Archive for Windows 7
Run Windows 7 Without Activating It For 4 Months
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Say you’ve bought a legit copy of Windows 7, but you don’t want to enter that activation code. A common situation! Well, there’s a simple trick for extending that free limbo period for four months. All you’ve got to do is enter “slmgr -rearm” into the command prompt at the end of every 30 day period, and you’re set. You can do it three times, extending the whole deal to 120 days. The same trick worked on Vista, and it’s nice to see Microsoft allowing the little trick to keep working on 7. You know, for those of us who hate entering activation codes.
The Real Cost of Upgrading to Windows 7
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The good news is that upgrading to Windows 7 is going to be cheaper than previous Windows releases—but before you buy, you better check your situation and plan the right move, money-wise.
You may have a few questions: Am I eligible for a cheap upgrade? How about a free upgrade? What’s this about family packs? Should I be shopping for a new computer? Not to worry, will help clear things up. First, let’s start with the basics.
Official Windows 7 Upgrade Chart Is Ridiculous
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This is seriously Microsoft’s Windows 7 upgrade chart, and it’s ridiculous. It manages to highlight the insanity of shipping multiple OS versions while totally minimizing the good news: most Vista users will be able to upgrade in place to the corresponding 32- or 64-bit version of 7. That should cover the vast majority of people running Vista, but if you’re still on XP or you’re trying to do anything out of the ordinary you’d better get ready for some pain: all those ominous blue boxes require you to back up, wipe your drive, and reinstall a totally clean copy of 7. You heard that right — the Windows 7 installer won’t even try to retain your data and programs if you’re not updating from the corresponding version of Vista. Pretty lame move, considering Microsoft is currently selling millions of copies of XP on netbooks and will sell XP downgrades until 2011 — sure, we get that most netbook owners aren’t going to spring for 7, but it’s insane that you can’t just pop in a disc and upgrade. Of course, now that 7′s been released to manufacturing and the final bits are available there’s not much to be done, so let’s all just take a moment to contemplate the fact that Ed Bott at ZDNet managed to totally outdo Redmond’s infographics people with a much friendlier chart with “about an hour” of work — check it below.
Read – Original chart at AllThingsD
Read – Ed Bott’s revised chart
Microsoft’s Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 Includes Smart Features For Windows 7
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Its got “comfort” right in the title, so you know Microsoft has put a premium on ergonomic design with their Desktop 5000 keyboard and mouse. They have also added “smart features” specifically designed for Windows 7 users.
Updates to the Comfort Curve design include a soft-touch palm rest and low-profile quiet touch keys. As for Windows 7, users can take advantage of a time-saving feature called Taskbar Favorites that allows easy access to open programs by mapping their location to a series of hotkeys and instantly adapting to changes. It also includes Device Stage support—giving users quick access to peripheral devices and a dedicated Windows Flip button for thumbnail previews on both the mouse and keyboard.
Windows 7 Family Pack Pricing Confirmed at $149
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In case you’re interested in upgrading to Win 7 (you should be, BTW), and want to get the rest of the family in on that action, know that the Windows 7 family pack will offcially cost $149.
The Family Pack upgrade will net you three copies of Home Premium edition for legal consumption—BUT WAIT…there’s more! Also know that single license upgrades from Starter to Home Premium will run you about $80, Home Premium to Professional will go for $90, and if you ACT FAST and call in the next FIVE MINUTES (just half the time it takes to upgrade!), going from Professional to Ultimate will cost $140.
These prices are all in the ballpark of what was rumored earlier in the month, though no mention has been made of a pre-release promotional discount.
Windows 7 Activation Already Cracked With Lenovo’s OEM License Key
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In less than a week since Windows 7 was released to manufacturing, the first crack for the Ultimate edition of the latest iteration of the Windows client is already available in the wild. The Windows 7 Build 6.1.7600.16385 Ultimate crack is capable of activating the high-end SKU of the operating system indefinitely. The product key comes from the only source possible, an OEM, as original equipment manufacturers are the first and for the time being the last group to receive the gold bits of the operating system from Microsoft. Together with the RTM development milestone of Windows 7, the Redmond company has also supplied OEM partners with activation product keys, one of which was extracted from a leaked OEM image of the platform.
