just surprised that a supposedky reputable shop would not install an original one. Would go back and give them a piece of my mind, but would be wasting my time here i think

 

If they did not install an original one, it is likely because you did not pay for an original one.

Some devices are sold without Windows preinstalled in order to keep the price down for people who may choose to install their own OS.

So about what exactly would you complain? That they sold you a hooky copy for 300 baht?

Report back as requested and someone will provide a fix. 

But my choice would always be to run my own OS install, rather than entering a key into someone else's possibly 'hooky' install.

[Meat Pie 47]

9 hours ago, worgeordie said:

I suspect you have a fake copy of windows, Win 7 or Win 10,

you can buy very cheap Win10 licenses off Ebay UK, 

£2.95, I have bought a few and they all work.if you already

have Win 10 installed, just validate with license number.

regards worgeordie

Well I did have an original windows 10 installed and not a copy one

and I received the same message and when I installed my new

windows 10 my laptop stopped working and I had to install a new hard drive.

[Sundown]

Just to clarify: there is no such thing as "fake windows". You can download windows for free and leave it not activated, only issue will be the watermark on bottom right but the functionality is 100% as an activated Windows.

If you got a warning after 3 years probably you had a KMS activation which got broken/expired. Just leave it not activated.

[worgeordie]

2 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

I understand those cheap keys work, but I am wondering for how long. 

 

How can they be legit for that price?

Yes they really do work,I have a couple that have been working,no problems

for a few years now.they would not activate if Microsoft thought the keys were fake. 

regards worgeordie

[worgeordie]

2 hours ago, Sundown said:

Just to clarify: there is no such thing as "fake windows". You can download windows for free and leave it not activated, only issue will be the watermark on bottom right but the functionality is 100% as an activated Windows.

If you got a warning after 3 years probably you had a KMS activation which got broken/expired. Just leave it not activated.

But you wont get any updates.......which sometimes can be a good thing.????

regards worgeordie

[n210mp]

No  worgeordie thats not true !

[CorpusChristie]

11 hours ago, Sundown said:

Just to clarify: there is no such thing as "fake windows". You can download windows for free and leave it not activated, only issue will be the watermark on bottom right but the functionality is 100% as an activated Windows.

If you got a warning after 3 years probably you had a KMS activation which got broken/expired. Just leave it not activated.

Are the fake windows the copies and not original windows . 

I recall there was a Court case because Microsoft didnt want to update the windows copies , but the Courts forced them to......................or something like that

[Eindhoven]

18 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

Well I did have an original windows 10 installed and not a copy one

and I received the same message and when I installed my new

windows 10 my laptop stopped working and I had to install a new hard drive.

 

What?! My head is still spinning from reading this. Totally unrelated occurrences. 

[cucme]

On 6/26/2020 at 10:40 AM, luckyluke said:

Pretty sure I got a fake Windows installed, I paid 1000 ThB.

 

I have now permanently a banner ( On screen right down )  with the mention =

 

" Activate Windows ".

 

But I am still able, so far, to work without any problems.

It will stay like this forever.

There are a few functions disabled as long as windows is not activated like installing new fonts or changing the apearance.

If your pc works fine, install a firewall and antivirus and disable it in windows.

Also disable updates, no need for it. Some more services can be disabled. Worx perfect.

[Eindhoven]

14 minutes ago, cucme said:

It will stay like this forever.

There are a few functions disabled as long as windows is not activated like installing new fonts or changing the apearance.

If your pc works fine, install a firewall and antivirus and disable it in windows.

Also disable updates, no need for it. Some more services can be disabled. Worx perfect.

Terrible advice.

The worst.

It costs either nothing or less than 100 baht to fix the issue. 

 

[soalbundy]

This has me confused, I bought my computer with everything installed (copies) 14 years ago win 7 and have had no such problems, why am I special?

[xtrnuno41]

My Thai wife has the same on her comp, not activated but running. DOnt know about updates, never saw it do so.

SHe got problems as not starting after a long time. It turned out that in her bios firmware firmware changed from "legacy"to "UEFI".

ANd then it didnt work anymore. SHe didnt know anything about bios, so never changed her self.

So from who comes the change then? Microsoft? as not being an activated OS?

To make a minor problem, so you go back to shop for legal OS?

When that is changed, it doesnt start and it is very hard to get in the bios to change back again to "legacy".

Time was really short for getting into bios.

Taking out the battery of the laptop improved time to get into bios and change back.

DOnt know about your OS, but it could be the same? You could await this problem?

I wrote it down for her to change herself if she has the problem again and up to now she can and comp still works, not activated.

[recom273]

There isn’t anything fake about it, They are just reselling real license keys, they buy for the real price and redistribute, the website in the video even explains what copy they work with and they have customer support, like someone else said you download the original copy from windows, there is no need to use a pirate copy of Windows any longer.

 

 I just bought a windows computer the other week, I found a “crack” online - i was watching the outgoing traffic after I installed the registry crack, it’s not worth it if you are doing your internet banking and private work on it.

[spambot]

To establish if you have a fake license - Follow the instructions in the video and you will find an entry in Quarantined after the scan HackTool:Win64/AutoKMS.

