Run Vista legally for at least one year/ Vista Activation doesn't stop Piracy

Brian Livingston has a new trick:

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

Read full story and other tricks at source:

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

Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation

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.


Activation doesn't stop true software piracy

As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation"
since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by
communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of installation. By
contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require activatation before
the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the version, according to a
company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user may activate a
product by dialing a telephone number in various countries.

The activation process will complete successfully only if the software has
not been previously activated, such as on a different machine. If activation
isn't completed within the trial period, Microsoft products temporarily shut
down some of their features. MS Office loses the ability to edit and save
files. After Vista's activation deadline runs out, the user can do little
other than use Internet Explorer to activate the operating system or buy a
new license.

Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil software
pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld Magazine article
on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop mass piracy. The Redmond
company actually included in Windows XP a small file, Wpa.dbl, that makes it
easy for pirates to create thousands of machines that validate perfectly.

Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily been
designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows on a home
machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained in an article on
Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and making another copy strictly for
personal use is specifically permitted to consumers by the U.S. Copyright
Act and the copyright laws of many other countries.

For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make copies of
copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use (not for
distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as "fair use." The
home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this principle, allowing
consumers to activate three copies of a single purchased product. Microsoft
Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only one activation.

Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating system a
feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass software pirates.
These tricksters will be able to produce thousands of Windows PCs machines
that won't demand activation indefinitely - at least for a year or more.

Leaving the activation barn door open

I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows Vista
allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new Microsoft
operating system completely omits any checking for a qualifying previous
version of Windows. This allows the upgrade version of Vista to successfully
upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version of itself.

After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret in a
post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition of the
license agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The fact that you
have to use a kludgey workaround to use the license you've purchased and are
legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."

In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade version
of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License Agreement)."
But more and more computer experts are saying that the procedure is fully
compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is perfectly legal.

I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft includes in
Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to postpone the product's
activation deadline three times. This can extend the deadline from its
original 30 days to as much as 120 days - almost four months.

PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes a
Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's activation deadline
as I described it "is not a violation of the Vista End User License
Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.

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.

The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft

I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the above
technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista. Any company
that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple machines for as long as
possible would have little defense against a surprise inspection by the
Business Software Alliance. This coalition of software makers, which
includes Microsoft, investigates reports of unlicensed software and obtains
warrants to conduct audits.

As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was specifically
built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made Vista's activation
overly complex and cumbersome. So the development team apparently invented a
Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's activation deadline, for at least
a year and probably more.

The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around the
world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra copies of Vista
without buying them. This could have a major impact on Microsoft's revenues.
The company's employees and shareholders might want to be aware of this.

Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software piracy. It's
become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented it, that it's more
of an irritation to legitimate users than a worthwhile antipiracy measure.
In my opinion, Microsoft should concentrate on legal action against true
pirates instead of inventing more ways to drive honorable users bonkers.

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.

Chad,

The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a LEGAL
use of the OS past the activation deadline.

Your use of the product is covered under your End User License Agreement
(EULA) that you must agree to to install the product.
Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using unlicensed
software.
The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement to
activate.
Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to breach
the terms of the EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing anything -
you are using unlicensed software.

