Min menu

Pages

A ctivation key for Windows 8 Microsoft mistakenly gifts

Hawk

21 November 2012

Microsoft's final copy of Windows 8 leaked online back in early August and pirates have been battling to work around Microsoft's activation technology ever since. Early attempts involved the use of third-party Key Management Services (KMS) servers that would activate a copy for 180 days, requiring a re-activation every six months. This work around has allowed Windows 8 pirates to use the operating system free of charge temporarily, but the software maker has now made it even easier to avoid paying for a key.

Microsoft is giving away a Media Center upgrade to Windows 8 Pro users until January 31st, and pirates have discovered that the key provided will fully activate a copy of Windows 8 that was previously temporarily activated through the KMS workaround.

The blunder means pirates can download an illegitimate copy of Windows 8, temporarily activate it through KMS and then upgrade it fully to an activated copy of Windows 8 thanks to Microsoft's own Media Center upgrade offer. The Verge has confirmed the procedure works on a test machine and we have reached out to Microsoft for a comment on the method.

Reactions

Comments

window['__wavt'] = 'AOuZoY4extk2Kd1nmQpi7uRNdBXhX8OddQ:1732498632968';_WidgetManager._Init('//www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID\x3d1931624348081627841','//mix4m.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-ctivation-key-for-windows-8-microsoft.html','1931624348081627841'); _WidgetManager._SetDataContext([{'name': 'blog', 'data': {'blogId': '1931624348081627841', 'title': 'Mix4M', 'url': 'http://mix4m.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-ctivation-key-for-windows-8-microsoft.html', 'canonicalUrl': 'http://mix4m.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-ctivation-key-for-windows-8-microsoft.html', 'homepageUrl': 'http://mix4m.blogspot.com/', 'searchUrl': 'http://mix4m.blogspot.com/search', 'canonicalHomepageUrl': 'http://mix4m.blogspot.com/', 'blogspotFaviconUrl': 'http://mix4m.blogspot.com/favicon.ico', 'bloggerUrl': 'https://www.blogger.com', 'hasCustomDomain': false, 'httpsEnabled': true, 'enabledCommentProfileImages': true, 'gPlusViewType': 'FILTERED_POSTMOD', 'adultContent': false, 'analyticsAccountNumber': '', 'encoding': 'UTF-8', 'locale': 'en', 'localeUnderscoreDelimited': 'en', 'languageDirection': 'ltr', 'isPrivate': false, 'isMobile': false, 'isMobileRequest': false, 'mobileClass': '', 'isPrivateBlog': false, 'isDynamicViewsAvailable': true, 'feedLinks': '\x3clink rel\x3d\x22alternate\x22 type\x3d\x22application/atom+xml\x22 title\x3d\x22Mix4M - Atom\x22 href\x3d\x22http://mix4m.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default\x22 /\x3e\n\x3clink rel\x3d\x22alternate\x22 type\x3d\x22application/rss+xml\x22 title\x3d\x22Mix4M - RSS\x22 href\x3d\x22http://mix4m.