 

On a Windows update this has caused the issue - Because Windows now forces Windows Defender to recognize this file and place it in quarantine (because Microsoft recognizes that this is being used to validate a version of windows that is not authentic) - When the file is in quarantine it will not do what its been designed to do - That is to perform an update on your windows to registered your windows o/s as valid version - This when it occurs will provide registration valid for 180 days before then needing to be done again.

 

You need to take the file out of quarantine as shown in the video so that it can activate your windows.

 

After you have taken the file out of quarantine, then switch off your pc and back on a gain the file will automatically activate your widows without the need to do anything - for 180 days.

 

Unfortunately the windows virus scanner (called defender) will place it back into quarantine, but you do have the 180 days already before this. You just need to perform this same as shown in the video before the end 180 days each time. However you will still get the message saying that the activation is coming to the end soon (This usually occurs near the end of the period of 180 days).

 

This is the most simple solution - But more complex alternatives to prevent the file ending up into quarantine each time you switch on would be to disable windows updates - However simply doing this in Windows settings does not prevent Windows doing what it is doing right now and placing the file into quarantine. There is a way of overcoming this, but I guess right now you need something simple and hence follow what has been provided here and look at the more complex issues latter once you can at least fix your short term problem of activation.

 

 

 

 

 

[George Aylesham]

On 6/26/2020 at 9:50 AM, chrisinth said:

OP, I would guess that the shop you purchased your computer from 'helped' you out by installing an image on your HDD/SSD. Did you also receive Microsoft Office, Photoshop, etc? This is/was pretty standard and most people didn't realize it is breaking the rules. I even know some people that are adamant that MS Office comes installed with a windows installation, because they have always had an image installed when getting a new computer.

 

A lot of these shops base their images on an Enterprise version of the OS; this will activate automatically without keys needed or KMS tools, hence the reason they use it. The downside of this is that most enterprise copies only validate for 180 days, then they need to be re-activated which seems to be true in your case. If you open a command prompt (type cmd into search and enter, or windows key + r and type cmd into the run box) and type slmgr /xpr, this will show you the validation of your OS; the example below is from one of my machines, you'res will be different.

 

 

To confirm which version of Windows you are running, type sysinfo into search and click on the System Information entry. This will open the sysinfo module and show you everything about your computer, similar to below. You will see which OS and version you are running.

 

 

Now, I am not 100% sure about this, but I believe you can't just buy a cheap key and change that key on an enterprise version of windows. (Perhaps someone could clarify this?). If that is the case, best scenario is to backup all your data, get a cheap key and download a clean ISO copy of the version you want from MS and build an installation USB with something like Rufus and do a clean format. Note that if you do this, you will not be able to transfer any third party software without their installation media.

 

Going a different route, there are many, many ways to 'activate' windows OS. Can't discuss here as it is against forum rules, but Google is your friend........

 

Good Luck.

Thanks for this clear guidance - I found it really useful

[Bangkok Barry]

On 6/26/2020 at 10:46 AM, Joinaman said:

Thanks Lucky. will try and see if i can get a code, but if not, maybe live with the banners if necessary. Just surprised that a supposedky reputable shop would not install an original one. Would go back and give them a piece of my mind, but would be wasting my time here i think

Nearly every shop in Thailand, in my experience, will install a fake version of Windows, along with plenty of other stuff. One time, I found a laptop I wanted but not in the colour I wanted. They told me they'd fetch one from another branch and to return in an hour. When I did, there it was loaded with a whole load of programmes I had no interest in and when I asked why they said that Thais always expect it. I refused to buy it, I used to buy a laptop without an operating system, find a genuine version of Windows (not that easy in Thailand) and install that or get the shop to do it as I watched. I've never liked the idea of cutting corners with something as important at the operating system. Now they often come with a genuine Win 10 installed as it seems that Microsoft have largely given up charging for the Home version.

[NoshowJones]

On 6/26/2020 at 10:45 AM, chrisinth said:

Yeah, not sure about the timeline, I was only guessing as to what might have happened. If you type slmgr /xpr into a command window it should give you more clues.

 

As for the operating system, certainly you can purchase a legitimate copy of windows. But, if purchasing direct, this can be expensive, or rather a lot more expensive than purchasing a cheap key. Just looking quickly at Lazada for an example of costs it looks like this (I'm assuming these are legit, I haven't looked at the MS prices))

 

 

On the other hand, you can get legit retail keys for as little as 90 baht on the same page. If it is only for home use I know what I would do.

Do not buy a Licence key from Lazada one of their cheating sellers sold me one and it did not work, I reported it to Lazada and they just did not want to know, they do not take any responsibility for their sellers.

[TigerandDog]

On 6/26/2020 at 9:12 AM, Joinaman said:

Thanks 

So they issue you with fake copies when you buy a computer from a large shop here in Thailand ?

What happens if i don't buy, get a number ? 

Not just Thailand, everywhere. Once a upon a time when you bought a PC and had Windows and/or Microsoft Office installed you were also given the hard copy of Windows and Office. Nowadays computer shops have a licensed version and they just keep uploading that same version onto every new pc they sell. They do not have a validation key as key #s can only be used once, so they use pc tools like KMSPico to generate a validation key. Unfortunately that key will eventually expire and you start to receive popup messages like the one you mention. I've found the best FREE tool to download is KMSauto. So when you receive the popups saying your license is about to expire just run KMSauto and it will generate a new validation key. You then just repeat the process every 3 or 6 months, or however often you receive the popup messages.