Microsoft blacklists leaked Lenovo OEM Windows 7 Key
According to Neowin, Microsoft has responded to the latest Windows 7 cracking scheme by blacklisting the Lenovo OEM master key on computers that are not manufactured by Lenovo. Two days ago, Windows 7 Center reported that Windows 7 had already been cracked and activated just a week after the operating system had RTMed. The OEM master key was a special product key issued to Lenovo for activating the many pre-installed copies of Windows 7 Ultimate on their computers. Microsoft’s objective in fixing this particular pirating case was clear:
We’ve worked with that manufacturer so that customers who purchase genuine copies of Windows 7 from this manufacturer will experience no issues validating their copy of Windows 7. At the same time we will seek to alert customers who are using the leaked key that they are running a non-genuine copy of Windows.
Despite the fact that Microsoft has toned down the consequences that occur when WGA detects a non-genuine version of Windows, they still make it clear that pirating Windows 7 will not be easy:
Windows 7 already includes an improved ability to detect hacks, also known as activation exploits, and alert customers who are using a pirated copy. [...] The Windows Activation Technologies included in Windows 7 are designed to handle situations such as [the Lenovo case], and customers using these tools and methods should expect Windows to detect them.
Piracy has become an ongoing battle for Microsoft. There is no doubt that we will see more cracks and workarounds to activate Windows 7 in the future. It will be interesting to see how far Microsoft will go to stop the pirates.
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Tags: blacklist, microsoft, windows 7, windows 7 activiation, windows 7 crack, windows 7 OEM
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45 Responses to “Microsoft blacklists leaked Lenovo OEM Windows 7 Key”
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Yeah..I purchased an upgrade for $50 because I felt that dealing with the cat and mouse game of bypassing or cracking activation would be too much of a hassle and the time wasted on it would be worth more then $50.
it be about another 7 days (or less) and another key will be leaked then a NEW crack will be release… you can’t stop the cracker finding new ways, theirs always a light at the end of the long tunnel
Yeah I don’t doubt that cracks won’t be released but there’ll be a crack, then a patch to the crack, then another crack, then another patch. It’s really not worth my time to find a new crack each time the one I tried to use is broken.
Cracked version of ‘anything’ is pretty rubbish these days, from using games on-line to simply using Windows on a daily basis.
I’m looking forward to actually paying for Windows 7, I just wished I could pay an upgrade price from Vista Ultimate to 7 Ultimate. This is ‘one’ and the ‘only one’ reason I would consider using a cracked version until the price was a little fairer to someone (and many others) who have paid full price already.
I have to agree it isnt worth it to go out looking for hacks, crack, keys or whatever. I would rather purchase a legally licensed copy of Win7.
I also am looking for the upgrade path from Vista Ultimate to 7 Ultimate. Supposedly MS was looking into this according to Brandon LeBlanc, but havent seen anything new on it yet. I hope they decide to help their customer base who actually spent the highest on their OS.
I say M$oft wins the field until someone makes a loader that does not rely on a key that can be blacklisted. Blacklisting is M$oft’s answer to hackers right now.
Ok but i`ve used orbit 7 loader and my pc is still activated
If the key is backlisted, why i`m still activated?
Thanks
Mine ot disabled when an update came down last night, however I just re-loaded the crack and it seemed to activate again. Not sure if this is using the same product key as the Lenovo leak or not or even if it placed the same product key in as it did before I should have payed more attention. I’m not too fussed as I’ve ordered the pre-release on the cheap, but got the RTM going on a VM for testing my software out etc before fully loading the system.
I hate cracks. We shouldn’t support piracy!
Interesting how they will detect that code on PC without internet connection. I’m waiting to see that.
You’re missing out on a whole lot if your PC doesn’t connect to the internet.
XD
+1
I agree with Geo on this one.
I also legally pre-purchased W7. Bought 5 copies.
I’m going to be using this OS for many years to come. The £50 i paid per copy is well worth the cash. Hell, even the full retail is worth it if you think about all the time you’ll use Windows.
Piracy? No thanks.
Go Microsoft! I truly hope they will make it hard as hell for these crackers. After all the work MS has been doing on Windows 7, I think its pathetic that anyone would consider making full use of it without paying for a license.
Come on! Bite the bullet once and you have a stunning Operating system free from license hassles- and a clear conscience!
Well, you are saying No piracy and so on but if someone gives me money I’ll buy it… In my country buying an OS isn’t very popular because of money. That’s all I had to say.
Same theory I had. I have no idea why Microsoft didn’t allow preorders worldwide. Maybe they couldn’t find any distributors in other countries that could handle the volume?
Question: I thought the whole idea of this approach is that the loader fakes the system into thinking it is a Lenovo PC?
I didn’t look too much into the crack but after writing an article about it I was under the same impression. Maybe the Windows 7 anti-pirating mechanisms are more complex than we think
Hum..;; BlackList..
