How to Activate Windows 10 FREE With CMD [Updated 2020]

Should You Upgrade or Purchase Windows 10 Product key

How to Activate Windows 10 Legally Free

Activate Windows 10 with CMD (Without Activator)

Comments

Thank you so much. I did it all without problems. But when I check using slmgr.vbs /xpr it said it will expire 22-01-2021 1:01:36. I use the win 10 pro serial here.

Thanks for your feedback. Don’t worry its permanent activation… please share with your friends.

thanks! got it to work with win 10 pro! what organization is it talking about? will it cost problems later?

Great! it worked. Thanks for the solution!

Which version of Windows 10 you are currently using and pleas make sure to copy and use exact same product key

Got the same error: «Error 0xC004F074 The Software Licensing Service reported that the computer could not be activated. No Key Management Service (KMS) could be contacted.»

I made sure to re-run step 4 and still get this error»

Even after the date to which the server was updated?

I can’t believe that actually worked lol
Thanks

Activate using Key Management Service

Applies to

• Windows 10
• Windows 8.1
• Windows 8
• Windows 7
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2008 R2

Looking for retail activation?

There are three possible scenarios for volume activation of WindowsВ 10 or Windows ServerВ 2012В R2 by using a Key Management Service (KMS) host:

• Host KMS on a computer running WindowsВ 10
• Host KMS on a computer running Windows ServerВ 2012В R2
• Host KMS on a computer running an earlier version of Windows

Key Management Service in WindowsВ 10

Installing a KMS host key on a computer running WindowsВ 10 allows you to activate other computers running WindowsВ 10 against this KMS host and earlier versions of the client operating system, such as WindowsВ 8.1 or WindowsВ 7. Clients locate the KMS server by using resource records in DNS, so some configuration of DNS may be required. This scenario can be beneficial if your organization uses volume activation for clients and MAK-based activation for a smaller number of servers. To enable KMS functionality, a KMS key is installed on a KMS host; then, the host is activated over the Internet or by phone using Microsoft activation services.

Configure KMS in Windows 10

To activate, use the slmgr.vbs command. Open an elevated command prompt and run one of the following commands:

• To install the KMS key, type slmgr.vbs /ipk .
• To activate online, type slmgr.vbs /ato .
• To activate by telephone, follow these steps:
  1. Run slmgr.vbs /dti and confirm the installation ID.
  2. Call Microsoft Licensing Activation Centers worldwide telephone numbers and follow the voice prompts to enter the installation ID that you obtained in step 1 on your telephone.
  3. Follow the voice prompts and write down the responded 48-digit confirmation ID for OS activation.
  4. Run slmgr.vbs /atp \ .

For more information, see the information for WindowsВ 7 in Deploy KMS Activation.

Key Management Service in Windows ServerВ 2012В R2

Installing a KMS host key on a computer running Windows Server allows you to activate computers running Windows ServerВ 2012В R2, Windows ServerВ 2008В R2, Windows ServerВ 2008, Windows 10, WindowsВ 8.1, WindowsВ 7, and Windows Vista.

You cannot install a client KMS key into the KMS in Windows Server.

This scenario is commonly used in larger organizations that do not find the overhead of using a server a burden.

If you receive error 0xC004F015 when trying to activate WindowsВ 10 Enterprise, see KB 3086418.

Configure KMS in Windows ServerВ 2012В R2

Sign in to a computer running Windows Server 2012 R2 with an account that has local administrative credentials.

Launch Server Manager.

Add the Volume Activation Services role, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Adding the Volume Activation Services role in Server Manager

When the role installation is complete, click the link to launch the Volume Activation Tools (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Launching the Volume Activation Tools

Select the Key Management Service (KMS) option, and specify the computer that will act as the KMS host (Figure 6). This can be the same computer on which you installed the role or another computer. For example, it can be a client computer running Windows 10.

Figure 6. Configuring the computer as a KMS host

Install your KMS host key by typing it in the text box, and then click Commit (Figure 7).

Figure 7. Installing your KMS host key

If asked to confirm replacement of an existing key, click Yes.