--
Mike Brannigan

"Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>
> 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
>
> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>
> http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1
>
> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>
> 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.
>
>
> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>
> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation"
> since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by
> communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of installation. By
> contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require activatation before
> the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the version, according to
> a company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user may activate a
> product by dialing a telephone number in various countries.
>
> The activation process will complete successfully only if the software has
> not been previously activated, such as on a different machine. If
> activation isn't completed within the trial period, Microsoft products
> temporarily shut down some of their features. MS Office loses the ability
> to edit and save files. After Vista's activation deadline runs out, the
> user can do little other than use Internet Explorer to activate the
> operating system or buy a new license.
>
> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil
> software pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld
> Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop mass
> piracy. The Redmond company actually included in Windows XP a small file,
> Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create thousands of machines
> that validate perfectly.
>
> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily been
> designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows on a
> home machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained in an
> article on Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and making another copy
> strictly for personal use is specifically permitted to consumers by the
> U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright laws of many other countries.
>
> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make copies
> of copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use (not for
> distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as "fair use."
> The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this principle,
> allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single purchased product.
> Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only one activation.
>
> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating system a
> feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass software
> pirates. These tricksters will be able to produce thousands of Windows PCs
> machines that won't demand activation indefinitely - at least for a year
> or more.
>
> Leaving the activation barn door open
>
> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows Vista
> allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new Microsoft
> operating system completely omits any checking for a qualifying previous
> version of Windows. This allows the upgrade version of Vista to
> successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version of itself.
>
> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret in
> a post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition of the
> license agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The fact that
> you have to use a kludgey workaround to use the license you've purchased
> and are legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."
>
> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade
> version of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License
> Agreement)." But more and more computer experts are saying that the
> procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is perfectly
> legal.
>
> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft includes
> in Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to postpone the
> product's activation deadline three times. This can extend the deadline
> from its original 30 days to as much as 120 days - almost four months.
>
> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes a
> Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's activation deadline
> as I described it "is not a violation of the Vista End User License
> Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>
> 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.
>
> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>
> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the above
> technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista. Any
> company that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple machines for as
> long as possible would have little defense against a surprise inspection
> by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition of software makers,
> which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of unlicensed software and
> obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>
> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was specifically
> built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made Vista's activation
> overly complex and cumbersome. So the development team apparently invented
> a Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's activation deadline, for at
> least a year and probably more.
>
> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around the
> world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra copies of
> Vista without buying them. This could have a major impact on Microsoft's
> revenues. The company's employees and shareholders might want to be aware
> of this.
>
> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software piracy.
> It's become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented it, that it's
> more of an irritation to legitimate users than a worthwhile antipiracy
> measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should concentrate on legal action
> against true pirates instead of inventing more ways to drive honorable
> users bonkers.
>
> 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.
>
>
>
>

Mike--

MSFT Ineffective at Preventing Vista Piracy/Prolonging Time to Activate

I have revised the subject heading to reflect the title of Brian
Livingston's article. As you know Brian is the author of Windows Vista
Secrets with Paul Thurrott.

I should have made the subject line "MSFT Ineffective at Stopping Vista
Piracy". I am not and never have advocated piracy on any of these groups. I
always use legititmat Windows and other MSFT software and have a good time
doing it. However these keys can be used to prolong use of Vista without
activation--and of course "installing the product" isn't activating it. We
have had a number of situations here where activation glitches have reared
their head, and cases (I'm not sure of the number yet, are being reported on
these groups and elsewhere that confirm my worst fears: That the "SPP" aka
the "Software Protection Policy" has forced users of legit Vista into
reduced functionality mode erratically just as WGA has failed in a
significant number of cases with legit Windows XP.

MSFT has made many claims promulgated by Brad Smith and his Associate
General Counsel Nancy Anderson that they effectively prevent piracy on an
individual basis. They are effective only because ignorance is the coin of
the realm in my country the U.S. and many other countries.

I'm going to bet that Nancy Anderson, who is paid well over a million
dollars a year at MSFT and has held MSFT stock for years worth several
million, hasn't lived in a mud hut with no plumbing nor struggled to pay the
bills. She's in the subset that pay her Congress to pass laws to protect
her and exempt her economically. I'm not justifying piracy because of
retail cost. I am saying it's pandemic because multiple countries,
including yours, has systemic legislation and economic policy that skewers
the laws to rob from the poor and disinfranchise and rob from the "middle
class" socio-economically and cater to the rich.

Note the skew here:

Q&A: How Software Piracy Undermines Economic Recovery
Microsoft Associate General Counsel Nancy Anderson leads Microsoft's efforts
to strike back at piracy's economic drain.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/f...9piracyqa.mspx


I don't think Nancy Anderson is very aware of this reg hack. I point out
that MSFT's Antipiracy measures are competent to the degree people are
ignorant of what's in the registry in regards to activation, and that it can
be a convenience if people run into glitches with activation that do exist.

