Hello Everyone. Today I got my Windows 8 Home Makeover Bundle today. When I was unpacking the computers I notice something that was missing. It was the Windows 8 Product Key Sticker. I guess they are not going to put the sticker on the computers that run Windows 8 anymore?

Windows 8 Home Make Over Bundle

From what I understand, OEM activation for Windows 8 is actually IN the BIOS, and not simply using a SLIC table from the BIOS to determine activation. The product key IS the BIOS, so there's no need to provide you with one for reinstall, as the installation of Windows 8 using the provided OEM install media or recovery media will pick that up. It's pretty interesting to think about how it works.

Originally Posted by cluberti

From what I understand, OEM activation for Windows 8 is actually IN the BIOS, and not simply using a SLIC table from the BIOS to determine activation. The product key IS the BIOS, so there's no need to provide you with one for reinstall, as the installation of Windows 8 using the provided OEM install media or recovery media will pick that up. It's pretty interesting to think about how it works.

That's a big 'oops' if you have to replace the motherboard !! what will they do then I wonder ?

If you do replace the Motherboard.Before you replace it could you use a Key Finder and use that key it finds?

I don't even thing they are a key on those OS

Originally Posted by nckfrtg28

If you do replace the Motherboard.Before you replace it could you use a Key Finder and use that key it finds?

If it's a machine from an OEM, replacing the board through them should get you a new one with a key embedded in it, which should activate the OS again within a few hours if it's even necessary.

If you replace the motherboard yourself without going through the OEM, that copy of Windows 8 is no longer legally licensed to that machine anyway, as it's tied to (basically) the motherboard, just like previous iterations of OEM Windows.

Hi there
This is a good start -- I've often thought that a great way of combating piracy would be to have a privileged instruction in the BIOS such as GETCPUID where the CPU ID could be a standard 36 character GUID .

The software inventory on the machine could be linked to that BIOS. In addition the machine if it were being used as a secure machine with NO connection to the Internet at all could be activated without needing an Internet connection.

This beats any of the current "Activation" schemes which rely on Key generators and are eminintely hackable by those in the know.

The BIOS *could* be hacked but that's not so easy as fooling around with "Fake KMS servers" etc or the very many other "Activation bypass schemes" out there.

If the software is legally uninstalled and moved to another machine the install setup could create a new install disk which would permit a new CPU to install software.

(From my old Mainframe days - circa 1972 IBM MVS 370 had exactly this type of instruction -- privileged mode so a user program couldn't change it) -- so this really is a case of "Back to the Future".

The only query here is that if you have an OEM MOBO and you need to replace the CPU on it or swap it for a faster cpu -- is this technically a new computer or just a "Repair" job. (Assuming a desktop type machine not a laptop).

Cheers
jimbo

That should kill the illegal SLIC Table BIOS mod cheats, for Windows 8 anyway.