Microsoft has acted to block the use of Windows 7 and Windows 8 product keys for activating Windows 11. This change had been announced earlier, but the keys remained functional until recently.
There had been a longstanding method to upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 or 11 for free. However, Windows 7 keys can no longer be used to activate Windows 11, as confirmed by Microsoft to The Verge.
In a recent experiment, The Verge tried to utilize multiple Windows 7 keys to activate Windows 11 (22H2), but they failed to work for activation. When an attempt to activate a Windows 7 key on Windows 11 was made, an error message emerged, stating that if a computer had been previously upgraded from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 11 or had used these older keys, the activation status would remain unaffected, and the digital license should still function.
Nevertheless, for those considering using this method in the future, it’s now necessary to purchase a legitimate Windows 11 key. Microsoft has addressed the Windows activation workaround, making it essential to have a legitimate key for activation.
