Windows 8 leaked two months before its October 26 release, back in August, and pirates have been trying their best to get around Microsoft’s activation technology ever since. Early attempts at this ...

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, only genuine ...

Microsoft warned us last month that our favorite Windows upgrade loophole was over, but now it’s official: The activation servers no longer let you use Windows 7 or 8 license keys to activate Windows ...

Ever since Windows 10 made its debut in 2015, Microsoft had the rather generous policy of allowing anyone with a Windows 7 or Windows 8 key to activate the latest version of Windows. This policy ...

Microsoft is closing the loophole that allowed older Windows product keys to activate Windows 10 and Windows 11. This loophole has existed since Windows 10 first launched as a "free" upgrade for ...

Ugh this kinda sucks but I guess it doesn't really matter. I had a bunch of Windows 7 keys from 2009 that have been great with 10 and 11. I get that this free ride is over but it still sucks. It ...

Some hacks are unethical, but others are only outsmarting Big Tech, but Microsoft was quick to catch up on the public's use of old product keys from Windows 7 and Windows 8 for its new operating ...

To recall, Microsoft launched Windows 10 in 2015. At the time, it promised to provide users with a free upgrade to Windows 10 within one year. This offer ended on July 29, 2016. In fact, even after ...

Microsoft closed a Windows 7 / 8 key loophole last month, and now people are experiencing issues reactivating some Windows 10 / 11 installs. Microsoft closed a Windows 7 / 8 key loophole last month, ...

In brief: Anyone planning to use an old Windows 7 or 8 product key to activate Windows 11 should probably pull the trigger now if it isn't too late. Microsoft has announced the end of a grace period ...

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 this ...