CH

The White House in the U.S. got caught using the DOJ and US Attorneys as a
political arm of the Republican party. Simply put, they fired 9 (not 7 or
8) US Attorneys who were pursuing major Republican congressmen like Jerry
Lewis. The pursuit of Democrats for prosecution was in the ball park of 100
to 1 statistically. US Attorneys were being directly pressured to go after
Democrats. Alberto Gonzales' claiming he knew nothing about this is beyond
incompetent and he has functioned at the level of a twit. He had no federal
litigation experience and was put in a job for which he had no skills and it
shows. His DAG McNulty has lied under oath to Congress as has he, and lying
to Congress whether under oath or not is purjery under federal law. I give
him less time than MSFT gives you to activate Vista. A number of people in
the EOUSA and at the highest levels of DOJ are guilty of breaking the law in
major ways.

The legacy of the Bush administration will be efficiency at filling coffins
at Dover for generations to come and the effective slaughter of millions of
Iraquis and Americans while squandering treasure that should have been
directed to bolstering the domestic policies that Bill Gates among others
has spent significant time, effort and parts of his personal fortune and his
Foundation to champion.

The only effective way to stop the wasteful killing is a DRAFT. That is the
only policy that will get oblivious, completely apathetic Americans
engaged--the threat of skin in the game.




"Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
news:B230A84A-80B9-4683-BF2E-5ABB62EE9EE0@microsoft.com...
> Chad,
>
> The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a
> LEGAL use of the OS past the activation deadline.
>
> Your use of the product is covered under your End User License Agreement
> (EULA) that you must agree to to install the product.
> Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
> Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using
> unlicensed software.
> The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement to
> activate.
> Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to breach
> the terms of the EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing anything -
> you are using unlicensed software.
>
> --
> Mike Brannigan
>
> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
> news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>>
>> 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
>>
>> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>>
>> http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1
>>
>> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>>
>> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation"
>> since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by
>> communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of installation. By
>> contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require activatation before
>> the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the version, according to
>> a company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user may activate a
>> product by dialing a telephone number in various countries.
>>
>> The activation process will complete successfully only if the software
>> has not been previously activated, such as on a different machine. If
>> activation isn't completed within the trial period, Microsoft products
>> temporarily shut down some of their features. MS Office loses the ability
>> to edit and save files. After Vista's activation deadline runs out, the
>> user can do little other than use Internet Explorer to activate the
>> operating system or buy a new license.
>>
>> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil
>> software pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld
>> Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop mass
>> piracy. The Redmond company actually included in Windows XP a small file,
>> Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create thousands of machines
>> that validate perfectly.
>>
>> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily been
>> designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows on a
>> home machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained in an
>> article on Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and making another copy
>> strictly for personal use is specifically permitted to consumers by the
>> U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright laws of many other countries.
>>
>> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make copies
>> of copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use (not for
>> distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as "fair use."
>> The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this principle,
>> allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single purchased
>> product. Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only one
>> activation.
>>
>> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating system
>> a feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass software
>> pirates. These tricksters will be able to produce thousands of Windows
>> PCs machines that won't demand activation indefinitely - at least for a
>> year or more.
>>
>> Leaving the activation barn door open
>>
>> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows Vista
>> allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new
>> Microsoft operating system completely omits any checking for a qualifying
>> previous version of Windows. This allows the upgrade version of Vista to
>> successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version of itself.
>>
>> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret in
>> a post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition of
>> the license agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The fact
>> that you have to use a kludgey workaround to use the license you've
>> purchased and are legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."
>>
>> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade
>> version of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License
>> Agreement)." But more and more computer experts are saying that the
>> procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is
>> perfectly legal.
>>
>> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft includes
>> in Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to postpone the
>> product's activation deadline three times. This can extend the deadline
>> from its original 30 days to as much as 120 days - almost four months.
>>
>> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes a
>> Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's activation
>> deadline as I described it "is not a violation of the Vista End User
>> License Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>>
>> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the above
>> technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista. Any
>> company that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple machines for as
>> long as possible would have little defense against a surprise inspection
>> by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition of software makers,
>> which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of unlicensed software and
>> obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>>
>> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was
>> specifically built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made
>> Vista's activation overly complex and cumbersome. So the development team
>> apparently invented a Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's
>> activation deadline, for at least a year and probably more.
>>
>> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around the
>> world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra copies of
>> Vista without buying them. This could have a major impact on Microsoft's
>> revenues. The company's employees and shareholders might want to be aware
>> of this.
>>
>> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software piracy.
>> It's become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented it, that
>> it's more of an irritation to legitimate users than a worthwhile
>> antipiracy measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should concentrate on legal
>> action against true pirates instead of inventing more ways to drive
>> honorable users bonkers.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

