HUAWEI Mini PCs windows license expires- Will it be the first of these companies to fold in US market?

First, take every MSN "tech article" with a big grain of salt. They're factually accurate, but totally lack background.

Huawei isn't an average consumer company, it's government-linked and often targeted by US and other Western nations based on security concerns. China has made it a priority to divest itself from Western-controlled HW and software platforms (Windows, Android), which can be sanctioned. As they follow China's policy line more closely and aren't a major Windows player, right now this move is of little concern.

If one day HarmonyOS becomes a legitimate competitor, then MS or Google would be worried. For now, it's mostly a Chinese market thing for Chinese consumers.

I posed a question in an earlier thread about long term validity of the volume MAK key on all these mini PCs so many of us have purchased from various manufacturers. Everyone said once a device has been assigned a digital license all was fine and good. However, according to the internet, devices typically do not retain activation indefinitely when a Microsoft Volume License (VL) expires, particularly when using Key Management Service (KMS) or Multiple Activation Keys (MAK) activation methods. Devices will eventually revert to an unactivated state if the manufacturer cannot renew their license.
I am assuming my digital license is tied to this MAK key assigned to my Beelink...correct?

So if Microsoft does not obtain an export license from the U.S. Department of Commerce to sell Windows to these Chinese companies, other mini PC OEMs will be affected as well.. If that happens, those of us with mini PC's will be stuck with unlicensed devices. The way I see it, all these tit for tat tariffs between the US and China on exported/imported products will probably influence MS from obtaining that export license if those tariffs prove to be too high. It makes sense that these companies can no longer sell minis at the current prices with all the tariffs, too. So it's a double edged sword, IMO.
What are you feelings on this. Please correct me if I am wrong.

garlin said:

right now this move is of little concern.

Click to expand...

It is to those of us who have bought these devices and tons of them of all brands have been sold in the US in the last couple of years. If MS does not purchase an export license, then all the brands will be affected. Therefore, all those Americans who have bought them will lose their activation.
I'm wondering if a Win 11 Pro with VL activation can be changed to a retail license if one buys a PRO key. Or, would it take a clean install.

In all honesty, wouldn't care in the least - it's simply not worth it. I mean, you can find so many legit Windows licenses - that are so cheap - this days (at least - during the Windows 8 - Windows 11 period, cause prior to that - retail ones were pretty expensive). If it was +100 $ or even 50$ - i guess that would be annoying - but at 10$ - 15$... spent more on Pizza + Beverages - which sure, was really tasty (for the time it took to finish it) - but what's left of that short lived experience is going straight to the toilet. Can't say the same about the time i used Windows as OS for a similar price.

Are these keys are embedded into the firmware? Like many laptop PC’s, nearly impossible to remove, if not impossible. But they can be bypassed using a modified ISO. I am pretty sure this should work to override the licence.

For people who might find this useful:
To bypass the BIOS version restrictions, you can edit a multi edition Windows.iso

• Open notepad and enter the following

• Save the file as ei.cfg
• Place the file in the ISO sources folder.

During the Windows installation you will be asked what version of Windows you would like to install.
OR


Replace the line {Edition} with the Windows edition you want to install.
EditionID can be: Home, Professional, Enterprise, Education, and so on, depending on the available editions in your specific Windows ISO

For example:


Channel can be changed to Retail or OEM

You can also create a pid file and pre enter your legitimate product key.

• Open notepad and enter the following:

• Save the file as pid.txt
• Place it into the sources folder

This thread provides some conflicting experiences:

antspants said:

Are these keys are embedded into the firmware

Click to expand...

I don't think so, Sin. I wouldn't think so. All my isos are multi-edition already. When I boot from one of then it asks me for what edition I want to install

I've never seen such basic bios in my life, not even 30 years ago..

garlin said:

First, take every MSN "tech article" with a big grain of salt. They're factually accurate, but totally lack background.

Click to expand...

MSN is a news aggregator. All the MSN articles are sourced from elsewhere. In the case of this particular article the original source is credited as being Tom's Hardware.

glasskuter said:

When I boot from one of then it asks me for what edition I want to install

Click to expand...

Yeah right, not embedded then.

On one of my Beelinks I switched it to the Insider ring. I later decided to drop out and installed a fresh install of Windows 11. I didn't have any problem with it activating. The only problem I had was that Windows only had a few drivers that it needed. I had to go to the Beelink site and find the drivers. I wonder if it would make any difference if one was to change the MAK to a generic key. I would test it but I don't have any of my Beelinks setup. I only use them when I'm in my shed. (mancave) I bring them in the house and put them away during the winter.

No problems with my Beelink either. It will be 4 years old in September. If anything happens to it's activation, I would just obtain a cheapo license from one of these websites and call it a day.

Hi folks

I've bought 5 of these really cheap Mini-PC's from NiPogo etc -- there's no problem also of installing your own Windows versions if you've got legit licenses.

The only caveat on this is before you "wipe" and install the pre-installed versions that usually come with these devices then take a copy of the Windows drivers before installing your own stuff as the drivers might not be easy to find afterwards.

Cheers
jimbo