I've tried 2 different Windows cracks I found -- the FileCR 2023b crack, and the AppDoze 2025a crack. Both look legit to me but in both cases I get the exact same issue: With my computer offline, following the readmes, I mount the iso, run setup.exe, select "I have a File Installation Key", enter said key, and get this error: "Unable to load product files. Product files must be in the same folder as the input file. For help getting the product files, see the installation documentation on MATLAB Answer" which links to https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/98390?s_tid=pi_noprode_mpi_R2025a_win64 which is clear as mud.

I tried 0ing out the key and confirmed that it recognizes when you give it a bad key, so the key in the crack is still detected as a valid key, that's probably not the issue.

Thank you to any fellow pirate who can help a poor cuttlefish out o7 <3

EDIT: Based on https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/259632-how-can-i-get-matlab-installation-files-for-use-on-an-offline-machine

I should be able to use the installer (once logged in) to download files without installing, then go offline and use the file installation key. However, the option to download files without installing is all greyed out.

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[–] CommunistCuddlefish@hexbear.net 1 points 1 week ago

Interesting. Many people reporting similar problems with that one, but someone in June claims to have had success with the very version of 2025a I tried!

It appears Matlab took down their installers for every version of Matlab other than 2025b. I wonder if that's why now I can't install these. But I don't understand, it's supposed to work offline.