In November last year, we reported on the removal of an unofficial KMS-related Windows activation, something which the company was planning to do for a while. The method worked by helping to activate Windows without an internet connection.
Anyone know if massgrave still works?
It’s 2026, when are people going to stop whining about things requiring the internet? Who on earth would this change actually negatively affect? Who is buying Windows 11 but doesn’t have the internet? No one.
Even with the internet “available” you can get in chicken-egg scenarios like “the network card is not supported on the OS disc, and it won’t let me complete the OS installer so I can install the driver from external media later.”
Even Windows 10 got pretty testy about that in late releases.
Windows doesn’t need to be activated during the OS installation, so that’s not relevant.
Also Windows doesn’t need to be activated at all for 99% of people’s uses of it.
But it does do the force-a-Microsoft-account thing that doesn’t work without a network.
Why are you defending a feature being taken away by one of the largest companies in the world? They pay a lot of money for PR. They don’t need your volunteer work.
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It wasn’t a big deal because I don’t use Windows 11. My login is offline.
Wait wait wait…do you think that you can’t log in to windows 11 computers without being online? Surely not…
if MS login servers get compromised (and MS is damn sloppy regarding security), then your machine gets compromised too.
Oh…you do lol.
And weird issues like this user experienced.
That person doesn’t seem to understand that the internet and a network are not the same. You can be connected to a network but still have no internet. Sounds like this person’s network has no internet, or their device has no internet due to their network set up.
My internet is so bad it can sometimes take me over a dozen tries to get a web search to load. It likes to flicker on and off so a lot of times it’s a matter of being lucky that it is on when I try and load something or when a program does a check. Depending how the requirement is built it could make it nearly impossible for me to install windows (not that I would, I use Arch btw, but I’m on the same infrastructure as a bunch of students also suffering from shit internet and they mostly use windows).
For example I can usually download things it just takes a long time. There is a mod list tool though I would love to use but during it’s verification check if any mod fails to respond then it aborts the whole operation. I have roughly a 100% chance of several mods’ pages failing to handshake the first couple tries so the tool is useless to me.
Depending how the requirement is built it could make it nearly impossible for me to install windows
It’s got nothing to do with installing windows, it’s about activating it through the OS post-install. Windows works without being activated btw. It’s not like the old days where it was unusable without a key - windows 11 is basically completely free these days, only requiring a license if you want to use some of the more “pro” features like Hyper V and RDP.
For once, internet is a subscription service which not everyone can afford, just because you and all your friends can afford internet doesn’t mean everyone can, computers can be gotten for free, internet there’s no way around it.
But for the biggest issue, windows is spyware, the only way to use it while warranting privacy is by airgapping it from the internet and running it standalone, it is also the only way to be sure to contain cracked programs to make sure they don’t distribute illegal content from your IP.
It’s the way I run windows (when I have to) and I don’t like the prospects of not being able to run proprietary software securely when there aren’t viable libre alternatives.
Also, software being dependent on internet and therefore some company’s server means that eventually when said server or company shutsdown the program or device becomes useless.
computers can be gotten for free
Computers that don’t already have windows activated, that can’t work with an un-activated windows? Non-activated windows 11 is fully functional btw. You only need to buy windows if you need to use things like Hyper V and RDP. Windows is essentially free outside of pro features.
Until the user tries the “reset your device” option in the control panel. Then he’s stuck in the “please signup to your Microsoft account” screen.
And without internet, he’s never going to figure out the obsomething/bypassnsomething command.
Also this isn’t windows specific, samsungs phones also doesn’t let me get pass the initial screen without connecting to the internet.
You can still create local accounts just by clicking in some of the other options during initial setup.
