You can still activate Windows 11 using Windows 7 keys

Here is how to activate Windows 11 using a Windows 7 key:

1.  Create a Windows 11 bootable drive using Rufus or the Media Creation Tool and install the OS locally or on a virtual machine.
   
   
2. Windows 11 will prompt you to enter a license key before installing. Click “I do not have a key” to skip this step (you may get an error when using a Windows 7 key on this step).
   
   
3. Proceed with installing Windows 11.
   
   
4. Once everything is set up and ready, connect your computer or virtual machine to the Internet and launch the Settings app.
   
   
5. Go to System > Activation and click Change Product Code.
   
   
6. Enter your Windows 7 key and wait for Windows 11 to activate.

Remember that editions should match—you cannot activate Windows 11 Pro using a key for Windows 7 Home.

How to set up Windows 11 WITHOUT an Internet connection

Windows 11 requires an internet connection to finish the initial setup (out-of-box experience (OOBE)) for the Home and Pro editions starting version 22H2, but there’s a way to bypass the requirement.

On the “Oops, you’ve lost internet connection” or “Let’s connect you to a network” page, use the Shift + F10 keyboard shortcut.

In Command Prompt, type the OOBE\BYPASSNRO command to bypass network requirements on Windows 11 and press Enter.

The computer will restart automatically, and the out-of-box experience (OOBE) will start again.

Quick note: You will need to select the region and keyboard settings one more time to get to the network connection page.

Click the “I don’t have internet” option and continue Installation.

Check Activation Status of Windows 11

Option One

1 Open Settings (Win+I).

2 Click/tap on System on the left side, and click/tap on Activation on the right side.

3 You’ll see one of these activation status messages on the Activation page,

Activation status	Description
Windows is activated	You are activated. Microsoft account is not linked.
Windows is activated with a digital license	You are activated. Your Microsoft account is not linked to your digital license.
Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account	You are activated. Your Microsoft account is already linked to your digital license.
Windows is not activated	You are not activated. You will see an error message explaining the failure. You might need to purchase Windows 11 to activate.

Option Two

Check Activation Status of Windows 11 using Command

1 Open Windows Terminal, and select either Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.

2 Copy and paste the slmgr /xpr command into Windows Terminal, and press Enter

How to repair Windows system files using System File Checker

The System File Checker (SFC) is a preinstalled Command Prompt tool in Windows that attempts to repair corrupted system files by replacing them with redundant files. SFC is a mechanism of the Windows File Protection feature.

The SFC tool comes with several switches that perform different functions.

SFC Switches

The
table below lists all the switches which can be used with the SFC command-line
tool and their functions:

Commands	Function
sfc /scannow	Scan for issues. If found, replace the file from the DLL cache.
sfc /scanonce	Will scan only once.
sfc /scanboot	Will scan the computer at every boot.
sfc /revert	Revert the scanning functionality to its original (default) state.
sfc /purgecache	Will remove the Windows File Protection cache and begin a scan over the system files.
sfc /cachesize=X	Set the cache size of the Windows File Protection to X MBs.
sfc /?	Display help regarding switches.

The simplest (and most convenient) method to run an SFC scan is by running the following cmdlet in an elevated Command Prompt:

sfc /scannow

The cmdlet will then perform its job and attempt to repair any protected system files that may have been corrupted.

How to enable God Mode in Windows 11

God Mode in Windows 11 (as well as previous versions of Windows) is simply a folder that contains shortcuts to most or all of the options available in the Control Panel. It’s useful because it makes all of those shortcuts quickly available without having to navigate the potentially confusing interface of the Control Panel. All the items are sorted and grouped so they’re easy enough to find.

Here’s how to enable God Mode on Windows 11:

• Right-click an empty area of the desktop, hover over New and then choose Folder.
• Name the folder GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}. If you’ve already created it with a different name, right-click the folder and choose Rename to change it.
• Once you hit Enter after changing the name, that name will disappear, and the icon should change into a Control Panel icon.
• You can now open the folder to access all the settings inside. You’ll find settings for everything from AutoPlay, user accounts, disk optimization, and so on. There are a total of 211 items, but that could vary depending on what version of Windows you’re running.