Windows licensing
Every computer we sell ships with a genuine, properly licensed copy of Windows, installed and activated before it leaves us. You don’t need to buy anything or enter a key.
How to check it’s activated
Section titled “How to check it’s activated”Settings → System → Activation.
You want to see “Windows is activated”. That’s it, nothing more to do.
If it says Windows is not activated
Section titled “If it says Windows is not activated”This happens occasionally and is nearly always fixable in a couple of minutes. It does not mean the licence is fake.
- Get online. Activation needs an internet connection, and a machine that has been offline since setup often just hasn’t checked in yet.
- Run the troubleshooter. On the Activation screen, select Troubleshoot. This resolves most cases on its own, particularly after a hardware change.
- Restart and check again.
If it’s still not activated, contact us with your order number and a photo of the Activation screen. We’ll sort it out. It’s covered by your warranty and there’s no charge.
Why licences sometimes deactivate
Section titled “Why licences sometimes deactivate”Windows ties activation partly to the hardware it’s running on. Replacing a significant component (most often the motherboard, sometimes a drive) can make Windows think it’s on a different computer and drop activation. The troubleshooter above exists precisely for this and usually reinstates it.
About Microsoft Office
Section titled “About Microsoft Office”Office is not included, and it isn’t part of the Windows licence. It’s a separate product with a separate cost.
Your options:
- Microsoft 365: a subscription, billed monthly or annually
- Office (one-off purchase): a single payment for a single version
- Free alternatives: the web versions of Word and Excel are free with a Microsoft account and are fine for most documents. LibreOffice is a free, fully-featured desktop suite.
If a machine arrives with an Office trial preinstalled, that’s a trial, not a licence. It’ll stop working when it expires.
A word on cheap licence keys
Section titled “A word on cheap licence keys”You’ll find Windows and Office keys online for a few dollars. They’re generally either volume licences resold in breach of their terms, or keys that have been used before. They tend to deactivate later, sometimes months later, and there’s no recourse when they do.
The licence on your machine from us isn’t one of those, and if it ever gives you trouble, we fix it.