Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation

[MICHAEL]

http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1

By Brian Livingston

Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands of unauthorized copies
of Windows.

But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by adding a line to the
Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to postpone the need to "activate" Vista indefinitely.

continued.......

 

[Zim Babwe]

This is pretty cool if it works. I'm gunna try it tonight on another
machine that is just sitting there doing nothing

 

[Jon]

http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1

By Brian Livingston

Microsoft always says it opposes "software pirates" who sell thousands of
unauthorized copies of Windows.

But the Redmond company has made things a lot easier for pirates by adding
a line to the Registry that can be changed from 0 to 1 to postpone the
need to "activate" Vista indefinitely.

continued.......

I'd heard of the 'SkipRearm' technique previously, but had also heard that
it didn't work.
Given the success stories in the article, perhaps it does after all.

Would be invaluable for keeping a test version of Vista running in a virtual
machine, it it does.

 

[Jon]

I'd heard of the 'SkipRearm' technique previously, but had also heard that
it didn't work.
Given the success stories in the article, perhaps it does after all.

Would be invaluable for keeping a test version of Vista running in a
virtual machine, it it does.

Actually, from what I can see, changing the 'SkipRearm' key from 0 to 1,
does precisely what it sounds like - it skips the 'rearm' process, and
hence has no effect on the number of days left.

In other words, if you run the 'slmgr -rearm' command with the 'SkipRearm'
registry key set to 1, then it has no effect on the remaining grace period,
whereas if you run it with the key set to 0, then it resets the counter to
30 days, (as is well known), up to a maximum of 120 days.

 

[MICHAEL]

Actually, from what I can see, changing the 'SkipRearm' key from 0 to 1, does precisely what
it sounds like - it skips the 'rearm' process, and hence has no effect on the number of days
left.

In other words, if you run the 'slmgr -rearm' command with the 'SkipRearm' registry key set
to 1, then it has no effect on the remaining grace period, whereas if you run it with the key
set to 0, then it resets the counter to 30 days, (as is well known), up to a maximum of 120
days.

Jon,

The article is saying that by changing that registry key, a user can
rearm (reset activation counter) an unlimited amount of times,
instead of just three. Brian Livingston says he has tested it up to
a year out. Since a non-activated but within the grace period version
of Vista is fully functional and able to receive all updates, this seems
that it could be quite useful to pirates.

Back in November, I tested 'slmgr -rearm' on Vista installed in a virtual
machine. Three times straight and two days apart, I ran the command.
it reset my days to 30 each time, on my fourth attempt it would not work.
This was expected. But, I just wanted to see for myself.

There have been some users who have reported that they have verified
this registry setting by moving their clocks forward, and have indeed been
able to use 'slmgr -rearm' more than three times. I haven't tested it, yet.
I will install Vista to another virtual machine and see what happens.
I simply do these things out of curiousity, not to steal. I also find it
quite amazing that Microsoft would actually leave in such trick. They
know very well hackers and pirates will be taking Vista apart, looking for
all possible ways to get Vista for free. I seriously doubt Brian Livingston
accidently ran across the registry setting himself, someone told him about.


-Michael

 

[MICHAEL]

There have been some users who have reported that they have verified
this registry setting by moving their clocks forward, and have indeed been
able to use 'slmgr -rearm' more than three times. I haven't tested it, yet.
I will install Vista to another virtual machine and see what happens.
I simply do these things out of curiousity, not to steal. I also find it
quite amazing that Microsoft would actually leave in such trick. They
know very well hackers and pirates will be taking Vista apart, looking for
all possible ways to get Vista for free. I seriously doubt Brian Livingston
accidently ran across the registry setting himself, someone told him about.

I must have overlooked this part, someone else did report this to him:

<quote>
I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the Windows Secrets contact
page. I'd like to thank my program director, Brent Scheffler, for tirelessly testing SkipRearm
dozens of times, and reader Reine T. for being the first to point out the use of SkipRearm to
me. He'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of his choice for sending me a tip
that I used.
</quote>


-Michael

 

[MICHAEL]

It is amazing what a reader (me) may not fully absorb/miss when
reading an article.

Some interesting quotes from the article:

<quote>
On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York City on Jan. 29, I found that
changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed the command slmgr -rearm to postpone Vista's activation
deadline eight separate times. After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no effect, preventing
slmgr -rearm from moving the deadline. The use of slmgr -rearm 3 times, plus using SkipRearm 8
times would eliminate Vista's activation nag screens for about one year (12 periods of 30
days).
</quote>

I find this quote very interesting.
<quote>
On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in a retail store on Jan.
30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times and SkipRearm worked 8 times before losing their effect.
This combination would, as with Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of Vista without nag
screens appearing.

- On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in a retail store on Mar.
14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending the use of slmgr -rearm at all. This suggests that
Microsoft has slipstreamed a new version into stores, eliminating the SkipRearm feature in
Vista Home. That could mean that changing the key from 0 to 1 will now work only in the
business editions of Vista - Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate - so corporations can use the
loophole.
</quote>

<quote>
The Vista development team apparently inserted the SkipRearm loophole to help major
corporations work around Microsoft's new Volume Licensing Agreement. This new program, which
the Redmond company calls "Volume Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key Management
Service (KMS) host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ. Companies must choose from two types of
digital keys and three different methods of activation to validate thousands of individual
Vista machines within the corporate LAN......

The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it places a heavy burden on
corporate IT administrators. For example, Microsoft provides a tool called System Preparation
(sysprep.exe) to prepare Vista machines for use. If a system can't be completely prepped within
30 days after installation, an admin can run the command sysprep /generalize to postpone the
activation deadline another 30 days. However, like the slmgr -rearm command, sysprep
/generalize will only succeed three times.

