Pirates crack Vista Activation Server
section: windows, for your questions: KezNews forum, 9.12.2006
Pirates have released another ingenious workaround to Vista's copy protection: a hacked copy of Microsoft's yet-to-be-released volume licencing activation server, running in VMware.
Volume Activation 2.0 is one of the more controversial features of Vista: it means that every copy of Vista has to be activated, even the Business/Enterprise volume licenced editions.
However, to make life easier for administrators, Microsoft worked in a more convenient system of in-house for en masse activation of PCs called KMS – Key Management Service.
The idea behind KMS is that you have a single PC running KMS which can then handle activation for all your Vista clients, so that they don’t have to connect back to Microsoft every single time.
The downside of KMS is that the activation is only good for 180 days, to discourage people bringing in their home systems, activating them and wandering off again.
Bearing in mind that KMS wasn’t scheduled to be released until next year, pirates have managed to get hold of KMS and produce a standalone, fully-activated KMS server called “Windows Vista Local Activation Server – MelindaGates”. Tongue-in-cheek of course…the first “cracked” version of Vista was called Vista BillGates.
The download is a VMWare image, and the idea behind it is that you download and install VMWare Player (a legal free download), boot the image and use some VBS script (supplied with the activation server download) to have the client Vista machine get its activation from the local server. And that’s it – no communication back to Microsoft.
Of course, in line with the Volume Activation 2.0 model, this only works with Vista Business and Enterprise editions, as they are the only ones which will accept KMS keys.
Home and Ultimate editions still use normal single-use activation that calls back to Microsoft for validation of the product ID.
On one hand, this is strikes a serious blow to Vista’s activation model. Simply possessing the Vista DVD (which was released on the boards about two weeks ago) wasn’t enough to get you past the robust activation requirements. But if you can load up a local activation server and activate Vista that way, it sort of makes the whole thing redundant.
There are two caveats though. Vista still has to be installed with a KMS product key, so if that activated system ever goes through the WGA system with a known pirated key, Microsoft will be able to track it down and eventually close the loop.
The second is that this is a true KMS server, so the activation is only good for 180 days, then the client needs re-activation.
It’s also still not a crack. In this instance, as with the Vista BillGates release, it’s an activation workaround. Admittedly a very clever one, and one that Microsoft will have a lot more trouble stamping out, but the fact that it’s taken the acquisition of a KMS server shows that Vista activation is still holding strong in its own right.
But is that of any comfort to Microsoft right now, while its yet-to-be-widely-released OS is being pirated like crazy?
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Comments(6)
nice :)
'if that activated system ever goes through the wga system with a known pirated key, microsoft will be able
to track it down and eventually close the loop'
where can i get a kms key that hasnt been
blacklisted yet?
it's still not the best crack, cause you'll have to activate it every 180 days. but still it's a great
solution :d
the kms server is built-in in every business or entreprise instalation, you only have to activate it with a
va2.0 key.
what you mean about next year, is the kms server for windows 2003 server.
there has got to be a startup .reg file that will fake out activation completely... and work for all versions.
ok, or at least a different reg file for each version. (if i'm way off you'd better tell me why ;)
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3574957
microsoft windows vista enterprise x86 - jacked - w/ local kms
activation server vmware image
http://s28.quicksharing.com/v/7081359/wsh_activation.jpg.html
http://s28.quicksharing.com/v/4836785/wsh_dlv.jpg.html
http://s28.quicksharing.com/v/2390199/sys_nfo.jpg.html
preface
as some of
you may know i released a similar release to this one about 3 days ago, which did not properly install. i
discovered my problem--i did not properly reseal and generalize the custom installation which caused the
release to lack hardware independence and result in an install error. this release has been tested and found
to be working on vmware--which represents a truly generic hardware profile and guarantees that this release
will work on all hardware types--vista will install necessary hardware drivers and the install will succeed.
summary
presenting the first "100% working" custom installation of
microsoft windows vista. vista enterprise edition uses vlm type licensing--no serial number is associated
with the product license and a "local" server (rather than a microsoft server) is used to activate the
product. eterprise is the vista equivalent of xp corporate edition. unlike xp corporate, which didn't
activate and required a wga hack to make it valid, vista enterprise activates to the genuine microsoft
software state.
activation is made possible, in this edition using a virtual machine that runs a
copy of a valid local activation server. what this means is, you can activate this copy of vista by running
vmware and submitting your activation information to the vmware server and in turn receive genuine activation.
this activation is tempoary, however; it is limited to 6 months per activation (180 days). to
re-activate this copy of vista simply use vmware (which is pre-installed in windows vista enterprise - jacked)
to run the local activation server and re-submit your activation information.
detailed
instructions for activation, which were carefully written, are included in the torrent.
snapshot
1. product edition
microsoft windows vista enterprise edition--no system files
have been stripped or modified whatsoever. (programs have been added to the installation, however).
2. activation
this version of vista activates to become genuine microsoft software.
this torrent includes a custom tweaked version of the chinese "binbin" local kms activation server vmware
image. detailed instruction are provided on how to activate windows vista enterprise - jacked using binbin.
you have 3 days to activate windows vista enterprise - jacked
3. re-activation
you
are required to re-activate windows vista enterprise - jacked once every 6 months (180 days). to re-activate,
simply resubmit your information to "binbin" as per the provided instuctions.
4.
pre-installed programs
windows vista enterprise comes with 15 preinstalled programs. unlike custom
windows xp installations which require you to witness the installation of all programs, in windows vista
enterprise - jacked all programs are pre-installed and seemlessly embedded in the dvd installation files.
1. 7-zip 4.42
2. adobe flash plugin (firefox)
3. adobe shockwave plugin (firefox)
4.
foxit reader professional 2.0.0930
5. intervideo windvd platinum 7
6. j2se runtime environment 5.0
update 9t
7. microsoft office professional 2007 enterprise
8. mozilla firefox 2.0
9. mozilla
thunderbird 1.5.0.7
10. nero lite edition 7.5.7.0
11. poweriso 3.4
12. system mechanic
professional 6.0u
13. utorrent 1.6
14. vmware workstation 5.5.3
15. winrar 3.61
godspeed,
reatta
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Nice :)
By mETALFUZIOn on 09.12.2006 - 15:12