Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Commercial, Windows x64
Windows 7 activation already cracked with OEM volume license key
by Lee Mathews Jul 29th 2009 at 9:00AM
That's only step one, of course. Without a valid key to activate your copy, you're dead in the water eventually.
However, just as it happened with Windows Vista, there's already been a Windows 7 crack created utilizing a major OEM's volume license pre-activation key. Instead of Dell, this time the key in question belongs to Lenovo. The key and OEM certificate were simply extracted from the Windows 7 Ultimate .wim files.
Reports from various other sites and forums indicate that the crack will only work for Windows 7 Ultimate, though both 32 and 64 bit versions can be cracked. What about Genuine Advantage? Passed with flying colors. That doesn't mean Microsoft will never sort this out, but I have my doubts - it was never blocked with Vista.
We're not linking to the actual crack or any of the proof-of-concept posts, of course, so don't ask. If you're already running the RTM, you'll be able to figure things out for yourself anyway.
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Let's start with the premise itself: Groundhog Day meets Memento. The game experience revolves around 'days': you explore the world and the clock slowly ticks towards the evening. You bounce around picking up gems and talking to the denizens of 'Level Upland'. Eventually you feel tired and head back to ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Adam Maras said 9:01AM on 7-29-2009
Wow; they made good time on this one!
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wrs589 said 9:27AM on 7-29-2009
I'll download the RTM now, thanks to this.
I've already paid for a pre-order of Windows 7 so as far as I'm concerned I'm not doing anything wrong.
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inteller said 9:47AM on 7-29-2009
Yeah and that key will be invalidated on the next SP update. It happened to the famous Dell XP key.
Some Lenovo f cker in China will be committing "suicide" soon.
Rohit Kapur said 10:01AM on 7-29-2009
I believe those keys have been blacklisted. I just checked the torrent sites for kicks, and the torrents floating out there claiming OEM activation have comments stating that the keys have been blocked by Microsoft.
Or maybe I just don't know where to look. :)
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Niels van Dijk said 10:14AM on 7-29-2009
I feel like buying this one and I don't know why!
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Alex McKee said 10:26AM on 7-29-2009
*facepalm* when will microsoft learn? YOU CAN'T STOP THE HACKERS!
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michel said 10:49AM on 7-29-2009
It's true, can't stop the hackers. Can't stop car theives either. Although, because I bought a car once, I feel justified driving yours around whenever I feel ike it. And, even though my rent is paid, I'm sleeping in your house tonight.
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Schwinn said 12:44PM on 7-29-2009
Yes, because that's the same.
Fact is, when copying a program you are not taking it away from someone else. In other words, with your car analogy, you are taking the car away from me, in order to use it yourself.
A better analogy would be that you "copied" my car (or house) and then used that... but then that doesn't sound sensationalistic and attention grabbing to the media whores.
michel said 12:57PM on 7-29-2009
guess your mother never taught you not to take things that aren't yours.
Matt said 1:34PM on 7-29-2009
Piracy is not theft. If you drive my car I can't drive it. If you try to sleep in my house my girlfriend will remove your spine.
Copying software I own, on the other hand, has no direct negative effect on me. It has a hidden negative effect, but it's too complex to just brand with a generic 'theft' sticker. The world is not simple, economy is not simple. If we want to solve the problem, first we have to understand it.
michel said 2:17PM on 7-29-2009
first we have to admit that taking things which don't belong to us is theft. We have to understand that benefitting from the labour of others without paying for it is known as slavery. We have to understand that just because we can do something does not mean it is legal or moral to do that thing. We have to understand that our selfishness is not a basis for morality.
What I have learned from the endless rationalizations and whining of pirates is that they are simply unthinking, greedy children with no regard for others. It's useless to talk to pirates, they simply trot out the same faulty excuses. In the end, these questions will be settled by the courts. Those who choose to contravene the laws, now and in the future, are clearly criminals. It doesn't get more basic than that. If you think the laws are unjust, work to change them. In the meantime, we are legally bound to abide by them.
Funke, Tobias Dr. said 3:08PM on 7-29-2009
Hear, hear, Michel.
Andrew Pollack said 10:48AM on 7-29-2009
Everyone seems so positive about win7; It sounds like the UI is much better. I'm worried though, that the underpinnings are still Vista -- and we're going to get suckered into another OS that prevents me from managing my own machine through "protected" parts of the file system, internally encrypted registry-like databases, and so on.
My daughter's Vista laptop needs a complete wipe and re-install to fix a problem with updates (I spent 16 hours on trying to fix it -- and I've got 20 years software development and IT support experience).
I'm very reluctant to install an OS that I can't repair on a machine I consider critical to my work (desktop or laptop).
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Mike said 12:50PM on 7-29-2009
Does anyone know where I can find this copy they speak of. Ive look all over for it and cant seem to find it.
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janku said 2:05PM on 7-29-2009
http://www.ex.ua/view/24101?r=24100
its 1:1 iso, check this link for sha1 checksums: http://blogs.technet.com/dmelanchthon/archive/2009/07/23/windows-7-rtm.aspx
btw. its not a crack, oem certificate, slic table, and oem:slp key are directly from microsoft, there is no malware or any 3rd party software in it.
This method is called OEM ACTIVITATION 2.0 (2.1 for seven), google 'OEM_Activation_2.0_Whitepaper.zip' for official m$ document about this.
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gtd said 5:04PM on 7-29-2009
Isn't stating that the software has "no malware" a sure-fire sign that there IS malware in the file?
MetalFrog said 5:10PM on 7-29-2009
@schwinn, I was pretty sure Piracy was the illegal distribution of intellectual property, such as software, movies, tv shows, etc. Your stupid little 'it's a copy' rationalization wouldn't hold up in court because, oh that's right, it's breaking a law.
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Cody W. said 10:04PM on 7-29-2009
Ok, sure, it is breaking the law. But it is not theft. Do you think manslaughter and murder are the same thing too? Sometimes it is important to make legal distinctions that define separate crimes and their according punishments, rather than lumping them all into just "theft" or just "killing someone."
The fact, I am not stealing from anyone when I use pirated software. I may be depriving the company that made the software of the money that I might have paid for it, but this is not theft. I can't steal theoretical money, can I? After all, there's no guarantee that I would be using their software if I had to pay a full retail price for it. Sure what I'm doing is wrong, but please don't be an idiot and just call it "theft" because you're too lazy to understand the nuances of evolving legal definitions in the digital age.
Pat said 6:41PM on 7-29-2009
I'd like to buy an upgrade version, but I'm not sure I can get it activated. I run multiple OSes and re-partition my drives often, and one day when I tried to activate the XP Pro I had purchased, I was informed by MS that I had used up all my activations for that CD. So although I'm eligible for the upgrade, if it means I have to have an activated XP installation, I'm dead. Hence, I would like to download the RTM and key so that I'll have something I can use after I pay for the upgrade... unlike the useless XP Pro CD I now have.
So how do I activate this download after I have it?
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sRc said 7:06PM on 7-29-2009
you can always call the number and activate it just fine, its just the automatic online system that shuts down after too many tries. I think I had to call them 3 different times because of extra reinstalls beyond the online limit