Microsoft’s Windows is a common Operating System for the average personal computer and one of the reasons that it’s widely used is because it’s flexible in nature and highly functional.
But, like all good things, it comes at a price. The cheapest version of the latest iteration of Microsoft’s reputed operating system is Windows 10 Home, which is available on Microsoft’s website at $139.
For most of us, that’s too expensive to spend on an operating system. Especially when you can get it for free.
That’s right people if you’ve been living under a rock all your life or are just relatively new to the world of computing, you can download a pirated copy of windows and install it on your PC absolutely free!
However, there’s a catch. If you do install Windows for free and even somehow activate it, there’s a chance you can get a recurring error message after some time of use that’s something like:
Does this that you need to buy Windows now? Probably not.
However, this message can get really annoying at time.
Popping at the most random of times. But fear not! There are several ways you can rid of this as we shall now go through.
But before you can start, you need to check if your Windows is activated or not. To check Window’s activation status:
- Open Windows Explorer.
- On the left pane, right-click on This PC and select Properties.
- A new Window will open with some information displayed. Check at the bottom where the Windows Activation is written. If it says “Windows is activated” along with your Product Key, then follow the following steps. If not, try reactivating or purchasing Windows.
Method 1: Entering a Product Key
- Start from the part where you checked the Activation Status of your Windows. On the right of your Product Key, click on Change Product Key.
- You might have to give admin access to the system before it redirects you to the Settings page where you can enter the new Product Key.
- To get your product key, Press Windows+X keys and select Command Prompt (Admin) from the list.
- Give admin access to the system and type: “wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey”.
- Copy Paste your product Key that comes appears below OA3xOriginalProductKey to the dialogue box in Step 2.
- Restart your PC.
Method 2: Restart Windows Explorer
- Open Task Manager by pressing Windows+X keys and selecting Task Manager.
- In the Processes tab, find Windows Explorer, right-click on it and select Restart.
Method 3: Reset Your Licence
- Open Command Prompt (Admin) by pressing Windows+X keys and type: “slmgr –rearm”.
- Restart your PC.
That was just about it. All these methods do not require any expert to fiddle with your personal machines as you can do them yourselves. Though, from the three, the easiest and most effective is Method 3 as I’ve personally used it and it’s working so far! However, if all of them fail for you, then it might be a good idea to consult your technician.