Bypassing the mandatory activation to run unlicensed software is not allowed
under the terms of the EULA that you agree to abide by when you install the
software.
The SkipRearm key is well documented for its intended purpose - the use of
the this key to avoid your mandatory activation is in breach of the EULA and
not the intended purpose of this key. The fact that it is possible does not
mean it should be used to run unlicensed software, no more so then the lack
of any activation processes in early versions of Windows meant that it was
possible to breach your licensing terms and install more then one copy to
multiple machines.

Also for the sake of brevity can you withhold your usual rantings and stick
to the technical point at hand.

--
Mike Brannigan

"Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
news:uUErJsXaHHA.3272@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Mike--
>
> MSFT Ineffective at Preventing Vista Piracy/Prolonging Time to Activate
>
> I have revised the subject heading to reflect the title of Brian
> Livingston's article. As you know Brian is the author of Windows Vista
> Secrets with Paul Thurrott.
>
> I should have made the subject line "MSFT Ineffective at Stopping Vista
> Piracy". I am not and never have advocated piracy on any of these groups.
> I always use legititmat Windows and other MSFT software and have a good
> time doing it. However these keys can be used to prolong use of Vista
> without activation--and of course "installing the product" isn't
> activating it. We have had a number of situations here where activation
> glitches have reared their head, and cases (I'm not sure of the number
> yet, are being reported on these groups and elsewhere that confirm my
> worst fears: That the "SPP" aka the "Software Protection Policy" has
> forced users of legit Vista into reduced functionality mode erratically
> just as WGA has failed in a significant number of cases with legit
> Windows XP.
>
> MSFT has made many claims promulgated by Brad Smith and his Associate
> General Counsel Nancy Anderson that they effectively prevent piracy on an
> individual basis. They are effective only because ignorance is the coin
> of the realm in my country the U.S. and many other countries.
>
> I'm going to bet that Nancy Anderson, who is paid well over a million
> dollars a year at MSFT and has held MSFT stock for years worth several
> million, hasn't lived in a mud hut with no plumbing nor struggled to pay
> the bills. She's in the subset that pay her Congress to pass laws to
> protect her and exempt her economically. I'm not justifying piracy
> because of retail cost. I am saying it's pandemic because multiple
> countries, including yours, has systemic legislation and economic policy
> that skewers the laws to rob from the poor and disinfranchise and rob from
> the "middle class" socio-economically and cater to the rich.
>
> Note the skew here:
>
> Q&A: How Software Piracy Undermines Economic Recovery
> Microsoft Associate General Counsel Nancy Anderson leads Microsoft's
> efforts to strike back at piracy's economic drain.
> http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/f...9piracyqa.mspx
>
>
> I don't think Nancy Anderson is very aware of this reg hack. I point out
> that MSFT's Antipiracy measures are competent to the degree people are
> ignorant of what's in the registry in regards to activation, and that it
> can be a convenience if people run into glitches with activation that do
> exist.
>
> CH
>
> The White House in the U.S. got caught using the DOJ and US Attorneys as a
> political arm of the Republican party. Simply put, they fired 9 (not 7 or
> 8) US Attorneys who were pursuing major Republican congressmen like Jerry
> Lewis. The pursuit of Democrats for prosecution was in the ball park of
> 100 to 1 statistically. US Attorneys were being directly pressured to go
> after Democrats. Alberto Gonzales' claiming he knew nothing about this is
> beyond incompetent and he has functioned at the level of a twit. He had
> no federal litigation experience and was put in a job for which he had no
> skills and it shows. His DAG McNulty has lied under oath to Congress as