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt\x3drss\x22 /\x3e\n\x3clink rel\x3d\x22service.post\x22 type\x3d\x22application/atom+xml\x22 title\x3d\x22Mix4M - Atom\x22 href\x3d\x22https://www.blogger.com/feeds/1931624348081627841/posts/default\x22 /\x3e\n\n\x3clink rel\x3d\x22alternate\x22 type\x3d\x22application/atom+xml\x22 title\x3d\x22Mix4M - Atom\x22 href\x3d\x22http://mix4m.blogspot.com/feeds/1621868505469795128/comments/default\x22 /\x3e\n', 'meTag': '', 'adsenseClientId': 'ca-pub-0824328883898032', 'adsenseHostId': 'ca-host-pub-1556223355139109', 'adsenseHasAds': true, 'adsenseAutoAds': false, 'boqCommentIframeForm': true, 'loginRedirectParam': '', 'view': '', 'dynamicViewsCommentsSrc': '//www.blogblog.com/dynamicviews/4224c15c4e7c9321/js/comments.js', 'dynamicViewsScriptSrc': '//www.blogblog.com/dynamicviews/d78375fb222d99b3', 'plusOneApiSrc': 'https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js', 'disableGComments': true, 'interstitialAccepted': false, 'sharing': {'platforms': [{'name': 'Get link', 'key': 'link', 'shareMessage': 'Get link', 'target': ''}, {'name': 'Facebook', 'key': 'facebook', 'shareMessage': 'Share to Facebook', 'target': 'facebook'}, {'name': 'BlogThis!', 'key': 'blogThis', 'shareMessage': 'BlogThis!', 'target': 'blog'}, {'name': 'X', 'key': 'twitter', 'shareMessage': 'Share to X', 'target': 'twitter'}, {'name': 'Pinterest', 'key': 'pinterest', 'shareMessage': 'Share to Pinterest', 'target': 'pinterest'}, {'name': 'Email', 'key': 'email', 'shareMessage': 'Email', 'target': 'email'}], 'disableGooglePlus': true, 'googlePlusShareButtonWidth': 0, 'googlePlusBootstrap': '\x3cscript type\x3d\x22text/javascript\x22\x3ewindow.___gcfg \x3d {\x27lang\x27: \x27en\x27};\x3c/script\x3e'}, 'hasCustomJumpLinkMessage': false, 'jumpLinkMessage': 'Read more', 'pageType': 'item', 'postId': '1621868505469795128', 'postImageThumbnailUrl': 'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVwl2lf1B25UTBYc4_N4uES7Larwl38ut-VgdjbdRIwX8BTBC0dc4E42gPX2ZyedbJMNvqjQoygQRidM63F3PDEBNlWTnp3YcvpLL4m-ywpkc1jVWQmG9GHHDD8OYeISu1u_zqZkWdPZI/s72-c/550119_479088308802630_584686502_n.jpg', 'postImageUrl': 'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVwl2lf1B25UTBYc4_N4uES7Larwl38ut-VgdjbdRIwX8BTBC0dc4E42gPX2ZyedbJMNvqjQoygQRidM63F3PDEBNlWTnp3YcvpLL4m-ywpkc1jVWQmG9GHHDD8OYeISu1u_zqZkWdPZI/s320/550119_479088308802630_584686502_n.jpg', 'pageName': 'A ctivation key for Windows 8 Microsoft mistakenly gifts', 'pageTitle': 'Mix4M: A ctivation key for Windows 8 Microsoft mistakenly gifts', 'metaDescription': ''}}, {'name': 'features', 'data': {}}, {'name': 'messages', 'data': {'edit': 'Edit', 'linkCopiedToClipboard': 'Link copied to clipboard!', 'ok': 'Ok', 'postLink': 'Post Link'}}, {'name': 'template', 'data': {'name': 'custom', 'localizedName': 'Custom', 'isResponsive': true, 'isAlternateRendering': false, 'isCustom': true}}, {'name': 'view', 'data': {'classic': {'name': 'classic', 'url': '?view\x3dclassic'}, 'flipcard': {'name': 'flipcard', 'url': '?view\x3dflipcard'}, 'magazine': {'name': 'magazine', 'url': '?view\x3dmagazine'}, 'mosaic': {'name': 'mosaic', 'url': '?view\x3dmosaic'}, 'sidebar': {'name': 'sidebar', 'url': '?view\x3dsidebar'}, 'snapshot': {'name': 'snapshot', 'url': '?view\x3dsnapshot'}, 'timeslide': {'name': 'timeslide', 'url': '?view\x3dtimeslide'}, 'isMobile': false, 'title': 'A ctivation key for Windows 8 Microsoft mistakenly gifts', 'description': '', 'featuredImage': 'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVwl2lf1B25UTBYc4_N4uES7Larwl38ut-VgdjbdRIwX8BTBC0dc4E42gPX2ZyedbJMNvqjQoygQRidM63F3PDEBNlWTnp3YcvpLL4m-ywpkc1jVWQmG9GHHDD8OYeISu1u_zqZkWdPZI/s320/550119_479088308802630_584686502_n.jpg', 'url': 'http://mix4m.