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what happens when the activation of Windows expired? I'm aware of licensing limitations and so on.
the behaviour varies depending evaluation or retail or volume licensed, the link below may help you.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/tn-archive/dd979803(v=technet.10)
Hello,
If activation expires, you can no longer personalize your system.
You'll be frequently reminded to activate the machine.
There should be Activate Windows watermark on bottom right of screen.
Your Desktop background may be replaced with solid black screen.
It is recommended to re-activate your volume license before expiration.
Regards.
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Users can utilize an unactivated Windows 10 without any restrictions for one month after installing it. However, that only means the user restrictions come into effect after one month.
Thereafter, users will see some “Activate Windows now” notifications. Windows will send out regular notifications requesting that users activate the OS. Furthermore, the Activation tab in Settings will include a notification requesting that users activate the OS with a product key. Their users can click Change product key or a Go to Store option to purchase and activate Win 10.
However, users do not have to activate Windows 10. In fact, users can continue to utilize the unactivated Win 10 with the few restrictions it has. Thus, Windows 10 can run indefinitely without activation. So, users can utilize the unactivated platform for as long as they wish at the moment. Note, however, that Microsoft’s retail agreement only authorizes users to utilize Win 10 with a valid product key.
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this is absolute bullshit. all of a sudden I get the watermark Active Windows at the bootom of the scree. I called MS, on the phone for over an hour, he says buy a new product key. Why? What happened to the old one? Where do you buy it it? Good luck, you'll never find it. MS Store is no help whatsoever. the MS rep said that's all I need. I have been searching for over an hour, nothing. MS is a bunch of thieves, I need to pay for something that I apparently already had, not apparently it's gone to MS Hell. What kind of crap is this and why don't your reps know how to fix it? I didn't do anything, didn't change anything, just all of a sudden I need a new one. I could go on but I think you get the picture although I doubt very much that anyone at MS will ever see this and even if they do, they wont know what to do about it. Pure BS.
I just posted a response and it seems to have disappeared. thanks MS, you as crooked as the day is long.