MICROSOFT

Killjoy Microsoft shuts down Windows 11 activation without an internet connection

Microsoft has seemingly disabled phone call activation for Windows 11, and perhaps older versions as well, making it impossible to activate Windows without an Internet connection.

This is an unwelcome development for users that want to airgap their systems and enthusiasts who want to activate older versions of Windows on retro hardware. There are some conflicting reports which suggest that select regions may still offer phone activation, but for users in the United States, early reports indicate other Windows versions are impacted by this change as well.

Ben Kleinberg suggested phone activation was no longer possible in a Dec 18th YouTube upload, where an attempt to activate Windows 7 failed. In the weeks since, other reports (thanks, Neowin) have emerged related to Windows 10 and Windows 11, claiming phone activation was unavailable, with an automated response stating that "Support for product activation has moved online. For the fastest and most convenient way to activate your product, please visit our online activation portal at aka.ms/aoh." This is despite the official support documentation page for Windows phone activation still being live and suggesting this method is still an option.

This is just the latest in a multitude of moves from Microsoft lately, that won't sit well with users and will likely be another reason for some people to switch to Linux. Enthusiasts and enterprise users are in an unenviable position, though—even if you feel Windows 11 is changing for the worse, certain games and workloads simply are not feasible on Linux. Even if a Linux distro has everything you need, enterprise customers also have to worry about training employees and compatibility with proprietary applications, and by and large, corporate decisionmakers are more focused on pushing AI than pivoting to Linux anyway, even if there may be some long term cost savings.

Hopefully, Microsoft reverses course on this decision. Microsoft can do what it wants with its OS, but having such a strong monopoly position for costly OS software and silently discontinuing phone activation for said software (at least for specific regions), simply hurts customers who have come to expect the option. If MS can afford record-breaking investments ($13 billion!) in OpenAI, maintaining automated phone lines it's been running for decades should not be a problem.

Key changes to offline activation(below):

Phone Activation Disabled: The automated phone system, which previously allowed users to activate by calling a regional number and providing an installation ID, now redirects callers to an online portal.

Mandatory Internet/Account: These updates further enforce existing requirements for Windows 11 Home and Pro (for personal use) to have active internet connectivity and a Microsoft account during initial setup.

Patching Workarounds: Microsoft has progressively removed command-line workarounds (like the BypassNRO.cmd script) that allowed users to skip internet requirements during the Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE).

Impact on users:

Air-gapped Systems: Users maintaining isolated systems without internet access for security or privacy reasons must now find alternative ways to validate licenses.

Retro Hardware: Enthusiasts trying to activate older versions like Windows 7, whose online servers were already shuttered, can no longer use the phone fallback.

Self-Service Portal: While the automated phone line is gone, users may still be able to use a separate internet-connected device to visit the Microsoft Product Activation Portal to manually enter installation codes

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