Solved activating win 11

Colif · Aug 31, 2021

I (accidentally) am running win 11 on my main PC and have a question about future.

I assume I will have to reinstall 10 to update it to 11 to get an actual win 11 license? I could keep using insiders as I haven't had any problems but I figure I will need a key eventually

I assume running it on insiders didn't magically turn it into an 11 license? what are people doing on clean installs? is it same as win 10 where you click "I don't have a key" but is it using a win 10 activation still?

cineman195 · Aug 31, 2021

You need to have some license, either of Windows 7,8 or 10 that you have to enter to activate it.
Otherwise, windows will keep nagging you.
You can't run windows 11 as an insider permanently !

clam1952 · Aug 31, 2021

If it was activated on Win10 it's activated on Win11 insider and will be if you revert to non insider when it's released.

Check in Settings > System > Activation, should say either Activated with a Digital Licence or Activated with a Digital Licence tied to your Microsoft Account.

Fabler2 · Aug 31, 2021

cineman195 said:
You need to have some license, either of Windows 7,8 or 10 that you have to enter to activate it.
Otherwise, windows will keep nagging you.
You can't run windows 11 as an insider permanently !

Possibly - although I became an insider on Oct 4, 2014 and still am today :thumbsup:

Quandary · Aug 31, 2021

Colif said:
I assume I will have to reinstall 10 to update it to 11 to get an actual win 11 license? I could keep using insiders as I haven't had any problems but I figure I will need a key eventually

No need to reinstall if you exit the Windows Insider Beta just before the official release.

Colif · Sep 1, 2021

Quandary said:
No need to reinstall if you exit the Windows Insider Beta just before the official release.

thanks, that sounds like easy way out.

I do have a license, I just didn't feel need to point it out.

Its activated via my MSA so I still wouldn't be have been sure what type of license I was on now, if I hadn't asked.

I might leave thread open until I do it, so I can confirm it works for anyone else who has same problem.

Winuser · Sep 1, 2021

If you're using the Beta Channel and you want to drop out when 11 goes final you can just select to stop receiving Insider Builds. You can also stay on the Insider Channel for as long as want. That is of course if MS doesn't stop releasing Insider Builds.

Colif · Sep 2, 2021

Winuser said:
If you're using the Beta Channel and you want to drop out when 11 goes final you can just select to stop receiving Insider Builds.

I just read that elsewhere and a drop down appears where you can choose Unenroll this device when the next version of Windows releases,to keep getting insiders updates until 11 is actually released.

So I will do that in coming days

tinmar49 · Sep 3, 2021

I am running W11 as an insider on the beta channel, but I cannot recall whether I ever had a licence for the W10 that preceded it, or even if the original os might have been W8. A year ago, I had serious problems with the hardware on my W10 insider and changed the motherboard, cpu and ram and re installed using an ISO of W10. Microsoft just asked me if I had changed the hardware and re activated the pc. This turned out to be just enough to qualify it for an update to W11.
My confusion has been compounded by running W7 Ultimate and Linux mint on the same pc by using different C drives and switching to the required one before starting up. The Linux and W7 have not been transfered to the new hardware.

NavyLCDR · Sep 3, 2021

tinmar49 said:
I am running W11 as an insider on the beta channel, but I cannot recall whether I ever had a licence for the W10 that preceded it, or even if the original os might have been W8. A year ago, I had serious problems with the hardware on my W10 insider and changed the motherboard, cpu and ram and re installed using an ISO of W10. Microsoft just asked me if I had changed the hardware and re activated the pc. This turned out to be just enough to qualify it for an update to W11.
My confusion has been compounded by running W7 Ultimate and Linux mint on the same pc by using different C drives and switching to the required one before starting up. The Linux and W7 have not been transfered to the new hardware.

Open settings, in the left column click on system, in the right column click on activation. Then click the drop down menu for activation state. What does it say there?

Colif · Sep 3, 2021

if you go to Microsoft online logon page and log in, click on devices, log in again, it should show the PC here. Mine still shows as Win 10 if I click Info & support under the PC - they have updated this page since I last looked at it.

Its likely MS reactivated PC based on previous one, and it is likely the 8 license was converted to 10

cereberus · Sep 5, 2021

Colif said:
Its likely MS reactivated PC based on previous one, and it is likely the 8 license was converted to 10

This is incorrect. Windows 8 licences are not converted to Windows 10 licences.

If you had a pc with Windows 7/8 installed, and you upgraded it to Windows 10, you get granted a digital licence (works in W10 and W11). The key is not changed at all. The key is not the licence. A key just gives you entitlement to get a digital licence (originally the digital licence was called digital entitlement).

If you clean install W10 for first time and enter a W8 key (or W7 key), pc will activate. On subsequent installations, you do not need to enter a key.

CornishRattler · Sep 5, 2021

Colif said:
I (accidentally) am running win 11 on my main PC and have a question about future.

How do you "accidentally" install a different operating system?

Colif · Sep 5, 2021

i wanted to install insiders on a VM instead of the PC I signed up to it on. I signed up but never set it up on pc and assumed it wasn't going to do anything until I got the feature update and PC restarted in win 11.

that is how I accidentally got win 11 on this PC. It turned out fine anyway.

tinmar49 · Sep 5, 2021

Mine probably started as W8, but I seem to recall that if you installed W10 and joined the insider programme, that Microsoft would activate it. Some time back there were discussions as to whether Microsoft would end that concession, but so far they never have. Or am I imagining this?

Winuser · Sep 6, 2021

Colif said:
i wanted to install insiders on a VM instead of the PC I signed up to it on. I signed up but never set it up on pc and assumed it wasn't going to do anything until I got the feature update and PC restarted in win 11.

that is how I accidentally got win 11 on this PC. It turned out fine anyway.

That does explain how Windows 11 installed your PC. You should have used UUPDump to make a ISO and installed it from the VM program.

Colif · Sep 7, 2021

Winuser said:
That does explain how Windows 11 installed your PC. You should have used UUPDump to make a ISO and installed it from the VM program.

Well, I thought I knew what I was doing and had tried uupdump twice already and hadn't got the steps right both times and it had failed to work, so I figured I get it through Insiders. After I half signed up to Insiders, I then worked out what I did wrong with UUpdump so I do have it on ISO as well. I was contemplating installing on my VM when I got the feature update and suddenly the need to run in a VM went away

cereberus said:
This is incorrect. Windows 8 licences are not converted to Windows 10 licences.

If you had a pc with Windows 7/8 installed, and you upgraded it to Windows 10, you get granted a digital licence (works in W10 and W11). The key is not changed at all. The key is not the licence. A key just gives you entitlement to get a digital licence (originally the digital licence was called digital entitlement).

If you clean install W10 for first time and enter a W8 key (or W7 key), pc will activate. On subsequent installations, you do not need to enter a key.

I appreciate this, I don't know everything and its nice to be corrected occasionally as I won't learn otherwise :)