Hi all,
I'm having real problems with WGA. I'm sat here unable to use Vista properly
as I've been asked to re-activate Vista (for the third time I might add...)
Having managed to get in contact with a support person through a messenger
type interface, I was told I would have to phone up to find out what the
problem is.
Unfortunately, they're not open for another 12 hours or so... So, I'm stuck
here, with a broken genuine copy of Vista whilst my friend is laughing at me
with his cracked working copy...
What can I do to get my copy up and running now?
Not impressed with Microsoft at all.
This might help
From Brian Livingstones Windows Secrets Site
http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/
Jonah
The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built
into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating
system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The
same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to
120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a
Registry key from 0 to 1.
This isn't a hacker exploit. It doesn't require any tools or utilities
whatsoever. Microsoft even documented the Registry key, although
obtusely, on its Technet site.
But dishonest PC sellers could use the procedure to install thousands
of copies of Vista and sell them to unsuspecting consumers or
businesses as legitimately activated copies. This would certainly
violate the Vista EULA, but consumers might not realize this until the
PCs they bought started demanding activation — and failing — months or
years later.
The following describes the Registry key that's involved.
Step 1. While running a copy of Windows Vista that hasn't yet been
activated, click the Start button, type regedit into the Search box,
then press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
Step 2. Explore down to the following Registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \
CurrentVersion \ SL
Step 3. Right-click the Registry key named SkipRearm and click Edit.
The default is a Dword (a double word or 4 bytes) with a hex value of
00000000. Change this value to any positive integer, such as 00000001,
save the change, and close the Registry Editor.
Step 4. Start a command prompt with administrative rights. The fastest
way to do this is to click the Start button, enter cmd in the Search
box, then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. If you're asked for a network
username and password, provide the ones that log you into your domain.
You may be asked to approve a User Account Control prompt and to
provide an administrator password.
Step 5. Type one of the following two commands and press Enter:
slmgr -rearm
or
rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows
Either command uses Vista's built-in Software Licensing Manager
(SLMGR) to push the activation deadline out to 30 days after the
command is run. Changing SkipRearm from 0 to 1 allows SLMGR to do this
an indefinite number of times. Running either command initializes the
value of SkipRearm back to 0.
Step 6. Reboot the PC to make the postponement take effect. (After you
log in, if you like, you can open a command prompt and run the command
slmgr -xpr to see Vista's new expiration date and time. I explained
the slmgr command and its parameters in my Feb. 15 article.)
Step 7. To extend the activation deadline of Vista indefinitely,
repeat steps 1 through 6 as necessary.
Any crooked PC seller with even the slightest technical skill could
easily install a command file that would carry out steps 1 through 6
automatically. The program could run slmgr -rearm three times, 30 days
apart, to postpone Vista's activation deadline to 120 days. It could
then run skip -rearm every 30 days, for a period of months if not
years, by first resetting the SkipRearm key.
The program could be scheduled to check Vista's activation deadline
during every reboot, and to remind the user to reboot once a month if
a deadline was nearing. The buyer of such a PC would never even see an
activation reminder, much less be required to go through the
activation process.
If you happen to buy a Vista PC from a little-known seller, and the
price was too good to be true, use Vista's search function to look for
the string SkipRearm in files. You may discover that your "bargain"
computer will mysteriously start demanding activation in a year or two
— but your product key won't be valid.
I asked Microsoft why SkipRearm is included in Vista if it can be used
to create machines that appear not to need activation for long
periods. A Microsoft spokewoman replied, "I connected with my
colleagues and learned, unfortunately, we do not have information to
share at this time." (I can't identify the speaker because the policy
of Waggener Edstrom, Microsoft's public-relations firm, prohibits the
naming of p.r. spokespersons.)
In my testing of Microsoft's back-door loophole, I've found that the
technique can be used to postpone the activation deadline one year or
longer. It may or may not, however, work forever, as I describe below.
Why does SkipRearm even exist in Vista?
The Vista development teaam 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.
Activation of Windows XP, by comparison, requires merely that volume
purchasers use a single product key. Corporate buyers obtain a unique
key when signing a Volume Licensing Agreement. Microsoft has said,
however, that most Windows XP piracy involves stolen product keys that
are used by others to activate unauthorized machines.
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.
Contributing editor Susan Bradley points out, "The good guys have to
go through this stupid implementation of a KMS deployment because of
bad guys abusing the system." She strongly feels that users should
comply with Microsoft's EULA provisions. "The operating system license
has always been a one-machine install. ... Many of us forget the
multiple-install rule [for Microsoft Office] since we are so used to
the one license, one install rule," she adds.
In its TechNet documents, Microsoft recommends the repeated use of
SkipRearm. How many times is "multiple times"? My testing revealed
that the answer is, well, indefinite.
• 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).
• 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.
Where is the usage count of slmgr -rearm stored? Where is the usage
count of SkipRearm stored? These bytes won't be hard for expert users
to find. The use restrictions may be easily lifted. If so, this would
allow crooked PC sellers to truly create machines that would never
need activation, ever.
