GPUs & CPUs & Enthusiast hardware: Questions, Discussion and fanboy slap-fights - Nvidia & AMD & Intel - Separe but Equal. Intel rides in the back of the bus.

Or you know you could just use Linux Mint.

Has anyone used Windows Server 2022? Windows 10, 11 and the LTSC versions do not allow multiple simultaneous remote logins which was a feature I needed so I was going to try Windows server. I needed it to run a GPU accelerated 3d programs like Solid Edge and such, and ideally be able to do Steam remote play to my devices. The setup I have works great with ltsc, but having multiple logins would be a benefit.
 
Joking aside, like I said, I already did a cool internet trick people recommended here. Rather than buy a new home license, I bought an OEM license from some fly-by-night reseller for much cheaper. The result of this is I've gone back and forth with support from ASUS, Microsoft, and the reseller over a period of about a week to try to figure out if I can't get the thing transferred to my replacement machine, with the answer being, "no." This was a massive waste of time to save an amount of money roughly equal to taking the family to a burger place.
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because "officially" microsoft doesn't even allow the sale of OEM keys, let alone re-use them. expecting some support wagie go against company policy is futile.

literally all you had to do was write down the key, then do
Code: 
slmgr.vbs /upk
before punching it into another pc.

the biggest irony however is you'll run into that exact same issue with your super original fancy premium key once it's tied to a single machine since the issue isn't the key, but the number of activations microsoft is tracking.
 
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ZMOT said:
literally all you had to do was write down the key, then do
Code: 
slmgr.vbs /upk
before punching it into another pc.
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The computer wouldn't power on. Why do you think I sent it back for warranty repair?

Also, have you, personally, ever successfully done this with a Windows 11 OEM key, or are you Googling "how to transfer Windows key" as you post? As far as I can tell, this doesn't work with anything except FPP licenses, and Microsoft's servers aren't fooled.

ZMOT said:
the biggest irony however is you'll run into that exact same issue with your super original fancy premium key once it's tied to a single machine since the issue isn't the key, but the number of activations microsoft is tracking.
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As far as I can tell, there's no meaningful limit on the number of times you can transfer a retail license to a new machine.
 
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ZMOT said:
because "officially" microsoft doesn't even allow the sale of OEM keys, let alone re-use them. expecting some support wagie go against company policy is futile.

literally all you had to do was write down the key, then do
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There is also an option in the "Activate windows" thing that says something like "I recently changed hardware".

I changed the mobo in an old dell optiplex to put it into a custom case and the windows activation thing came up.

Clicked the option and a dialogue popped up saying "is this the Dell desktop" clicking yes re-activated the windows 10 pro OEM key on the new mobo.

Don't know if that would work with a laptop key though.
 
Stasi said:
There is also an option in the "Activate windows" thing that says something like "I recently changed hardware".

I changed the mobo in an old dell optiplex to put it into a custom case and the windows activation thing came up.

Clicked the option and a dialogue popped up saying "is this the Dell desktop" clicking yes re-activated the windows 10 pro OEM key on the new mobo.

Don't know if that would work with a laptop key though.
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The last time it did that it showed all the activation keys for all devices connected to my Microsoft account, even ones that were sold. I could've grabbed any of those keys to use.
 
Public service announcement:
I bought an ASUS RTX 4000 series card recently, and it had a failing fan within a few months of purchase. The RMA process is very slow, and they make you pay to send their defective dogshit product back to them to fix. Trash tier, amateur hour service policies.

Fuck ASUS. Fuck them in their sideways earholes.
 
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The Ugly One said:
As far as I can tell, there's no meaningful limit on the number of times you can transfer a retail license to a new machine.
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There is a retail activation limit. Some cite it as the 5 activation limit, but it's not so obvious. There's a lot of globohomo analytics and proprietary algorithms that make the real number unknown, though it's not unlimited.

Personally I use vlmcsd on my network with DNS setup correctly such that any Windows or Office install with a KMS key automatically licenses as though by magic without running any bullshit on the clients. Windows is simply not worth paying for.