> has he, and lying to Congress whether under oath or not is purjery under
> federal law. I give him less time than MSFT gives you to activate Vista.
> A number of people in the EOUSA and at the highest levels of DOJ are
> guilty of breaking the law in major ways.
>
> The legacy of the Bush administration will be efficiency at filling
> coffins at Dover for generations to come and the effective slaughter of
> millions of Iraquis and Americans while squandering treasure that should
> have been directed to bolstering the domestic policies that Bill Gates
> among others has spent significant time, effort and parts of his personal
> fortune and his Foundation to champion.
>
> The only effective way to stop the wasteful killing is a DRAFT. That is
> the only policy that will get oblivious, completely apathetic Americans
> engaged--the threat of skin in the game.
>
>
>
>
> "Mike Brannigan" <Mike.Brannigan@localhost> wrote in message
> news:B230A84A-80B9-4683-BF2E-5ABB62EE9EE0@microsoft.com...
>> Chad,
>>
>> The use of the well documented SkipRearm registry key does not allow a
>> LEGAL use of the OS past the activation deadline.
>>
>> Your use of the product is covered under your End User License Agreement
>> (EULA) that you must agree to to install the product.
>> Section 4 clearly states that Activation is mandatory.
>> Failure to activate past the notified period means you are using
>> unlicensed software.
>> The use of the registry key does not remove you mandatory requirement to
>> activate.
>> Modification for the OS by any means (including registry edits) to breach
>> the terms of the EULA doe not mean that you are "legally" doing
>> anything - you are using unlicensed software.
>>
>> --
>> Mike Brannigan
>>
>> "Chad Harris" <vistaneedsmuchowork.net> wrote in message
>> news:O2Z5G7PaHHA.2316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>> Brian Livingston has a new trick:
>>>
>>> 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
>>>
>>> Read full story and other tricks at source:
>>>
>>> http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1
>>>
>>> Microsoft allows bypass of Vista activation
>>>
>>> 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.
>>>
>>>
>>> Activation doesn't stop true software piracy
>>>
>>> As most Windows users know, Microsoft has required "product activation"
>>> since the release of Windows XP in 2001. XP must be activated by
>>> communicating with servers in Redmond within 30 days of installation. By
>>> contrast, Microsoft Office XP, 2003, and 2007 require activatation
>>> before the package is used 5 to 50 times, depending on the version,
>>> according to a company FAQ. If a PC has no Internet connection, a user
>>> may activate a product by dialing a telephone number in various
>>> countries.
>>>
>>> The activation process will complete successfully only if the software
>>> has not been previously activated, such as on a different machine. If
>>> activation isn't completed within the trial period, Microsoft products
>>> temporarily shut down some of their features. MS Office loses the
>>> ability to edit and save files. After Vista's activation deadline runs
>>> out, the user can do little other than use Internet Explorer to activate
>>> the operating system or buy a new license.
>>>
>>> Microsoft describes its product activation scheme as a way to foil
>>> software pirates. However, as I previously described in an InfoWorld
>>> Magazine article on Oct. 22, 2001, activation does nothing to stop mass
>>> piracy. The Redmond company actually included in Windows XP a small
>>> file, Wpa.dbl, that makes it easy for pirates to create thousands of
>>> machines that validate perfectly.
>>>
>>> Far from stopping software piracy, product activation has primarily been
>>> designed to prevent home users from installing one copy of Windows on a
>>> home machine and a personal-use copy on a laptop. As I explained in an
>>> article on Mar. 8, buying a copyrighted work and making another copy
>>> strictly for personal use is specifically permitted to consumers by the
>>> U.S. Copyright Act and the copyright laws of many other countries.
>>>
>>> For example, courts have repeatedly ruled that consumers can make copies
