KMS38 Activation

Overview

  • How to use it? Please find the instructions here.

  • This activation method activates Windows 10/11 and Windows Server (14393 and later builds), until 19 January 2038 03:14:07 UTC.

  • This activation method does not store any files on the system.

  • This activation method works offline.

  • Unlike HWID and Online KMS activation option, KMS38 does not match with any official activation method.

How does it work?

  • In a genuine KMS activation environment, activation lasts a maximum of up to 180 days. This is done using a valid license and server setup.

  • In the Windows major upgrade process, the system uses gatherosstate.exe to carry over the remaining KMS activation period. It does it by creating a ticket that can be used offline.

  • The trick is that we can fool the gatherosstate.exe about the remaining KMS activation period and manually put the desired period maximum up to 19 January 2038 03:14:07 UTC.

  • Why it’s limited to the year 2038?
    It’s related to the Y2K38 problem as this date (19 January 2038 03:14:07 UTC) is the maximum date we can give to gatherosstate.exe without it looping back to the year 1970.

  • How to convince the gatherosstate.exe?
    There are two methods for it.

    1- Place a custom slc.dll file beside gatherosstate.exe:
    gatherosstate.exe uses the system’s C:\Windows\System32\slc.dll file to gather the system’s info. If we place a custom slc.dll file beside gatherosstate.exe which can send the rubbish data to it, then it will simply accept it and generate a valid ticket allowing activation upto 19 January 2038 03:14:07 UTC.

    2- Modify the gatherosstate.exe file itself so that it doesn’t check the system’s activation status and we can put the activation period as we wish.

  • Notes:

    • To be clear, we are not modifying/patching any on-board system file to get the ticket. Gatherosstate.exe is a part of ISO file and not available in C drive system files. System’s slc.dll file is not touched, instead we use custom slc.dll only for a brief moment of ticket generation.
    • Latest MAS doesn’t use any of these methods, instead it uses ready to use Universal tickets (check below for manual activation info).

Q: Can Microsoft block this kind of activation?
A: Not directly. They could only update Clipup to allow for a maximum activation period of 180 days. Not much besides that can be done on their part. The tickets are not sent to Microsoft at all, so they can’t block them or take action directly.

Supported Products

Windows 10/11 Generic Volume License Key
Education NW6C2-QMPVW-D7KKK-3GKT6-VCFB2
Education N 2WH4N-8QGBV-H22JP-CT43Q-MDWWJ
Enterprise NPPR9-FWDCX-D2C8J-H872K-2YT43
Enterprise N DPH2V-TTNVB-4X9Q3-TJR4H-KHJW4
Enterprise G YYVX9-NTFWV-6MDM3-9PT4T-4M68B
Enterprise G N 44RPN-FTY23-9VTTB-MP9BX-T84FV
Enterprise LTSB 2016 DCPHK-NFMTC-H88MJ-PFHPY-QJ4BJ
Enterprise LTSC 2019 M7XTQ-FN8P6-TTKYV-9D4CC-J462D
Enterprise LTSC 2021 M7XTQ-FN8P6-TTKYV-9D4CC-J462D
Enterprise N LTSB 2016 QFFDN-GRT3P-VKWWX-X7T3R-8B639
Enterprise N LTSC 2019 92NFX-8DJQP-P6BBQ-THF9C-7CG2H
Enterprise N LTSC 2021 92NFX-8DJQP-P6BBQ-THF9C-7CG2H
IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 (19044.2788 and later) KBN8V-HFGQ4-MGXVD-347P6-PDQGT
IoT Enterprise LTSC (Windows 11) KBN8V-HFGQ4-MGXVD-347P6-PDQGT
Home TX9XD-98N7V-6WMQ6-BX7FG-H8Q99
Home N 3KHY7-WNT83-DGQKR-F7HPR-844BM
Home China PVMJN-6DFY6-9CCP6-7BKTT-D3WVR
Home Single Language 7HNRX-D7KGG-3K4RQ-4WPJ4-YTDFH
Lean NBTWJ-3DR69-3C4V8-C26MC-GQ9M6
Pro W269N-WFGWX-YVC9B-4J6C9-T83GX
Pro N MH37W-N47XK-V7XM9-C7227-GCQG9
Pro Education 6TP4R-GNPTD-KYYHQ-7B7DP-J447Y
Pro Education N YVWGF-BXNMC-HTQYQ-CPQ99-66QFC
Pro for Workstations NRG8B-VKK3Q-CXVCJ-9G2XF-6Q84J
Pro N for Workstations 9FNHH-K3HBT-3W4TD-6383H-6XYWF
SE 37D7F-N49CB-WQR8W-TBJ73-FM8RX
SE N 6XN7V-PCBDC-BDBRH-8DQY7-G6R44
Windows Server (LTSC) Generic Volume License Key
Windows Server 2022 Datacenter WX4NM-KYWYW-QJJR4-XV3QB-6VM33
Windows Server 2022 Standard VDYBN-27WPP-V4HQT-9VMD4-VMK7H
Windows Server 2022 Azure Core 6N379-GGTMK-23C6M-XVVTC-CKFRQ
Windows Server 2019 Datacenter WMDGN-G9PQG-XVVXX-R3X43-63DFG
Windows Server 2019 Standard N69G4-B89J2-4G8F4-WWYCC-J464C
Windows Server 2019 Essentials WVDHN-86M7X-466P6-VHXV7-YY726
Windows Server 2019 Azure Core FDNH6-VW9RW-BXPJ7-4XTYG-239TB
Windows Server 2019 ARM64 GRFBW-QNDC4-6QBHG-CCK3B-2PR88
Windows Server 2016 ARM64 K9FYF-G6NCK-73M32-XMVPY-F9DRR
Windows Server 2016 Datacenter CB7KF-BWN84-R7R2Y-793K2-8XDDG
Windows Server 2016 Standard WC2BQ-8NRM3-FDDYY-2BFGV-KHKQY
Windows Server 2016 Essentials JCKRF-N37P4-C2D82-9YXRT-4M63B
Windows Server 2016 Cloud Storage QN4C6-GBJD2-FB422-GHWJK-GJG2R
Windows Server 2016 Azure Core VP34G-4NPPG-79JTQ-864T4-R3MQX
Windows Server (Semi-Annual Channel) Generic Volume License Key
Windows Server Azure Datacenter NTBV8-9K7Q8-V27C6-M2BTV-KHMXV
20H2, 2004, 1909, 1903, and 1809
Windows Server Datacenter 6NMRW-2C8FM-D24W7-TQWMY-CWH2D
Windows Server Standard N2KJX-J94YW-TQVFB-DG9YT-724CC
1803
Windows Server Datacenter 2HXDN-KRXHB-GPYC7-YCKFJ-7FVDG
Windows Server Standard PTXN8-JFHJM-4WC78-MPCBR-9W4KR
1709
Windows Server Datacenter 6Y6KB-N82V8-D8CQV-23MJW-BWTG6
Windows Server Standard DPCNP-XQFKJ-BJF7R-FRC8D-GF6G4

