How do you activate a Win11 Lite version? (X-Lite/Optimum11) I thought it would be automatic with OEM key

Hi everyone!

So, I have a Lenovo Yoga 520 Laptop
- Intel Pentium Gold 4415U
- 8GB RAM DDR4
- 1TB WD 7200rpm
- OS: X-Lite Optimum11 24H2 Home v4 (Windows 11)

It used to have Win10 Home official from Lenovo and it was EXTREEEEMEEEEELYYYYY SLOWWWWWWW, even after fresh Windows factory reset (Do not keep files, full reset)

I thought of installing Win7 but it was impossible bec of drivers incompatibility, I had to give up

Then I came across these Win10/11 lite versions, thought of giving it a try, I first tried with Tiny11 and it seemed fine but I thought it wasn't as LITE as I wanted it to be, then found X-Lite(Optimum11) which is REALLY lite, but with BOTH I noticed Win said it was NOT ACTIVATED and invited me to do so, yet both say in the activation screen like they "cannot connect with the activation servers"

This laptop has OEM Win10 key which should've been activated automatically (I think), I can even see the key in REGEDIT

- Equipo\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform

If I click on the "Change key" button, put the same official Win10 Lenovo key that this machine came with, it says like "You don't have a valid license key" and invites me to buy one in MS Store

Can these "Lite" versions be activated at all?

Should I use "MASSGRAVEL"? (Pirate activation)

Btw this is Win11 X-Lite(Optimum11) HOME version, as well as the Win10 OEM that was installed before, also HOME edition

Oh, btw, I have another laptopt with official Win11 official activated by OEM, and it says it's activated by a license linked to my microsoft account. I already logged into the same microsoft account in the unactivated pc and still doesn't activate, shouldn't that alone also activate it?
IDK if this is important but this XLite Win11 is so lite it comes with the "User Account Control UAC" deactivated by default, there is a tool to reenable it, would this make any difference? I don't want to activate things that will make win slower

Thank you very much, I'd like to use the customization features of Win11 and get rid of the activation msg on lower right of screen

1) I cannot comment on these Lite versions - I have never used one and never will so I will leave commentary on that to others.

2) DO NOT discuss piracy here - that will get you banned in a hurry.

3) Since you are using a rotating platter disk in that system I would HIGHLY suggest replacing it with an SSD. If you have not played with them yet, you might be surprised what a difference that can make to overall system performance. Since your HDD is 1TB, replacement with a same sized SSD is very reasonably priced.

And here's ten points for filling out your computer specs.