HWID vs TSforge: Which Massgrave Method Should You Run?
Both give permanent activation, but they achieve it in completely different places — one on Microsoft's servers, one on your disk. That difference decides which you should use.
Where the license lives
HWID generates a hardware ID from your machine and registers a genuine digital license against it on Microsoft's activation servers. The license is stored remotely. Your machine holds nothing except the knowledge of how to ask for it back.
TSforge writes licensing data directly into the local token store. The license is stored on your disk. Nothing is registered anywhere else.
Everything else follows from that.
Reinstall behaviour
This is the decisive difference. After a clean reinstall of Windows on the same motherboard, an HWID-activated machine activates itself during setup with no script involved — Microsoft's servers recognise the hardware ID.
A TSforge machine does not. The token store is wiped with the installation, so you re-run the script. It takes a minute, but it is a step you have to remember.
Internet requirement
HWID needs exactly one internet connection at activation time. TSforge needs none, ever. On an air-gapped machine the comparison ends here — TSforge is the only option of the two.
Edition coverage
HWID covers Windows 10 and 11 Home, Pro, Pro for Workstations, Education and Enterprise. It does not cover Windows Server, is inconsistent on LTSC and IoT SKUs, and refuses some N variants.
TSforge is edition-agnostic. Windows client, Windows Server, LTSC, IoT, evaluation builds, Windows 10 ESU and perpetual Office are all in scope. When HWID reports "unsupported edition", TSforge is the answer.
Footprint
Neither leaves a running component. No service, no scheduled task, nothing in startup. Both are clean in this respect, unlike KMS emulators.
Reboot
HWID takes effect immediately (though the Settings page can lag a few minutes on recent builds). TSforge needs a reboot — the token store is read at service start, and skipping the reboot is the most common reason people think it failed.
Side by side
| HWID | TSforge | |
|---|---|---|
| License stored | Microsoft servers | Local token store |
| Internet | Once | Never |
| Survives clean reinstall | Yes, automatically | No, re-run |
| Windows Server | No | Yes |
| LTSC / IoT | Inconsistent | Yes |
| Windows 10 ESU | No | Yes |
| Office | No | Yes (perpetual) |
| Reboot needed | No | Yes |
The recommendation
Run HWID on an ordinary internet-connected Windows 10 or 11 desktop or laptop. The automatic reactivation after reinstall is worth a lot over the life of the machine.
Run TSforge on anything else: servers, LTSC, IoT, offline machines, ESU, and any case where HWID has already told you the edition is unsupported.
Get the script
Open Terminal (Admin) or PowerShell (Admin) and run:
irm https://get.activated.win | iex
Prefer offline? Grab the archive from the download page and run MAS_AIO.cmd as administrator. More help: MAS script overview · Massgrave Windows guide · troubleshooting · error decoder.
Get MAS from the official project
This site does not host its own build of the scripts. The buttons below go to the project’s own repository and mirrors, so what you get is what the developers published.
PowerShell one-liner published by the project:
irm get.activated.win | iexCheck the domain before running it, and see how to verify what you run.
Activation tooling is routinely classified as riskware by antivirus software. That is expected for this category and is not by itself evidence of malware — nor proof that a particular copy is clean. Verify the source before running anything.