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-ctivation-key-for-windows-8-microsoft.html', 'type': 'item', 'isSingleItem': true, 'isMultipleItems': false, 'isError': false, 'isPage': false, 'isPost': true, 'isHomepage': false, 'isArchive': false, 'isLabelSearch': false, 'postId': 1621868505469795128}}, {'name': 'widgets', 'data': [{'title': 'Pages', 'type': 'PageList', 'sectionId': 'pages', 'id': 'PageList1'}, {'title': '\u0645\u0648\u0627\u0642\u0639 \u0627\u0644\u062a\u0648\u0627\u0635\u0644 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u062c\u062a\u0645\u0627\u0639\u064a', 'type': 'LinkList', 'sectionId': 'top-social-L', 'id': 'LinkList3'}, {'title': 'Mix4M (Header)', 'type': 'Header', 'sectionId': 'logo', 'id': 'Header1'}, {'title': 'Main List', 'type': 'LinkList', 'sectionId': 'menu', 'id': 'LinkList22'}, {'title': '', 'type': 'HTML', 'sectionId': 'TopPost-sc', 'id': 'HTML3'}, {'title': '', 'type': 'Label', 'sectionId': 'TopPost-sc', 'id': 'Label1'}, {'title': 'News [posts5]', 'type': 'Label', 'sectionId': 'Postcs1', 'id': 'Label5'}, {'title': 'Entertainment [posts1]', 'type': 'Label', 'sectionId': 'Postcs1', 'id': 'Label2'}, {'title': 'Blog Posts', 'type': 'Blog', 'sectionId': 'Tempnec', 'id': 'Blog1', 'posts': [{'id': '1621868505469795128', 'title': 'A ctivation key for Windows 8 Microsoft mistakenly gifts', 'featuredImage': 'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVwl2lf1B25UTBYc4_N4uES7Larwl38ut-VgdjbdRIwX8BTBC0dc4E42gPX2ZyedbJMNvqjQoygQRidM63F3PDEBNlWTnp3YcvpLL4m-ywpkc1jVWQmG9GHHDD8OYeISu1u_zqZkWdPZI/s320/550119_479088308802630_584686502_n.jpg', 'showInlineAds': false}], 'headerByline': {'regionName': 'header1', 'items': [{'name': 'author', 'label': '\u0643\u062a\u0628:'}, {'name': 'timestamp', 'label': '\u0622\u062e\u0631 \u062a\u062d\u062f\u064a\u062b:'}, {'name': 'share', 'label': ''}]}, 'footerBylines': [{'regionName': 'footer1', 'items': [{'name': 'comments', 'label': 'comments'}, {'name': 'icons', 'label': ''}, {'name': 'backlinks', 'label': 'Related Posts'}]}, {'regionName': 'footer2', 'items': [{'name': 'labels', 'label': '\u0627\u0644\u0642\u0633\u0645:'}]}, {'regionName': 'footer3', 'items': [{'name': 'reactions', 'label': 'Reactions'}]}], 'allBylineItems': [{'name': 'author', 'label': '\u0643\u062a\u0628:'}, {'name': 'timestamp', 'label': '\u0622\u062e\u0631 \u062a\u062d\u062f\u064a\u062b:'}, {'name': 'share', 'label': ''}, {'name': 'comments', 'label': 'comments'}, {'name': 'icons', 'label': ''}, {'name': 'backlinks', 'label': 'Related Posts'}, {'name': 'labels', 'label': '\u0627\u0644\u0642\u0633\u0645:'}, {'name': 'reactions', 'label': 'Reactions'}]}, {'title': '\u0623\u0639\u0644\u0627\u0646 \u0627\u0648\u0644 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0648\u0636\u0648\u0639', 'type': 'HTML', 'sectionId': 'PostAds', 'id': 'HTML201'}, {'title': '\u0623\u0639\u0644\u0627\u0646 \u0645\u0646\u062a\u0635\u0641 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0648\u0636\u0648\u0639', 'type': 'HTML', 'sectionId': 'PostAds', 'id': 'HTML202'}, {'title': '\u0627\u0639\u0644\u0627\u0646 \u0628\u0639\u062f \u0627\u0648\u0644 \u0641\u0642\u0631\u0629', 'type': 'HTML', 'sectionId': 'PostAds', 'id': 'HTML205'}, {'title': '\u0627\u0639\u0644\u0627\u0646 \u0628\u0639\u062f \u062b\u0627\u0646\u064a \u0641\u0642\u0631\u0629', 'type': 'HTML', 'sectionId': 'PostAds', 