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Closed 6 years ago . Will my Windows license key still work after the subscription is closed? It's not a volume license. 21.1k 74 74 gold badges 79 79 silver badges 105 105 bronze badges asked Jan 18, 2009 at 23:32 2,057 2 2 gold badges 27 27 silver badges 44 44 bronze badgesYou still have access to the product keys of products that were released while your MSDN subscription was active.
Our company had an MSDN Operating Systems edition. When that subscripion ended we purchased MSDN Universal (or Premium or whatever they call it this week). When we logged on to MSDN we could select either the Operating System account (which had expired) or the Universal account. We could still download from the OS account, but only those products released during the subscription period. You are still bound by the licence, so you wtill have caps on how many installs you have etc, but the products are still active.
answered Jan 18, 2009 at 23:57 Mike Thompson Mike Thompson 6,728 3 3 gold badges 33 33 silver badges 39 39 bronze badgesMost MSDN subscriptions are a perpetual license. When the subscritions expire, you still have the legal right to use everything that was included in it. However, this might not be the case for some volume license subscriptions, so you'll want to check out your specific subscrition to be sure. I've had expired volume license subscriptions in the past that have locked me out of viewing the keys - so you'd want to make sure you download all the keys before the expiration date.
Quote from MSDN FAQ - "In most cases, MSDN Subscriptions come with “perpetual” use rights—the ability to continue using the software after the subscription has expired."
answered Jan 21, 2009 at 17:49 Scott Ivey Scott Ivey 41.4k 21 21 gold badges 83 83 silver badges 118 118 bronze badgesThe answer is that it depends on the channel through which you purchased your MSDN subscription. Most channels do not allow you to continue using the software after expiration of MSDN:
Perpetual Use Rights Visual Studio subscriptions purchased through certain channels provide perpetual use rights that allow subscribers to continue using certain software products obtained through an active subscription after the subscription has expired. However, subscribers are not entitled to updates for that software after the subscription has expired, nor do they continue to have access to software or product keys through Subscriber Downloads or to other subscription services that are a benefit of having an active subscription. Product keys that were acquired while the subscription was active can continue being used until all activations for those keys have been exhausted. If a Visual Studio subscription is transferred or sold, any perpetual use rights are transferred to the new party and the seller can no longer use the software. Generally, Visual Studio subscriptions that do not provide perpetual use rights include:
Visual Studio cloud subscriptions
Visual Studio subscriptions purchased through Enterprise Agreement Subscription, Open Value Subscription, Campus Agreement, or other “subscription” Volume Licensing programs
Visual Studio subscriptions offered through the Microsoft Partner Network to competency partners and to Microsoft Action Pack partners.
In the above cases, subscribers can no longer use any software provided through the Visual Studio subscription after it expires.