Has Microsoft Ended Phone Activation?

Some older IT folks on YouTube may remember a video that was posted by a North Carolina YouTube user back in 2011

called Windows XP Activation Horror. And

for the longest time, if you didn't have access to the internet Microsoft would let you activate Windows by phone. However, when I called the

by phone. However, when I called the Microsoft product activation number after installing a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium

uh fresh copy from for retail and I called the uh number ending in 1047 at the top, I got an unusual recording that I was not expecting.

>> Support, for, product, activation, has, moved online. For the fastest and most

online. For the fastest and most convenient way to activate your product please visit our online product activation portal at aka.ms/

ao h from an internet connected device and the portal will guide you through the activation steps.

>> And, when, I, got, the, um, link, in, the, text message cuz it used to send you just a regular link. This is what happened. The

regular link. This is what happened. The

first thing it asked me the activation screen for for uh smartphone activation.

Let me just zoom out here.

Require now requires you to sign in and solve a capture. So we'll solve the capture here. It then requires you to

capture here. It then requires you to sign in with your Microsoft account. And

if you click can't sign in, it just takes you to a generic, you know, help page. And after you sign in, you can see

page. And after you sign in, you can see you get the traditional, you know Microsoft product activation uh screen.

It once again is asking you if you have six or seven digits. But you'll notice here that it shows unspecified up here.

And the installation ID is no longer broken into into clusters. And when I did and I did enter the installation ID which is behind this, you know counterfeit software error message, but

the submit button did absolutely nothing. And when I tried going to I

nothing. And when I tried going to I don't see my product listed and got the older Windows activation screen, I tried this and it was basically the same

thing. But notice up here it says

thing. But notice up here it says Microsoft product. So it seems that

Microsoft product. So it seems that Microsoft may have recently killed fully killed off phone activation for Windows.

But I'm going to give something else a try. I noticed that when Microsoft

try. I noticed that when Microsoft Office products started saying that telephone activation was no longer available, I noticed that Microsoft has not removed the toll-free number from

their website. So let's call this number

their website. So let's call this number ending in 7140 and see what happens.

It's probably going to be the same thing.

>> Support, for, productivation.

>> That's, exactly, what, I, was, expecting., So,

yeah, they apparently Microsoft as of today, December 18th, has killed off phone activation completely and is now

requiring you to sign in. So, as of the time of this recording, it is no longer possible to activate old versions of Windows and Office from Windows XP and

Office XP respectively onward via phone, which is a huge problem because this copy of Windows is using an OEM license key. And because the

Microsoft activation servers are unreachable now on Windows 7 and later unless you install legacy update, um even with an OEM key, you have to activate the key by phone. So, what I'm

going, to, try, to, do, is, I'm, going to switch over to my computer. One other

thing I've noticed is look at the low quality of that Windows Server logo there. It's like Microsoft didn't even

there. It's like Microsoft didn't even try. Okay. Well, now on the desktop I

try. Okay. Well, now on the desktop I get a choice of which version of Windows, which is different. So, I'm

wondering if Microsoft is updating this as we speak. And because this is normal this Windows 7 product key is not valid for activation error message is normal

with an OEM installation of Windows 7. I

used to obviously it would work every time when I would activate by phone. So

actually scratch the part about not being able to Yeah, let me see if I can enter that confirmation ID in my web browser on my laptop in Safari. That's

the only difference. Well, actually, one thing before I enter it is I noticed it now says Windows 7 in the top. So, let

me see if it was maybe just the Firefox mobile browser I was using. That's okay.

So, that did work. I got the success message and the confirmation ID is below. I'm not going to show it for

below. I'm not going to show it for security reasons. Interestingly enough

security reasons. Interestingly enough though, it said Office 2010.

So, it seems that Microsoft is actively changing the way phone activation works.

This confirmation ID works though.

First, I I'd like to know because especially considering that it says Office 2010, I want to see if this confirmation ID actually does successfully activate Windows. So, let

me go ahead and enter this in and I'll be right back. Okay, activation was successful. So, it is still possible to

successful. So, it is still possible to activate Windows by phone. I like how it has an unsafe theme from the counterfeit uh desktop experience or the uh what is

it? RFM, reduced functionality mode.

it? RFM, reduced functionality mode.

God, it's been a while since I've used that, acronym,, but, it, it it, apparently, is still possible to activate Windows by phone. You uh the good news is you can

phone. You uh the good news is you can now use your computer without needing a smartphone to do it. The bad news is you now have to use your Microsoft account to do it. So, while Microsoft hasn't

fully killed off product activation by phone, they're making it a little bit more difficult by now requiring you to sign in with your Microsoft account to

activate Windows, Office, or any other product that requires product activation by the telephone because they no longer have the audio recording where you would

simply type in the confirmation and installation IDs on your touchtone keypad, which was introduced with Windows XP and Office XP back in 2001

when I was only 4 years of age. While

phone activation is not completely dead calling the Microsoft product Activation phone line will yield that recording we heard earlier. So, I wonder how this

heard earlier. So, I wonder how this change is going to affect Microsoft product activation going forward and when the day will indeed come where you can no longer activate any Microsoft

product that contains product activation by phone.