Comprehensive Analysis of Windows System Activation Methods

With disappear of Windows XP on PC, Windows 7 and Windows 8 are becoming more and more popular for computer users. Especially with the development of technology and popularity of PC tablet, more and more people have installed Windows 8. But whatever, Windows system activation is still common problem after installation all the time.

In generally, if having purchased Windows full version, just type product key to activate Windows operational system after installation. If not, it is necessary to read this article, because three different kinds of Windows system activation methods are introduced.

• Method 1: Activate Windows with activation tool
• Method 2: Activate Windows with key online
• Method 3: Activate Windows system by phone

Method 1: Activate Windows with activation tool

Windows activation tool is a special way for computer users to activate Windows operational system. Because it is free, and Windows could be used and updated for a long time after activation, and when it becomes unavailable, just need to activate Windows with tool again. So a lot of computer users choose to activate Windows with tool.

How does activation tool work for Windows activation?

Windows activation tool could activate Windows because it makes full use of KMS (Key Management Service). Bypass Windows full version verification with fake KMS server.

Naturally, there are several kinds of tools designed for Windows system activation. For example, Microsoft Toolkit is one of them available for Windows and Office 2013 activation.

Receive detailed introduction about how to download Microsoft Toolkit and activate Windows 8 with it, turn to: How to activate Windows 8 Pro without product key

Such Windows system activation tool could activate Windows 8.1/8/7/Vista and Windows server 2008/2012(R2) too. Moreover, Windows will keep activated for 180-days and receive updates from Microsoft like Windows full version.

Method 2: Activate Windows with key online 

This method would be available when you have purchased Windows system full version and have a product key. After Windows installation, check computer properties first and activate Windows then.

Detailed steps are introduced below:

Step 1: Check computer properties.

•  In Windows 7 and previous Windows systems, right click “Computer” and choose “Properties”.
• But in Windows 8, we should move the mouse to the right upper side of start screen.  Charm bar appears and choose “PC info”. Windows activation status is shown in the bottom of PC information window.

Step 2: Activate Windows with product key.

•  In Windows 7, click “Instantly activate Windows” and “Activate Windows online now”. And then type Windows product key.
• Or in Windows 8, click “View details in Windows Activation” and “Activate with a new key”. Type “Product key” and click “Activate” bottom. 

In few minutes, there will be a message prompting that Windows is activated.

Method 3: Activate Windows by phone 

In order to make Windows activation available without network, Microsoft also provides another way to activate Windows, such as activate Windows by phone. This is one method that most computer users take into use.

But apparently, activate Windows by phone is more complicated than activate Windows online. When we meet the problems below, we should use phone to activate Windows instead.

1. Network is unavailable or there are some activation errors.
2. Hardware has been changed before reinstalling Windows.

Now we take Windows 8 activation by phone as example. The following will introduce two ways to activate Windows 8 by phone.

First way to activate Windows 8 by phone:

1. Press Win + X and menu appears. Click “Command Prompt (Admin)”. Type in command “slmgr.vbs –ipk Product ID”. Press Enter and it will prompt that whether this Product ID has been installed.

2. Install Windows Product ID

If there has been Product ID in your Windows, unload it first with command “slmgr/upk”.

And then access PC info window, a new option “Activate Windows by phone” appears. Click it and choose Language “United States” in new pop-up window.

3. Make a call to activate Windows

If you have chosen “United States” in Language option, suggest you installing Skype to make a free call.

We can see there are 9 groups of number and input box from A to H9 in the page. What we should do now is to send these 9 groups of number to Microsoft service hotline with activation call. And then type 9 new group numbers received from Microsoft in input box. Click “Activate” and wait for few minutes. At last, messages about whether Windows has been activated successfully will be prompted. 

Second way to activate Windows 8 by phone:

1. Press Win + R to open Run dialog, type slui.exe 4, press Enter, and go to next step.

2. Click/tap on the drop down menu, select the nearest location to you for a toll free number to call, then click/tap on Next.

3. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.

4. Follow the instructions below and phone.

Step 1: Call the toll free activation phone.

Step 2: Enter the ID numbers on your phone keypad when asked to do so over the phone.

Step 3: Enter the confirmation ID numbers given to you over the phone into the "Windows Activation" wizard.

Step 4: When finished, click/tap on Activate.

5. If activation was successful, then all are done.

If activation failed, then you will be told that activation cannot proceed. DO NOT hang up. Wait to be automatically transferred to a Microsoft Activation Team operator that will go through these steps again to help you activate Window 8.

The above are the comprehensive activation methods after Windows first installation. No matter whether you have a key or not, there must be one way available to activate Windows computer effectively.

If this is Windows reinstallation and there is not a product key. The operation is not too different. But if we want to activate Windows online directly, it would be impossible. Even though, because of Windows reinstallation, another chance becomes available. That is find product key with Product Key Finder first before reinstalling Windows. And then activate Windows with product key online.

Related articles:

• Analysis and Comparison of Windows 8/8.1 Activation Methods
• How to Activate Office 2013 without Product Key
• How to Find Windows 8.1 Activation Key
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Activation Key Recovery Finder