- How to use it? Please find the instructions [here](intro.md#download--how-to-use-it).
- This activation is permanent until a Windows reinstall or a major feature upgrade (not to be confused with small enablement upgrades or monthly cumulative updates).
- This activation method doesn't modify any Windows components and doesn't install any new files.
- Once the system is activated, hardware can be changed arbitrarily without triggering de-activation.
- Internet is not required for this method.
- This activation method can activate any of the following products if a phone license is available and licensing is managed by the system's SPP. For example,
* Windows 7 and later
* Windows Server 2008 R2 and later
* Office 2013 and later (requires Windows 8 or later)
* Windows addons (ESU, APPXLOB, etc.)
* Windows and Office KMS Hosts (CSVLK)
- Online validation (WAT) is bypassed on Windows 7.
- In addition to the permanent activation of Windows and Office KMS Hosts, it also charges the KMS server with 25 clients (required for KMS client activation) for 30 days (maximum).
- In addition to activation, it can reset the rearm count and evaluation period, clear the tamper state, and remove the evaluation key lock.
- Windows activation is managed by a subsystem called the Software Protection Platform (SPP).
- SPP stores information about the activation state in files called the "physical store" and "token store".
- The physical store's contents are cryptographically protected and integrity-checked by SPPSvc/SPSys, preventing users from easily modifying it.
- The physical store is usually found at these locations:
- Windows 7 - `C:\Windows\System32\7B296FB0-376B-497e-B012-9C450E1B7327-5P-0.C7483456-A289-439d-8115-601632D005A0` and `C:\Windows\System32\7B296FB0-376B-497e-B012-9C450E1B7327-5P-1.C7483456-A289-439d-8115-601632D005A0`
- Windows 8 - `C:\Windows\System32\spp\store\data.dat`
- Windows 8.1/10/11 - `C:\Windows\System32\spp\store\2.0\data.dat`
- The token store is usually found at these locations:
- Windows 7 - `C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SoftwareProtectionPlatform\tokens.dat`
- Windows 8 - `C:\Windows\System32\spp\store\tokens.dat`
- Windows 8.1/10/11 - `C:\Windows\System32\spp\store\2.0\tokens.dat`
- In normal product key installation and phone activation, associated data is written to the physical store and token store. Said phone activation data is [cryptographically checked](https://github.com/UMSKT/writeups/blob/main/PKEY2005.md) against the Installation ID before being written. When SPP relaunches, it is only given a very basic check against the current Hardware ID.
- By writing forged data directly to the physical store and token store, we can bypass both checks, causing SPP to believe it installed a fake product key and/or confirmation ID.
- To bypass checks for hardware changes, a [Hardware ID](https://github.com/massgravel/activation/blob/main/Hwid.md#hardware-id) with a threshold of 0 is included in this forged data.
- On Windows 7, the fake product key data does not contain a value known as the "Key Unique ID". This value is required for both WAT and online activation, so removing it causes both to be non-functional, preventing WAT from triggering de-activation.
- The presence of valid product key and confirmation ID data causes SPP to activate the specified product as long as it is capable of phone activation.
- This process is implemented as the ZeroCID option in [TSforge](https://github.com/massgravel/TSforge).
This activation method does not work if a phone license is not available or if licensing is not managed by the system's SPP.
- **Windows Vista / Server 2008**
- You can use these [alternative options](unsupported_products_activation.md#windows-vista) to activate.
- **Office on Windows 7**
- Its licensing is based on OSPP, not SPP.
- You can use Online KMS option in MAS to activate it.
- **Office 2010**
- Its licensing is based on OSPP, not SPP.
- You can use Online KMS option in MAS to activate it.
- **Office 365**
- Phone activation license is not available. TSforge option will install Mondo 2016 license (feature-wise equivalent to 365) instead to activate Office.
- You can use Ohook option in MAS to activate it.
- **Windows Evaluation editions** (Windows 8 / Server 2012 and later)
- Permanent activation license is not available. TSforge option will reset the evaluation period instead.
- **Windows Evaluation editions** (Windows 7 / Server 2008 R2)
- WLMS service protects the SPPSVC service and prevents it from stopping. Although permanent activation license is available, its officially not supported.
- It does not support activation on non-azure systems.
- **Windows 10 Consumer ESU (1 Year)**
- Its licensing is based on CLIP, not SPP.
- You can activate commercial ESU for 3 years on Pro and higher level editions with TSforge.
:::info
**Windows Vista:** Unlike Windows 7, Vista SPSys constantly holds an exclusive handle to the physical store, preventing user-mode programs from writing to it. This has prevented us from adding support for it.
**OSPP based Office:** Physical store is stored in the registry in a format that has not yet been reverse engineered.
- Microsoft offers paid [Extended Security Updates](https://learn.microsoft.com/lifecycle/faq/extended-security-updates) (ESU) for several Windows versions after their product lifecycle ends.