Notes:

  • X86-X64 and ARM64 architecture systems are supported.

  • Any Evaluation version of Windows (i.e. ‘EVAL’ LTSB/C) cannot be activated.

  • KMS38 only supports Windows/server version 14393 (1607) and newer versions.

  • Initial release (19044.1288) of Iot LTSC 2021 doesn’t support KMS license and it was added later in update 19044.2788.

  • ServerRdsh, Server Azure Datacenter editions do not officially support activation on non-azure systems.

How to remove KMS38?

  • In MAS, goto KMS38 Activation and apply Remove KM38 Protection option.

  • After that, In MAS, goto Troubleshoot and apply Fix Licensing option.

  • Done.

KMS38 - Server Cor/Acor

  • Windows Server Cor/Acor (No GUI) editions don’t have clipup.exe file.

  • To KMS38 activate it, you need to download ClipUp.exe file from this link.

    File: ClipUp.exe
    SHA-256: 0d6e9f6bbd0321eda149658d96040cb4f79e0bd93ba60061f25b28fecbf4d4ef

    This file has digital signatures which can be verified. You can also get this file from official Windows Server 2016 x64 RTM ISO.

  • Put the ClipUp.exe beside the KMS38 Activation script. That would be either MAS_AIO.cmd or KMS38_Activation.cmd

  • Activation script will check ClipUp.exe in the current folder (from where script is running) and will use it accordingly.

KMS38 Protection

  • KMS38 Activation is vulnerable to unintended replacement by a 180-Day KMS Activator.

  • From MAS 1.7, script will enable the KMS38 protection by default.

  • If you are going to use KMS_VL_ALL by abbodi1406 or MAS (Online KMS option) for Office activation, then you can choose to remove this protection.

  • Below is the explanation for how the script protect KMS38.

  • In the KMS activation method, Windows first checks the KMS IP registered as a specific KMS, and if that is not defined then it checks the Global KMS IP. Another fact is that if Localhost (IP range 127.0.0.0/8) is defined as KMS IP in Windows 8 and later OS then Windows will not accept it as a valid KMS IP. This script simply utilizes the above facts to protect the KMS38 activation from being overwritten by any alternative ‘normal’ 180-Day KMS Activation and at the same time that KMS activator can be used for Office activation.

  • Script steps-

    • Set the Windows edition-specific KMS IP to Localhost (127.0.0.2)

    • Protect the below Registry from edit and delete

    • Done.

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform\55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059f\XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX\

Command line Switches

Manual Activation

This is for those who wants to perform manual activation. If you want a tool to do this for you then check here.

We can divide the manual activation process into two parts.

1- From Ready-Made Ticket

  • Open Windows Powershell as administrator, and enter the following listed commands in the sequence in which they are given.

