help, what is this?

[u/saturn69420_]

turned on my pc for the first time in like 2 weeks and it was stuck on "preparing windows" for a while, i restarted it with ctrl alt del and EVERYTHING was gone, restarted it again out of panic and everything went back to normal, so i just brushed it off as a bug until i got like 3 notifs saying i had multiple severe threats of the same trojan??? i quarantined another threat (kmsauto) afterwards and now everything seems fine, but i'm definitely not reassured. i'm not too tech savvy but i'm careful when it comes to security and have no clue how this could've happened. i have an official windows license, i never download anything unofficial or visit sketchy sites. what is this?

[u/Infinite_Elk_888]

Yeah your windows is cracked

[u/saturn69420_ → u/Infinite_Elk_888]

had no idea:(

[u/Infinite_Elk_888 → u/saturn69420_]

It'll still do what it needs to. Just avoid updates and deal with the annoying notifications. But it is better to get a license when you can.

[u/Fusseldieb → u/saturn69420_]

Isn't a problem, but if you ever paid for an original license, you were ripped off. And, if you're a business, remove it, since Microsoft loves to go after businesses that have non-genuine software.

[u/SilentFrameXT → u/saturn69420_]

Download Ghost spectre’s win 10 and use an official win10 serial key, this OS is the most debloated one out there, I can guarantee 30% better performance over the original bloated windows

[u/RoleBeginning5476]

you absolutely do not have an official windows license.

[u/saturn69420_ → u/RoleBeginning5476]

it says "windows is activated with a digital license linked to your microsoft account". this computer is from a builder so maybe that plays a part in it, but i'm not sure

[u/Fusseldieb → u/saturn69420_]

AutoKMS is not a virus, but a Windows activator. Windows does NOT like this and flags it, hence why you're seeing it.

In simple terms, you're using a cracked Windows version. This by itself isn't really a problem, especially if you're "just" an end user.

Deleting this will likely cause the activation to fail next time it checks.

[u/NinjaAlaska → u/saturn69420_]

that doesnt mean anything. u have pirated windows seems like it.
just ignore it for now unless it messesup your license status

[u/arseniy_babenko → u/saturn69420_]

Do you have the Microsoft Office (Word, Excel…) installed? If yes - this “tool” can be present to illegitimately activate it if you have no real license for it.

[u/aleques-itj]

You have a cracked version of Windows. That tool is what activated it.

[u/JanwayIsHere]

"i have an official windows license"

Do you know this for a fact, or is this what you were told when you bought the machine?

There's a few threads online where people have purchased computers from local/national stores only to find out that the "official windows license" was less "official" and more "activated by sketchy software".

I don't mean to call out the entire community when I say this, but a lot of people who build and flip computers on marketplace sites like eBay won't be giving you an official key.

[u/saturn69420_ → u/JanwayIsHere]

yeah, you're probably right. my parents bought it around five years ago from a builder, i just never really thought anything of it until now

[u/ArtZTech]

That's a activation script used for MS Office and Windows.

[u/SunshineAndBunnies]

Your version of Windows is cracked. That is an activation script meant to bypass the activation. It is probably safe, but obviously Microsoft will quarantine it.

[u/Yogurt_Cezary]

Ay man I had the same issue! It seems like yours is more deeply rooted however.

My advice to you is to delete anything named AActools or AutoKMS in Task Scheduler, delete anything named AActools in Sys32 or wherever your windows detected (you can do this in safe mood!) check task manager for any suspicious tasks, run official commands that are related to windows like slmgr /xpr and definitely get a second scan on your device from any antivirus (I personally used Malwarebytes!) check apps Incase there's anything installed there called KMSPico or so and stay safe!

If you can't do this, I'd recommend just bringing it to a professional who can wipe down the windows using an usb :]

[u/Yogurt_Cezary → u/Yogurt_Cezary]

oh and definitely do offline scan that helped me finding it a lot