After the product key is installed, you must activate it. Click Next (Figure 8).

Figure 8. Activating the software

The KMS key can be activated online or by phone. See Figure 9.

Figure 9. Choosing to activate online

Now that the KMS host is configured, it will begin to listen for activation requests. However, it will not activate clients successfully until the activation threshold is met.

Verifying the configuration of Key Management Service

You can verify KMS volume activation from the KMS host server or from the client computer. KMS volume activation requires a minimum threshold ofВ 25 computers before activation requests will be processed. The verification process described here will increment the activation count each time a client computer contacts the KMS host, but unless the activation threshold is reached, the verification will take the form of an error message rather than a confirmation message.

If you configured Active Directory-based activation before configuring KMS activation, you must use a client computer that will not first try to activate itself by using Active Directory-based activation. You could use a workgroup computer that is not joined to a domain or a computer running WindowsВ 7 or Windows ServerВ 2008В R2.

To verify that KMS volume activation works, complete the following steps:

On the KMS host, open the event log and confirm that DNS publishing is successful.

On a client computer, open a Command Prompt window, type Slmgr.vbs /ato, and then press ENTER.

The /ato command causes the operating system to attempt activation by using whichever key has been installed in the operating system. The response should show the license state and detailed Windows version information.

On a client computer or the KMS host, open an elevated Command Prompt window, type Slmgr.vbs /dlv, and then press ENTER.

The /dlv command displays the detailed licensing information. The response should return an error that states that the KMS activation count is too low. This confirms that KMS is functioning correctly, even though the client has not been activated.

For more information about the use and syntax of slmgr.vbs, see Slmgr.vbs Options.

Key Management Service in earlier versions of Windows

If you have already established a KMS infrastructure in your organization for an earlier version of Windows, you may want to continue using that infrastructure to activate computers running WindowsВ 10 or Windows ServerВ 2012В R2. Your existing KMS host must be running Windows 7 or later. To upgrade your KMS host, complete the following steps:

Activate windows with command

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Answered by:

Question

I want to automate the activation of windows for those building machines

I am using cscript slmgr.vbs /ato ran under admin credentials

This only works sometimes and not others !? These are all windows 7 Enterprise machines installed from the same image

so I would have thought it would be consistent

I just need windows to activate itself online automatically

Thanks for reading

Answers

Use this command: cscript //b c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs /ato

You can check the event viewer for failures

• Edited by Yannick Plavonil MVP Wednesday, November 5, 2014 2:01 AM
• Marked as answer by arnavsharma Wednesday, December 10, 2014 4:20 AM

You need local admin account permission to activate the system.(If you are domain administrator, you must be local administrator)

You could use the following method to check if the activation server is reachable:

Activate Windows on this computer

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Arnav Sharma | http://arnavsharma.net/ Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

All replies

Use this command: cscript //b c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs /ato

You can check the event viewer for failures

• Edited by Yannick Plavonil MVP Wednesday, November 5, 2014 2:01 AM
• Marked as answer by arnavsharma Wednesday, December 10, 2014 4:20 AM

I placed this command in a bat file

I can run the command successfully when log onto my account and run the bat file.

When I run the command under my creds from the users logon then it dosent work

I need to run the command from the users logon I dont see why! if the command is run under my creds it it still fails. The dos prompt shows it is running as my username.

The error:from event viewer Aquisiution of End use license failed hr=0x80072EFD

Why would an elevated command prompt fail or a command line run under domain admin creds fail if it will run ok from the same domain admin’s logon.

The 1st thing I did was join the machine to the domain then I log on using the standard users domain account then I run the bat file as administator using the runas /user. command

the command prompt opens in the context of the domain admin account but the command line activation fails!?

I use echo %username% to verify I am running under the correct security context and it reports the domai admin account.

If i switch user on the same machine to that same domain admin account and run the command line it works

I need this to work from the standard users account

I run many other commands from the elevated command prompt with out problem cant see why this one dosent run?

The proxy settings are correct and internet access is available.