Windows product key quandry

[vinnywright]

Guys, please don't post product keys here.

oops sory ,,,,, I was not thinking properly at the time (the dog took me on that second beerrun) and I just wanted to help the OP without considering the consequences/legalities ,,,,,, strike 1 for VINNY

again my apology

VINNY

[SteveRiley]

Once your installed just boot into Windows, don't try any tricks with keeping Grub etc. Just do an install that you would expect from the manufacturer Then once in you'll see that your Windows install will somehow recognize its on the same machine. It does this by getting some information from the BIOS or possibly the motherboard (i'm honestly not sure but I think it the BIOS).

The detection sequence measures a number of hardware properties, assigns different ratings, and derives a unique machine hardware hash. The following components are measured in the generation of this hash:

* BIOS ID
* RemovablePolicy (network card, CD-ROM, audio, SCSI, IDE adapter)
* Network adapter MAC address
* CD–ROM / CD-RW / DVD-ROM
* IDE adapter
* Audio adapter
* Physical OS drive serial number
* SCSI adapter
* Display adapter
* Processor type
* RAM amount range (i.e. 0 - 512 MB, 512 MB - 1 GB, etc)
* Dockable flag

Together, the product ID (derived from the product activation key) and the and a portion of the hardware hash comprise the installation ID, which is sent to Microsoft during activation.

The details, documented in "Product activation for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008," are unchanged for newer versions of Windows. Here's the portion that describes reactivation:

At each login, Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 checks to see that it is running on the same or similar hardware that it was activated on. If it detects that the hardware is “substantially different”, reactivation is required. This check is performed after the OA 2.0 BIOS check discussed above, if the OA 2.0 BIOS check fails. This means that if your computer is pre-activated in the factory using the OA 2.0 pre-activation method, all the components in the computer could be swapped, including the motherboard, so long as the replacement motherboard was genuine and from the OEM with the proper BIOS.

The retail activation hardware check is accomplished by assigning each of the ten hardware elements a weighting factor. The sum of the weighting factors for the unchanged elements must exceed a threshold, otherwise reactivation is required. Microsoft changes the ten weighting factors and threshold value on its product activation servers periodically based on product activation and product support data. These changes on the activation server only impact online activation. Phone activation is still controlled by the weighting factors and threshold values maintained in the Windows client code. For example, the weighting factor for the HDD on Windows XP required the end user to reactivate whenever the HDD was replaced. Product support data showed that many of these reactivations were due to failed hard drives or user initiated upgrade to a higher capacity hard drive. Prior to Windows Vista consumer launch, the HDD weighting factor on the activation servers was reduced slightly to allow the end user to replace the HDD without requiring reactivation.

The actual weighting factors and threshold value are not published by Microsoft, since computer hardware is constantly evolving and real life data is utilized to adjust these values for the best user experience possible, but at the same time protecting Microsoft’s intellectual property by reducing piracy.

[dmeyer]

I wander how this handles installs in VMs though. My install had no issues with being VM and activated just fine. The substantial change between the bare metal metric and the VM must trigger an activation request unless the host OS passes through some requested information.

[SteveRiley]

I wander how this handles installs in VMs though. My install had no issues with being VM and activated just fine. The substantial change between the bare metal metric and the VM must trigger an activation request unless the host OS passes through some requested information.

The OEM license allows for this, so long as the VM is running on the same computer that was originally licensed:

d. Use with Virtualization Technologies. Instead of using the software directly on the licensed
computer, you may install and use the software within only one virtual (or otherwise emulated)
hardware system on the licensed computer.

More information: http://www.microsoft.com/About/Legal...erty/UseTerms/

Both VMware Player and VirtualBox can pass the physical BIOS ID to the VM.

[pauly]

Yes the OEM recovery disc auto activated. Used a free tool to pull my product key and saved it this time. Samsung has been wonderful on my service. The hard drive failed on this laptop two months after warranty and they replaced at no charge. Then they sent me a recovery disc free. Samsung has been fantastic. I recommend their products.