'id': 'HTML206'}, {'title': '\u0627\u0639\u0644\u0627\u0646 \u0628\u0639\u062f \u062b\u0627\u0644\u062b \u0641\u0642\u0631\u0629', 'type': 'HTML', 'sectionId': 'PostAds', 'id': 'HTML207'}, {'title': '\u0645\u064a\u0632\u0629 \u062a\u062d\u0648\u064a\u0644 \u0627\u0644\u0631\u0648\u0627\u0628\u0637 \u0627\u0644\u062e\u0627\u0631\u062c\u064a\u0629', 'type': 'LinkList', 'sectionId': 'AddOns', 'id': 'LinkList500'}, {'title': '\u0645\u064a\u0632\u0629 \u062c\u062f\u0648\u0644 \u0627\u0644\u062a\u0646\u0642\u0644', 'type': 'HTML', 'sectionId': 'AddOns', 'id': 'HTML1'}, {'title': '\u0645\u064a\u0632\u0629 \u0642\u062f \u064a\u0639\u062c\u0628\u0643 \u0627\u064a\u0636\u0627', 'type': 'HTML', 'sectionId': 'AddOns', 'id': 'HTML2'}, {'title': 'Sports [posts5]', 'type': 'Label', 'sectionId': 'Postcs5', 'id': 'Label3'}, {'title': 'Laples', 'type': 'Label', 'sectionId': 'sidepar', 'id': 'Label4'}, {'title': 'Trending:', 'type': 'PopularPosts', 'sectionId': 'sidepar', 'id': 'PopularPosts1', 'posts': [{'title': 'Moment booby-trapped Hezbollah pager receives fateful message then EXPLODES: Militants blame Israel and vow revenge as hundreds of devices detonate across Middle East leaving nine dead and thousands injured', 'id': 5841381398317351591}, {'title': 'Fallo! (Do It!) (2003) Sara Cosmi - Tinto Brass', 'id': 5970062562784148231}, {'title': 'Meghan Markle beams as she and Prince Harry attend Tyler Perry\x27s star-studded birthday bash with Oprah and best friend Gayle King', 'id': 530853321291950088}, {'title': 'Russell Crowe photos shows off his buff new body after lose weight', 'id': 2136459778814566019}]}, {'type': 'AdSense', 'sectionId': 'sidepar', 'id': 'AdSense1'}, {'title': 'World [posts4]', 'type': 'Label', 'sectionId': 'Postnw4', 'id': 'Label6'}, {'title': 'Lifestyle [posts4]', 'type': 'Label', 'sectionId': 'Postnw5', 'id': 'Label7'}, {'title': 'Helth [posts4]', 'type': 'Label', 'sectionId': 'Postnw6', 'id': 'Label8'}, {'title': '\u0645\u0648\u0627\u0642\u0639 \u0627\u0644\u062a\u0648\u0627\u0635\u0644 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u062c\u062a\u0645\u0627\u0639\u064a', 'type': 'LinkList', 'sectionId': 'footer-social', 'id': 'LinkList2'}]}]); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_PageListView', new _WidgetInfo('PageList1', 'pages', document.getElementById('PageList1'), {'title': 'Pages', 'links': [{'isCurrentPage': false, 'href': '/', 'title': 'Home'}, {'isCurrentPage': false, 'href': 'http://mix4m.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html', 'id': '4009691309487893549', 'title': 'About Us'}, {'isCurrentPage': false, 'href': 'http://mix4m.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html', 'id': '4110835588899464971', 'title': 'Privacy policy'}, {'isCurrentPage': false, 'href': 'http://mix4m.blogspot.com/p/terms-and-conditions.html', 'id': '7277057793840784733', 'title': 'Terms and Conditions '}, {'isCurrentPage': false, 'href': 'http://mix4m.blogspot.com/p/cotac.html', 'id': '8856673938118560588', 'title': 'Contact Us'}], 'mobile': false, 'showPlaceholder': true, 'hasCurrentPage': false}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_LinkListView', new _WidgetInfo('LinkList3', 'top-social-L', document.getElementById('LinkList3'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_HeaderView', new _WidgetInfo('Header1', 