I'm mad I didn't look at the thread sooner as I could've sent you an MSDN key.
 
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The Ugly One said:
I just paid $9.31 per letter to remove the "Activate your copy" watermark. It was a real bargain.
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Fun fact, if you search "Windows 11 activator", scripts that activate Windows for free are right there on the first page of Bing (a platform owned by Microsoft), hosted on github (another platform owned by Microsoft).

github.com

GitHub - massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts: A Windows and Office activator using HWID / KMS38 / Online KMS activation methods, with a focus on open-source code and fewer antivirus detections.

A Windows and Office activator using HWID / KMS38 / Online KMS activation methods, with a focus on open-source code and fewer antivirus detections. - GitHub - massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Script...
github.com github.com
 
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Ed Special said:
Fun fact, if you search "Windows 11 activator", scripts that activate Windows for free are right there on the first page of Bing (a platform owned by Microsoft), hosted on github (another platform owned by Microsoft).

github.com

GitHub - massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts: A Windows and Office activator using HWID / KMS38 / Online KMS activation methods, with a focus on open-source code and fewer antivirus detections.

A Windows and Office activator using HWID / KMS38 / Online KMS activation methods, with a focus on open-source code and fewer antivirus detections. - GitHub - massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Script...
github.com github.com
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Nobody's mentioned that you can pirate Windows in this thread several times already, thank you for the hot tip.

Flaming Dumpster said:
There is a retail activation limit. Some cite it as the 5 activation limit, but it's not so obvious. There's a lot of globohomo analytics and proprietary algorithms that make the real number unknown, though it's not unlimited.
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I buy a new PC every 5 years or so, so I figure by the time I'm 25 years into this key, it will have cost me about 46 cents a month. I won't have to skip too many meals to swing that.
 
Literally the only windows computer I'm using is a VM on my main server that has its own GPU. I can play my games perfectly fine and the windows apps I need run on it. I had to switch to Windows Server 2022 so that I could share it without being kicked off when someone else logs in but it works fine.
 
Betonhaus said:
Literally the only windows computer I'm using is a VM on my main server that has its own GPU. I can play my games perfectly fine and the windows apps I need run on it. I had to switch to Windows Server 2022 so that I could share it without being kicked off when someone else logs in but it works fine.
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I hate using Windoze at work.
 
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Since AMD decided to fuck up its own support for its own technology (recall my earlier complaint that they somehow managed to break "FMF in any game" support), I decided to give Lossless Scaling a try. This is is an application that has a number of upscalers built in, including FSR and their own approach.


It's very simple. You run whatever game it is you want to run in windowed mode, activate the scaler, switch to it, and it Just Werks(tm). The frame generation is pretty slick and looks very good when interpolating a game running at 60 fps. It's tolerable at 30 fps for isometric & top-down games like Diablo. What's nice is there are no training wheels or guard rails. You can scale 340p to 4K if you want to. You can do 4x frame gen. Your results might look like shit, but you have that freedom. It does indeed work with anything, even software-rendered games from the DOS days running in a window.
 
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The Mass Shooter Ron Soye said:
My cool Windows 10 trick was to download the OS, install it, and ignore the "Activate your copy" text in the corner. I think you could edit a registry value to get rid of it but I didn't bother.

My next cool trick was to buy <$100 PCs that came with Windows. My upcoming cool trick will be to buy/salvage computers being thrown out when Windows 10 support ends in October.
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You can also activate windows 10/11 manually with the command prompt, I saw it on YouTube.

btw my cool trick is not to build a gaming pc, instead buy a modern office pc (preferably second hand) upgrade the components and install a good graphics card, it won't look as cool and flashy but at least you'll save a ton of money.
 
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Adolf Kitler said:
You can also activate windows 10/11 manually with the command prompt, I saw it on YouTube.

btw my cool trick is not to build a gaming pc, instead buy a modern office pc (preferably second hand) upgrade the components and install a good graphics card, it won't look as cool and flashy but at least you'll save a ton of money.
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Unfortunately, that plan does mean you'll be stuck with Intel. Worse, probably a four-core Celeron.
 
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