Microsoft-Activation-Scripts VS vlmcsd

I upgraded my Windows 7 to 10 (due to Chrome-based browsers weren't being updated anymore for Windows 7, and there was the WebP exploit) using DISM, and I learn that you can also upgrade Windows 10 to Enterprise, which is a little less car-salesman-ly than Pro (no web stuff on the Start Menu/search for example):

https://woshub.com/upgrade-windows-10-edition-without-reinst...

On this Windows edition I haven't seen any nudges to upgrade to 11.

There's even a "curl $URL | sh"-esque command to get Windows activated, hosted on Microsoft's own Github: https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts

Or MAS[0]

[0] https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts

this GitHub tool will do it for you in like a few mouse clicks

>! Hey you, want to activate your windows quick and safely? Use MAS https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts I’ve used it before and my computer hasn’t exploded, look it up if you’re worried. !<

I just built a new pc too. I was sceptical about the whole keys thing and didn’t rly want to trust giving my bank details to one of those key websites. I did some reading and used this: Microsoft activation script Omfg so easy idk why u would pay for windows. Took like under a minute and I now have fully licensed windows 11.

When you installed windows you can just leave it deactivated or activate it like this

There is no github script that fixes this, there are scripts that redirect the activation mechanism to pirate activation servers that validate every incoming request. Not knowing this mechanism beforehand, I was very surprised by this, because this is what even many activator software do as well.

I consider it a major breach of trust from the authors. Maybe there can be an exploit that uses the activation mechanism as a vector, and then, many of such machines will be compromised. This is a risk, and it's something that a user needs to evaluate before going into it.

I personally solve this for myself by running the activation server emulator myself. It's open source software and really easy to set up as well.

https://github.com/Wind4/vlmcsd

I routinely downloaded it from a pirate site, but I see that it's available here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-...

Works well without activation, if you don't mind the overlay. But what I did is that I pointed it at a KMS emulator, which is a piece of software that responds to every activation request as a positive. The internet is full of lists of servers like these, but I host it myself - basically just built and compiled this one: https://github.com/Wind4/vlmcsd

I personally run my own activation server (https://github.com/Wind4/vlmcsd), and just point the Windows installation there. Or you can use one of the many servers that are floating around the internet. Either way, it's a bit annoying unfortunately.

/This is not an advertisement for vlmcsd

In AUR: https://github.com/Wind4/vlmcsd