'logo', document.getElementById('Header1'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_LinkListView', new _WidgetInfo('LinkList22', 'menu', document.getElementById('LinkList22'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_HTMLView', new _WidgetInfo('HTML3', 'TopPost-sc', document.getElementById('HTML3'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_LabelView', new _WidgetInfo('Label1', 'TopPost-sc', document.getElementById('Label1'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_LabelView', new _WidgetInfo('Label5', 'Postcs1', document.getElementById('Label5'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_LabelView', new _WidgetInfo('Label2', 'Postcs1', document.getElementById('Label2'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_BlogView', new _WidgetInfo('Blog1', 'Tempnec', document.getElementById('Blog1'), {'cmtInteractionsEnabled': false, 'lightboxEnabled': true, 'lightboxModuleUrl': 'https://www.blogger.com/static/v1/jsbin/2646514562-lbx.js', 'lightboxCssUrl': 'https://www.blogger.com/static/v1/v-css/1964470060-lightbox_bundle.css'}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_HTMLView', new _WidgetInfo('HTML201', 'PostAds', document.getElementById('HTML201'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_HTMLView', new _WidgetInfo('HTML202', 'PostAds', document.getElementById('HTML202'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_HTMLView', new _WidgetInfo('HTML205', 'PostAds', document.getElementById('HTML205'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_HTMLView', new _WidgetInfo('HTML206', 'PostAds', document.getElementById('HTML206'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_HTMLView', new _WidgetInfo('HTML207', 'PostAds', document.getElementById('HTML207'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_LinkListView', new _WidgetInfo('LinkList500', 'AddOns', document.getElementById('LinkList500'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_HTMLView', new _WidgetInfo('HTML1', 'AddOns', document.getElementById('HTML1'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_HTMLView', new _WidgetInfo('HTML2', 'AddOns', document.getElementById('HTML2'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_LabelView', new _WidgetInfo('Label3', 'Postcs5', document.getElementById('Label3'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_LabelView', new _WidgetInfo('Label4', 'sidepar', document.getElementById('Label4'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_PopularPostsView', new _WidgetInfo('PopularPosts1', 'sidepar', document.getElementById('PopularPosts1'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_AdSenseView', new _WidgetInfo('AdSense1', 'sidepar', document.getElementById('AdSense1'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_LabelView', new _WidgetInfo('Label6', 'Postnw4', document.getElementById('Label6'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_LabelView', new _WidgetInfo('Label7', 'Postnw5', document.getElementById('Label7'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_LabelView', new _WidgetInfo('Label8', 'Postnw6', document.getElementById('Label8'), {}, 'displayModeFull')); _WidgetManager._RegisterWidget('_LinkListView', new _WidgetInfo('LinkList2', 'footer-social', document.getElementById('LinkList2'), {}, 'displayModeFull'));