Reports from various forums and websites (which I will not link to because they offer the proof-of-concept of the Windows 7 RTM Ultimate crack, along with the activation product key, which is illegal) indicate that the cracked client can bypass Windows genuine Advantage validation with no problems whatsoever. A Windows 7 Ultimate OEM DVD ISO from Lenovo has reportedly made the hack possible. Leaked on a Chinese forum, complete with the download links, the ISO allowed for hackers to grab the OEM-SLP (System-Locked Preinstallation) product key as well as the OEM certificate for Windows 7 RTM Ultimate via boot.wim.
The bypass designed for Windows 7 RTM involves abusing OEM activation 2.1, and in this regard the circumventing process is nothing more than an OEM hack. Via OEM activation 2.1, namely SLP 2.1, Microsoft allows OEMs to pre-activate Windows 7 for distribution preinstalled on new computers. In this context, the activation bypass process leading to the hacked Windows 7 RTM needs to be based on a BIOS (SLIC) hack first of all.
The procedure is by no means new. Hackers have managed to crack Windows Vista much in the same manner. In fact, the Windows 7 RTM Ultimate activation crack also relies on an OEM certificate from Windows Vista in order to function. At the time of this article hackers have made available in the wild SLIC 2.1 BIN harvested from
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computers on the market, as well as the genuine OEM certificate digitally signed by Microsoft, which automatically brings to the table the Private Key and the OEM Public Key as well as the OEMID (from SLIC in BIOS). Together with the leaked OEM SLP master product key Windows 7 can be hacked and the activation process bypassed. The result is a cracked copy of Windows 7 RTM Ultimate permanently activated.
It also seems that the crack is not limited to Lenovo machines. The activation process can also be circumvented on HP, Dell, and MSI computers according to reports. Because of the OEM product key, the crack is limited to the Ultimate edition of Windows 7 (useless for all other SKUs, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional), but can be used on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the operating system.
Microsoft Gives Europeans Choice of Browser Instead of None by Default
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Microsoft’s newest attempt to appease the EU is to create a system in which end users can choose their browsers. (Imagine that! Choice!) This is a change from Microsoft’s previous offer to remove Internet Explorer completely from Windows 7.
It was decided that Microsoft’s “Hey! We’ll just leave all browsers out completely!” would result in headaches for some consumers who would struggle to download any browser without being able to use Internet Explorer to do so. The new approach is to sell Windows PCs with Internet Explorer as the default browser, but to present users with a “ballot screen” which allows them to select and “easily install competing browsers from the Web.” That’s not all though:
In addition, (computer makers) would be able to install competing Web browsers, set those as default and disable Internet Explorer should they so wish. The Commission welcomes this proposal, and will now investigate its practical effectiveness in terms of ensuring genuine consumer choice.
There’s a catch of sorts in that there aren’t any specifics on how competing browsers will be selected for the “ballot”, so the jury’s still out on just how accommodating Microsoft is really being.
Microsoft’s Windows 7 Gets Released To Manufacturing
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Aw snap, one of the final hurdles on the way to October 22nd has been passed: Windows 7 (and Windows Server 2008 R2, too) has been released to manufacturing. A post over on The Windows Blog explains that this build (7600) underwent tons of scruntiny and tweaking before being deemed sufficient for release, and considering that we know you’re anxious for details on dates, hear this:
“The RTM code will be delivered to our partners within the next few days who will then start preparing to deliver some amazing new products timed to hit at General Availability (GA) of Windows 7 on October 22nd. As always, current Windows Volume License customers, MSDN subscribers and TechNet subscribers will get first customer access, getting Windows 7 on August 6 (MSDN/TechNet) and August 7 (VL), and Windows Server 2008 R2 the second half of August.”
So, there you have it — now, are you prepared to wait until early August to get your download on? Nah, we thought not.
Update: Looks like some Microsoft employees were so excited by the RTM sign-off that they made a celebratory video.
