Cheap licenses real or fake?

Add my total satisfaction with StackSocial as a source for Win11 & Microsoft Office programs bought months ago. Both installed without single hitch & running without fail to this day.

gunrunnerjohn said:

I tried three valid Win11 Pro keys, all of them get the same error.

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That app has not been updated in eight years so may not even know about Win 11.

KevTech said:

That app has not been updated in eight years so may not even know about Win 11.


View attachment 171196

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It obviously doesn't, but it was posted as being useful for Win11.

I have three keys for Office 2021. I used Pidkey to test all the keys at the same time.

Results with Pidkey:
Key #1: Unsupported PKeyConfig file or Invalid Key (for laptop)
Key #2: Description: Office21_ProPlus2021MSDNR_Retail (for desktop)
Key #3: Description: Office21_ProPlus2021MSDNR_Retail (replacement for laptop)

Key #1 was purchased in 2022 for my laptop
Key #2 was purchased in 2024 for my desktop
Key #3 was purchased in 2026 for my laptop when the original would no longer activate.

Keys 2 & 3 came from Stack Social. Key #1 came from another online seller.

Note the keys are Office Pro Plus 2021 not Office Pro 2021. Office Pro Plus 2021 is a volume license product. Also, note MSDN Retail. That means they originally came from a Microsoft MSDN subscription purchased by a computer professional. This explains it better...

MSDN (now Visual Studio Subscription) retail keys typically allow for 10 activations of Windows or Office products, designed for development and testing purposes. While some MSDN retail keys may allow for more, 10 is the standard limit for many software keys, and these, unlike volume keys, are not meant for production environments.

• Activation Limits: Keys are often limited to 10 activations, though some keys may reset or allow for additional activations if needed.
• Usage Restrictions: MSDN software is officially licensed for development and testing, not for production, except for one instance of Office.
• Key Types: MSDN provides several types of keys, including retail (multiple activations) and Multiple Activation Keys (MAK).
• Reactivation: If the activation limit is reached, you may need to contact Microsoft to request a reset or new keys, a process documented on Microsoft Learn.
• Alternative Activation: For enterprise scenarios, Multiple Activation Keys (MAK) are often provided, which allow for a higher number of activations but are still limited.
• License Type: Retail licenses, which are often used in MSDN, allow for multiple activations, particularly on different hardware, but technically, they are for one device at a time.

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gunrunnerjohn said:

I tried three valid Win11 Pro keys, all of them get the same error.

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I have read that Microsoft specifically does not provide for 'validating' a key by any method aside from activating a Windows instance. The reasoning seems simple enough: they don't want to create an incentive for the creation of apps that could be used, or subverted, for stealing keys.