HWID or KMS38 on Windows 11?
HWID registers a genuine digital license against your hardware ID on Microsoft's activation servers. It is permanent, survives a clean reinstall on the same motherboard, and requires exactly one internet connection at activation time. This is the default choice.
KMS38 sets the expiry to January 2038 by manipulating gatherosstate. It works fully offline, but the state is local — a feature update replaces it and you need to re-run.
If HWID says your edition is unsupported (most often on some N variants), use TSforge instead of forcing KMS38.
Running it correctly
- Extract to a short ASCII path such as
C:\\MAS. Long paths with spaces or non-Latin characters break batch scripts in ways that produce misleading errors. - Right-click
MAS_AIO.cmd→ Run as administrator. Without elevation, licensing service calls fail instantly. - Choose 1 for HWID.
- Wait for the green success line. On recent builds the Settings page can lag several minutes behind — do not re-run the script during that window.
- Confirm with
slmgr /xpr.
The four errors that cover most failures
0xC004F074 — no key management server could be contacted. Usually the Software Protection service has not finished starting, especially right after a feature update. Run net stop sppsvc then net start sppsvc and retry.
0xC004C003 — the activation server determined the key is blocked. A cached generic key is in the way. Clear it: slmgr /upk, then slmgr /cpky, then re-run HWID.
0x80070005 — access denied. Either the console is not elevated, or Controlled Folder Access is blocking writes to the token store. Disable it temporarily under Windows Security → Ransomware protection.
0x803FA067 — the license could not be applied. Common on evaluation or insider builds. TSforge handles these where HWID does not.
After a feature update
HWID needs nothing — the license lives server-side and re-binds when the upgraded install checks in. KMS38 does need a re-run, because an in-place upgrade replaces the licensing files and the 2038 expiry falls back to a 180-day grace. Check with slmgr /xpr after every feature update.
Editions covered
Home, Pro, Pro for Workstations, Education and Enterprise are all covered by HWID. Enterprise LTSC and IoT LTSC are best served by KMS38 or TSforge, both of which are edition-agnostic.
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.