>>> of copyrighted songs or television programs for personal use (not for
>>> distribution or resale). This principle is legally known as "fair use."
>>> The home edition of Microsoft Office 2007 reflects this principle,
>>> allowing consumers to activate three copies of a single purchased
>>> product. Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, however, allow only one
>>> activation.
>>>
>>> Surprisingly, Microsoft has embedded into its new Vista operating system
>>> a feature that makes things easier than ever for true, mass software
>>> pirates. These tricksters will be able to produce thousands of Windows
>>> PCs machines that won't demand activation indefinitely - at least for a
>>> year or more.
>>>
>>> Leaving the activation barn door open
>>>
>>> I reported in a Feb. 1 article that the upgrade version of Windows Vista
>>> allows itself to be clean-installed to a new hard drive. The new
>>> Microsoft operating system completely omits any checking for a
>>> qualifying previous version of Windows. This allows the upgrade version
>>> of Vista to successfully upgrade over a nonactivated, trial version of
>>> itself.
>>>
>>> After my article appeared, ZDnet blogger Ed Bott summarized the secret
>>> in a post on Feb. 15. He flatly states, "You satisfied every condition
>>> of the license agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The
>>> fact that you have to use a kludgey workaround to use the license you've
>>> purchased and are legally entitled to is Microsoft's fault."
>>>
>>> In my own piece, I had speculated that clean-installing the upgrade
>>> version of Vista "probably violates the Vista EULA (End User License
>>> Agreement)." But more and more computer experts are saying that the
>>> procedure is fully compliant with the EULA and, in any event, is
>>> perfectly legal.
>>>
>>> I wrote a follow-up story on Feb. 15. I reported that Microsoft includes
>>> in Vista a one-line command that even novices can use to postpone the
>>> product's activation deadline three times. This can extend the deadline
>>> from its original 30 days to as much as 120 days - almost four months.
>>>
>>> PCWorld.com posted a report on my story on Feb. 17. The magazine quotes
>>> a Microsoft spokeswoman as saying that extending Vista's activation
>>> deadline as I described it "is not a violation of the Vista End User
>>> License Agreement." I'm glad that's clear.
>>>
>>> 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.
>>>
>>> The financial impact of SkipRearm on Microsoft
>>>
>>> I'd like to repeat here that I'm not advocating that anyone use the
>>> above technique to violate Microsoft's EULA or avoid paying for Vista.
>>> Any company that used SkipRearm to install Vista on multiple machines
>>> for as long as possible would have little defense against a surprise
>>> inspection by the Business Software Alliance. This coalition of software
>>> makers, which includes Microsoft, investigates reports of unlicensed
>>> software and obtains warrants to conduct audits.
>>>
>>> As a journalist, my job is to report the facts. SkipRearm was
>>> specifically built into Vista to be used. Microsoft executives made
>>> Vista's activation overly complex and cumbersome. So the development
>>> team apparently invented a Registry key to lift the burden of Vista's
>>> activation deadline, for at least a year and probably more.
>>>
>>> The technique is so powerful and basic, however, that hackers around the
>>> world may soon use the feature to install millions of extra copies of
>>> Vista without buying them. This could have a major impact on Microsoft's
>>> revenues. The company's employees and shareholders might want to be
>>> aware of this.
>>>
>>> Product activation does little or nothing to stop mass software piracy.
>>> It's become so convoluted, the way Microsoft has implemented it, that
>>> it's more of an irritation to legitimate users than a worthwhile
>>> antipiracy measure. In my opinion, Microsoft should concentrate on legal
>>> action against true pirates instead of inventing more ways to drive
>>> honorable users bonkers.
>>>
>>> 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.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>