- You can activate the Windows ESU / Premium Assurance license using the TSforge option in MAS.
| Windows 7 | Enterprise, Professional, Ultimate <br/> and their E/N variants | [3 Years](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-7) <br/> Jan 2020 to Jan 2023 <br/><br/> 4-6 Years ESU is not officially supported, <br/> but you can manually install Server 2008 R2 x64 updates until Jan 2026 | Windows 7 SP1 <br/> + <br/> KB4490628 [x64](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/secu/2019/03/windows6.1-kb4490628-x64_d3de52d6987f7c8bdc2c015dca69eac96047c76e.msu)-[x86](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/secu/2019/03/windows6.1-kb4490628-x86_3cdb3df55b9cd7ef7fcb24fc4e237ea287ad0992.msu) <br/> KB4474419-v3 [x64](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/secu/2019/09/windows6.1-kb4474419-v3-x64_b5614c6cea5cb4e198717789633dca16308ef79c.msu)-[x86](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/secu/2019/09/windows6.1-kb4474419-v3-x86_0f687d50402790f340087c576886501b3223bec6.msu) <br/>**Reboot**<br/> KB5039339 [x64](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/secu/2024/06/windows6.1-kb5039339-x64_f62846508976a6e5325ab1dca0783f9b3a60a564.msu)-[x86](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/secu/2024/06/windows6.1-kb5039339-x86_fa942048bba2a167242451236f9daf00940588aa.msu) <br/> KB4575903 [x64](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/secu/2020/07/windows6.1-kb4575903-x64_b4d5cf045a03034201ff108c2802fa6ac79459a1.msu)-[x86](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/secu/2020/07/windows6.1-kb4575903-x86_5905c774f806205b5d25b04523bb716e1966306d.msu) <br/> KB3138612 [x64](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/updt/2016/02/windows6.1-kb3138612-x64_f7b1de8ea7cf8faf57b0138c4068d2e899e2b266.msu)-[x86](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/updt/2016/02/windows6.1-kb3138612-x86_6e90531daffc13bc4e92ecea890e501e807c621f.msu) <br/> KB5016892 [x64](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/secu/2022/08/windows6.1-kb5016892-x64_52b68ba8744cb47ddfcecd19238087625e1a5fbd.msu)-[x86](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/secu/2022/08/windows6.1-kb5016892-x86_ffb5b83149833e7f969f69e4f152fee5c1fdbc68.msu) |
| Windows 7 Embedded POSReady7 | Embedded | [3 Years](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-embedded-posready-7) <br/> Oct 2021 to Oct 2024 | Same as Windows 7 minus KB5016892 |
| Windows 7 Embedded Standard | Embedded | [3 years](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-embedded-standard-7) <br/> Oct 2020 to Oct 2023 | Same as Windows 7 minus KB5016892 |
| Windows Server 2008 R2 | ServerDatacenter, ServerStandard, ServerEnterprise <br/> and their V/Core/VCore variants | [6 Years](https://web.archive.org/web/20170331081347/https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2017/03/01/now-available-windows-server-premium-assurance-and-sql-server-premium-assurance/) with Premium Assurance License <br/> Jan 2020 to Jan 2026 | Same as Windows 7 |
| Windows Server 2012 | ServerDatacenter, ServerStandard and their Core variants | [3 Years](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-server-2012) <br/> Oct 2023 to Oct 2026 | KB5017221 [x64](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/secu/2022/08/windows8-rt-kb5017221-x64_d01e9b9b910f5f1e374bc1b89a8d00c1a97e215f.msu) <br/> KB2937636 [x64](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/crup/2014/07/windows8-rt-kb2937636-x64_29e0b587c8f09bcf635c1b79d09c00eef33113ec.msu) |
| Windows 8.1 | Enterprise, Professional, EmbeddedIndustry and their E/N variants | ESU is not officially supported, <br/> but you can manually install Server 2012 R2 (for x64) updates until Jan 2024, <br/> and Embedded 8.1 (for x86) updates until July 2023 | Build 9600.17415 <br/> + <br/> KB3021910 [x64](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/updt/2015/04/windows8.1-kb3021910-x64_e291c0c339586e79c36ebfc0211678df91656c3d.msu)-[x86](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/updt/2015/04/windows8.1-kb3021910-x86_7e70173bec00c3d4fe3b0b8cba17b095b4ed2d20.msu) <br/> KB3172614 [x64](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/updt/2016/07/windows8.1-kb3172614-x64_e41365e643b98ab745c21dba17d1d3b6bb73cfcc.msu)-[x86](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/updt/2016/07/windows8.1-kb3172614-x86_d11c233c8598b734de72665e0d0a3f2ef007b91f.msu) <br/> KB5017220 [x64](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/secu/2022/08/windows8.1-kb5017220-x64_d771111b22ec71560b207a6735d5ecebd47c4f38.msu)-[x86](https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/secu/2022/08/windows8.1-kb5017220-x86_3134a18dac1b1fe4f656c9e25d0e4aaa75619d16.msu) |
| Windows Server 2012 R2 | ServerDatacenter, ServerStandard and their Core variants | [3 Years](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-server-2012-r2) <br/> Oct 2023 to Oct 2026 | Same as Windows 8.1 |
| Windows 10 | Education, Enterprise, IoTEnterprise, <br/> Professional, ProfessionalEducation, <br/> ProfessionalWorkstation, ServerRdsh and their N variants | [3 Years](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/extended-security-updates) <br/> Oct 2025 to Oct 2028 | Windows 10 22H2 (19045.4957) <br/> Just run Windows Update |
- When prompted for a KMS host product key during installation, select "No".
- On Windows 11 24H2/Server 2025 and newer, the VBScript FoD must be enabled for these installers to work.
- Office 2019-2024 packs are only supported on Windows 8/Server 2012 and newer.
- If installing multiple license packs on the same machine, make sure to install older versions before newer versions (ex. Install Office 2016 before Office 2024).
- This activation method doesn't modify any Windows components and doesn't install any new files. Instead, it appends data to one of data files used by Software Protection Platform.