Question Does a cloud reset remove the leftovers of software?

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Divine_Barakah

Divine_Barakah

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Hello,


I am wondering if a cloud reset does remove the leftovers of software especially security products. Also does cloud reset change device ID in Windows? I am currently using Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC and I am afraid that a clean install will remove the activation and I won't be able to reactivate Windows.

I have tried Cloud reset before, but as far as I rememeber that did not remove device drivers, so the same goes to everything else?
 
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Divine_Barakah said:
Hello,


I am wondering if a cloud reset does remove the leftovers of software especially security products. Also does cloud reset change device ID in Windows? I am currently using Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC and I am afraid that a clean install will remove the activation and I won't be able to reactivate Windows.

I have tried Cloud reset before, but as far as I rememeber that did not remove device drivers, so the same goes to everything else?
Click to expand...
As far as I know, reset has nothing to do with activation.
If the copy was activated using MAS HWID, it will reactivate itself upon internet connection, in the case activation is lost after reset.
 
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Parkinsond said:
As far as I know, reset has nothing to do with activation.
If the copy was activated using MAS HWID, it will reactivate itself upon internet connection, in the case activation is lost after reset.
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The activation was never lost in the case of retail products. The activation key is linked to my MS account, but that is not the case of LTSC. I activated the product using a product key, so I am not sure,
 
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Divine_Barakah said:
I am sure it has sth to do with it being LTSC version.
Click to expand...
Capture.JPG
 
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Divine_Barakah said:
I am wondering if a cloud reset does remove the leftovers of software especially security products.
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If you choose to keep apps, files and settings when asked, then no. Software leftovers won't be removed. If you choose to remove and reset everything, then yes.
Divine_Barakah said:
Also does cloud reset change device ID in Windows? I am currently using Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC and I am afraid that a clean install will remove the activation and I won't be able to reactivate Windows.
Click to expand...
No. Windows tracks licenses by hardware ID, not device ID. Hardware ID is only changed when you significantly change hardware and you can't change it through software.

All cloud reset does is download fresh ISO and installs it for you, nothing else. It shouldn't mess with the activation itself, but it may ask you to enter your product key when installation is done.
 
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Marko :) said:
If you choose to keep apps, files and settings when asked, then no. Software leftovers won't be removed. If you choose to remove and reset everything, then yes.

No. Windows tracks licenses by hardware ID, not device ID. Hardware ID is only changed when you significantly change hardware and you can't change it through software.

All cloud reset does is download fresh ISO and installs it for you, nothing else. It shouldn't mess with the activation itself, but it may ask you to enter your product key when installation is done.
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Thanks for the detailed info. To avoid losing activation, I'm going to create a full system image then do the cloud reset. If activation is lost, I'll restore the system image.
 
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Marko :) said:
Or just use MAS if your installation gets deactivated. It gives you legal Windows license and it uses Microsoft's own activation method. It does the same what Windows does when you enter your product key manually by hand, except it's all automated. In fact, even Microsoft support uses MAS when they can't activate Windows entering the product key. 🤷‍♂️
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I have no idea what that is. I'll have a look. It would be great if you could share more about that.
 
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So a quick update now. I did a local reset with "remove everything" option enabled and that did not affect activation.

Now I need to try clean installation and see if that affects activation.

As for software leftovers, I confirm that local reset does remove everything including software leftovers.
 
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I've just finished installing Microsoft Office Standard LTSC and it activated on its own. It did not require the product key.
 

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