  • Enter the Key, (Replace <key> with the key from the above list) with the following command

slmgr /ipk <key>

  • Download Universal ticket from here and extract the downloaded file.

  • Find a file named KMS.xml in the extracted folder.

  • Copy that ticket file and paste it in the below folder

    C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\ClipSVC\GenuineTicket

  • Now run below command in Powershell to apply the ticket

clipup -v -o

  • Check Activation Status with the following command

slmgr /xpr

  • Done.

2- From Scratch

In this process we will perform activation from scratch. This is based on Universal ticket method. Here we will create identical ticket which is used in MAS KMS38 script and activate the system with it.

slmgr /ipk <key>

  • Copy the below code all at once and enter in PowerShell to modify the gatherosstate.exe file.
    This code to modify the file is based on GamersOsState.
$bytes  = [System.IO.File]::ReadAllBytes("C:\Files\gatherosstate.exe")
$bytes[320] = 0xf8
$bytes[321] = 0xfb
$bytes[322] = 0x05
$bytes[324] = 0x03
$bytes[13672] = 0x25
$bytes[13674] = 0x73
$bytes[13676] = 0x3b
$bytes[13678] = 0x00
$bytes[13680] = 0x00
$bytes[13682] = 0x00
$bytes[13684] = 0x00
$bytes[32748] = 0xe9
$bytes[32749] = 0x9e
$bytes[32750] = 0x00
$bytes[32751] = 0x00
$bytes[32752] = 0x00
$bytes[32894] = 0x8b
$bytes[32895] = 0x44
$bytes[32897] = 0x64
$bytes[32898] = 0x85
$bytes[32899] = 0xc0
$bytes[32900] = 0x0f
$bytes[32901] = 0x85
$bytes[32902] = 0x1c
$bytes[32903] = 0x02
$bytes[32904] = 0x00
$bytes[32906] = 0xe9
$bytes[32907] = 0x3c
$bytes[32908] = 0x01
$bytes[32909] = 0x00
$bytes[32910] = 0x00
$bytes[32911] = 0x85
$bytes[32912] = 0xdb
$bytes[32913] = 0x75
$bytes[32914] = 0xeb
$bytes[32915] = 0xe9
$bytes[32916] = 0x69
$bytes[32917] = 0xff
$bytes[32918] = 0xff
$bytes[32919] = 0xff
$bytes[33094] = 0xe9
$bytes[33095] = 0x80
$bytes[33096] = 0x00
$bytes[33097] = 0x00
$bytes[33098] = 0x00
$bytes[33449] = 0x64
$bytes[33576] = 0x8d
$bytes[33577] = 0x54
$bytes[33579] = 0x24
$bytes[33580] = 0xe9
$bytes[33581] = 0x55
$bytes[33582] = 0x01
$bytes[33583] = 0x00
$bytes[33584] = 0x00
$bytes[33978] = 0xc3
$bytes[34189] = 0x59
$bytes[34190] = 0xeb
$bytes[34191] = 0x28
$bytes[34238] = 0xe9
$bytes[34239] = 0x4f
$bytes[34240] = 0x00
$bytes[34241] = 0x00
$bytes[34242] = 0x00
$bytes[34346] = 0x24
$bytes[34376] = 0xeb
$bytes[34377] = 0x63
[System.IO.File]::WriteAllBytes("C:\Files\gatherosstatemodified.exe", $bytes)
  • Now right click on the file gatherosstatemodified.exe and goto properties and set the compatibility to Windows XP SP3.
  • Now we need to generate the ticket, to do that, enter the below command.
C:\Files\gatherosstatemodified.exe /c GVLKExp=2038-01-19T03:14:07Z`;DownlevelGenuineState=1
  • A GenuineTicket.xml file should be created in the folder C:\Files\ now let’s apply it.

clipup -v -o -altto C:\Files\

  • Check Activation Status with the following command:

slmgr /xpr

  • Done.

Notes:

  • To make the exact ticket used in MAS KMS38 script, fix the time with below Powershell command and then initiate the ticket generation process as per above mentioned steps.
    Set-TimeZone -Id "UTC"; $date=[datetime]"2022/10/11 12:00";while($true){set-date $date; start-sleep -milliseconds 10}

  • In the case of Windows Server Cor/Acor (No GUI) editions, the system doesn’t have clipup.exe file.
    To KMS38 activate it, you need to download ClipUp.exe file from this link.

    File: ClipUp.exe
    SHA-256: 0d6e9f6bbd0321eda149658d96040cb4f79e0bd93ba60061f25b28fecbf4d4ef

    This file has digital signatures which can be verified. You can also get this file from official Windows Server 2016 x64 RTM ISO.

    Put the ClipUp.exe in C:\Windows\System32 folder and then initiate the above mentioned activation process. Once the activation is done, you can remove the file.

Setup Preactivate

  • Check the Extract OEM option in the MAS Extras section if you want pre-activated Windows installation.

  • Further, read here.

Troubleshooting