diff --git a/lib/images/windows/helpers/customizeImage.nix b/lib/images/windows/helpers/customizeImage.nix
index 79dc155..19758b9 100644
--- a/lib/images/windows/helpers/customizeImage.nix
+++ b/lib/images/windows/helpers/customizeImage.nix
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@
     smp ? 4,
     memSize ? 4096,
     nicModel ? null,
+    # Flatten COW chain into a standalone qcow2 (removes backing file dependency)
+    compact ? false,
+    # QEMU timeout in seconds (default 30 min, increase for Windows Update)
+    qemuTimeout ? 1800,
   }:
   let
     originalImageName = lib.strings.removeSuffix "-vmix" (lib.strings.removeSuffix ".qcow2" originalImage.name);
@@ -107,11 +111,11 @@
         ${cdromArgs} \
         -nic user,model=${if nicModel != null then nicModel else if isAHCI then "e1000" else "virtio-net-pci"}"
 
-      timeout 1800 qemu-system-x86_64 $VMIX_DISPLAY $QEMU_ARGS || \
+      timeout ${toString qemuTimeout} qemu-system-x86_64 $VMIX_DISPLAY $QEMU_ARGS || \
         if [[ "$VMIX_DISPLAY" == "-display sdl" ]]; then
           echo "=== vmix: SDL failed, retrying headless ==="
           cp ${pkgs.OVMF.fd}/FV/OVMF_VARS.fd vars.fd && chmod +w vars.fd
-          timeout 1800 qemu-system-x86_64 -nographic $QEMU_ARGS
+          timeout ${toString qemuTimeout} qemu-system-x86_64 -nographic $QEMU_ARGS
         else
           exit 1
         fi
@@ -125,6 +129,11 @@
       [ -n "${diskSize}" ] && qemu-img resize ${resultImg} ${diskSize}
       ${virtWinRegMerge}
       ${auditBootCommands}
+      ${lib.optionalString compact ''
+      echo "=== vmix: compacting image ==="
+      qemu-img convert -O qcow2 ${resultImg} compact.qcow2
+      mv compact.qcow2 ${resultImg}
+      ''}
       mv ${resultImg} $out
     '';
   builtImage = pkgs.runCommand customImageName ({
diff --git a/lib/images/windows/templates/generalize.nix b/lib/images/windows/templates/generalize.nix
index 0caa5b9..cf1f2e2 100644
--- a/lib/images/windows/templates/generalize.nix
+++ b/lib/images/windows/templates/generalize.nix
@@ -81,9 +81,16 @@ in
     powershell -Command "Get-AppxPackage *MicrosoftEdgeDevToolsClient* | Remove-AppxPackage -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue"
 
 
-    :: Activate Windows using HWID method
+    :: Re-install product key and licenses to restore activation IDs after sysprep
+    cscript //nologo C:\Windows\System32\slmgr.vbs /ipk M7XTQ-FN8P6-TTKYV-9D4CC-J462D
+    cscript //nologo C:\Windows\System32\slmgr.vbs /rilc
+    :: Restart SPP service and wait for it to settle
+    net stop sppsvc /y 2>nul
+    net start sppsvc
+    ping -n 10 127.0.0.1 >nul
+    :: Activate Windows using TSforge
     if exist C:\MAS_AIO.cmd (
-      echo. | call C:\MAS_AIO.cmd /HWID
+      echo. | call C:\MAS_AIO.cmd /Z-Windows
     )
     :: Activate Office using Ohook method (if Office is installed)
     if exist "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\WINWORD.EXE" (