To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft recommends that you use the
SkipRearm setting if you plan on running Sysprep multiple times on a computer." This is echoed
by Microsoft Knowledge Base article 929828.
</quote>

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...3049-4b8c-bcfd-4e6dc5771ace1033.mspx?mfr=true

When you run the sysprep /generalize command, the activation clock will automatically reset.
You can bypass resetting the activation clock by using the SkipRearm setting in the
Microsoft-Windows-Security-Licensing-SLC component. This enables you to run Sysprep multiple
times without resetting the activation clock. For more information about this setting, see the
Unattended Windows Setup Reference.





-Michael

 

[Jon]

Hi Michael

I need to run some more tests on this too.

Like yourself, I'd previously tested the 'slmgr -rearm' command, and seen
that it did indeed reset the counter to 30 days, up to maximum of 3 times
(120 days), as you have also noted.

I tried a quick test soon after my first response in this thread, where I
set the 'SkipRearm' key to 1, and then ran the 'slmgr -rearm' command from
an elevated command prompt. This was on a Vista Ultimate test installation
(no product key used, already had the 'slmgr- rearm' command run
successfully on it twice). The result - no effect, even though a success
message poppped up after 10 seconds to say that the command had completely
successfully. No effect even after a reboot. The activation counter remained
unchanged. The only change to the system was that the 'SkipRearm' key in the
registry was changed by the command from 1 to 0.

A few minutes later, on the same machine, I ran the same command, this time
with the 'SkipRearm' key set to 0. This time the activation timer was reset
to 30 days.

Hence I drew the conclusions that prompted my second post in this thread.

Certainly not a thorough testing procedure, with just the one test, but it
does square with what this particular article states should happen, with the
values for the registry key.
http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...a3ec-4f98-a1dc-88a0d045172b1033.mspx?mfr=true

It's quite possible that I have misunderstood or missed some aspect of the
procedure, though.

 

[Jon]

I must have overlooked this part, someone else did report this to him:

<quote>
I invite my readers to send me information about SkipRearm using the
Windows Secrets contact page. I'd like to thank my program director, Brent
Scheffler, for tirelessly testing SkipRearm dozens of times, and reader
Reine T. for being the first to point out the use of SkipRearm to me.
He'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of his choice for
sending me a tip that I used.
</quote>


-Michael

Yes, he describes himself as a 'journalist' in the article, so that is
understandable.

'As a journalist, my job is to report the facts.'

-
Jon

 

[MICHAEL]

Jon,

Thanks for the info. I will setup a virtual machine and test
this tomorrow.... too much college basketball going on today,
especially, with my Tar Heels playing later.

Go Heels!

Take care,

Michael

 

[Jon]

It is amazing what a reader (me) may not fully absorb/miss when
reading an article.

Some interesting quotes from the article:

<quote>
On a copy of Vista Ultimate that Microsoft released in New York City on
Jan. 29, I found that changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allowed the command
slmgr -rearm to postpone Vista's activation deadline eight separate times.
After that, changing the 0 to 1 had no effect, preventing slmgr -rearm
from moving the deadline. The use of slmgr -rearm 3 times, plus using
SkipRearm 8 times would eliminate Vista's activation nag screens for about
one year (12 periods of 30 days).
</quote>

I find this quote very interesting.
<quote>
On a copy of the upgrade version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in a
retail store on Jan. 30, slmgr -rearm also worked 3 times and SkipRearm
worked 8 times before losing their effect. This combination would, as with
Vista Ultimate, permit a one-year use of Vista without nag screens
appearing.

- On a copy of the full version of Vista Home Premium that I bought in a
retail store on Mar. 14, SkipRearm had no effect on extending the use of
slmgr -rearm at all. This suggests that Microsoft has slipstreamed a new
version into stores, eliminating the SkipRearm feature in Vista Home. That
could mean that changing the key from 0 to 1 will now work only in the
business editions of Vista - Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate - so
corporations can use the loophole.
</quote>

<quote>
The Vista development team apparently inserted the SkipRearm loophole to
help major corporations work around Microsoft's new Volume Licensing
Agreement. This new program, which the Redmond company calls "Volume
Licensing 2.0," requires buyers to set up a Key Management Service (KMS)
host, as described by a Microsoft FAQ. Companies must choose from two
types of digital keys and three different methods of activation to
validate thousands of individual Vista machines within the corporate
LAN......

The new KMS requirement is intended to discourage such piracy, but it
places a heavy burden on corporate IT administrators. For example,
Microsoft provides a tool called System Preparation (sysprep.exe) to
prepare Vista machines for use. If a system can't be completely prepped
within 30 days after installation, an admin can run the command sysprep
/generalize to postpone the activation deadline another 30 days. However,
like the slmgr -rearm command, sysprep /generalize will only succeed three
times.

To work around this, as a Technet document states, "Microsoft recommends
that you use the SkipRearm setting if you plan on running Sysprep multiple
times on a computer." This is echoed by Microsoft Knowledge Base article
929828.
</quote>

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...3049-4b8c-bcfd-4e6dc5771ace1033.mspx?mfr=true

When you run the sysprep /generalize command, the activation clock will
automatically reset. You can bypass resetting the activation clock by
using the SkipRearm setting in the
Microsoft-Windows-Security-Licensing-SLC component. This enables you to
run Sysprep multiple times without resetting the activation clock. For
more information about this setting, see the Unattended Windows Setup
Reference.

Yes, I'm finding those reported test results confusing, which again makes me
question whether I've missed some aspect of the procedure, or whether the
tests were properly conducted. Either way I'll have another look at this
issue in the near future.

 

[Jon]

You're welcome. Had a day off from the computer today too - hence the delay
in response.

Have fun.