Dan , where did you order the 7 for £50 ?
Go Linux!
how come mine are still working?? i have the lenovo crack on several PCs, and none of them realized it’s a counterfeit.
does it take a windows update patch to make w7 notice the crack?
Actually yes, the only way for M$ to popup that msg about pirated copy is when you download the updates from Windows Update, as long as you don’t dowload updates you should be fine using that crack stuff.
Just a reminder that one of the reasons Conficker spread so quickly was because people had unpatched computers, some of which had pirated copies of windows on them.
Now Microsoft has promise they’ll stop withholding critical security updates from pirated copies in order to keep the computing community safe but who knows, you might miss out on something critical.
as for the last post there will be an update that will be required and iuf not taken you will not be able to use the os
Or just another exploit leading to a virus like conficker to pwn those computers. xD
I installed Windows 7 RTM 3 days ago, and what seems to work is just change the date back to , and windows activation shows still 30 days left, instead of 27 or 28.
edit:
just change the date back to the day you installed windows 7.
I’m not sure Microsoft will even bother blacklisting that key – the thing is as soon as OEM Windows 7 machines hit the market (or even the distribution channel) *all* the OEM keys will will very quickly become known (along with all the OEM certs and the BIOS tables) – and at that point the people running hacked machines can make them look like *any* machine on the market.
The basic problem for MS is that the Windows 7 activation is essentially identical to the (already cracked) Vista activation – all they did was change the version of the table in the BIOS from “2.0″ to “2.1″ (presumably to stop people from trivially updating Vista systems to Windows 7.
My feeling is that they will work on detecting the software BIOS emulations since that is the real difference between a legit OEM system and a hacked one.
Yes but you can still mod your BIOS to run the 2.1, then just use the key, no need for loaders or other cracks, but its hard to do and may kill your machine, but you will never have to worry about blacklist ect…
M$, will never be able to stop Piracy, So why do they bother, Its all a moral factor.
If people have no moral they will use a cracked copy. I use a legit copy, but theres comes a time when buying a software, and its doesnt perform the way you want it to, you cannot get a refund, so piracy is good, if a person likes the software, most liely they’ll buy it, because of updates and support for the software, but when a software is bad, and you paid thousand for it, theres no point in buying software, when it doesnt perform the way it supposed to. M$ should concentrate on making a stable OS, thats all, the rest will follow..
Also its would be illegal for M$ to send any information from your computer in order to register the product without your consent. So i can see, lots of lawsuit in the coming months.
there is that text that no one ever reads called the EULA. Check it out, I’m sure there must be something in there about sending data to MS for activation. Try reading that before blindly clicking “I agree” and thinking you can sue. Companies have every right to protect their IP. Don’t like it… take the time to learn some open source.
i am waiting when the cracked copy of windows 7 for not only lenevo but also, acer, dell… and many more becomes available.
Windows just like Microsoft was always a piece of shit. OS full of security holes no matter what they do to make it “more secure”. You still need shitty anti-viruses to clog your system resources and on the top of everything (yeah, like that’s not enough), systems will constantly need to be updated (on a daily basis), calling home and whatnot. No privacy with Windows whatsoever.
nerwerton,
Who cares? You’re paranoid.
nerwerton,
as far as updates, I use Ubuntu, and I get system updates on daily basis.
So windows is not that much different than linux or Mac, you will always get system updates, no matter what you use.
we have no option other then cracking windows …i live in Pakistan and i cannot afford to buy a genuine copy of windows because it costs around 24000 rupees ,if windows was sold at $50 here i would have bought the genuine one.
Okay – I am by no means a supporter of software piracy or intellectual property theft. Stealing is still stealing, regardless whether or not the item being stolen is tangible.
However, after getting some serious “techno burns” from Windows Vista, this time I chose to not be a hasty adopter of Microsoft’s latest OS and kept my money in my wallet. I’m also a firm believer in the “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” phrase.
I downloaded one of the Windows 7 Ultimate OEM releases that everyone has up for download (in like 25 split up RAR files) from Rapidshare, Hotfile, etc. I don’t know why there is such a big stink about people downloading just the OEM installation of Se7en from the Internet … it still requires activation. IMHO, I think you should be able to download the unactivated full ISO files (from legitimate sources) for free, then pay for activation once you determine if the thing works or not. Those pre-crippled 120 day Evaluations have always been a pain to me – even once you purchase a license, you still have to reformat and reinstall from scratch using the purchased key or you run into issues later on because not all the “crippled” portions get “uncrippled”.
Since I have several legitimate personal IBM/Lenovo laptops and workstations (none of which qualify for a free or discount Windows Se7en upgrade), I don’t need those squirrelly BIOS mods and the leaked Lenovo Windows 7 key works fine for me. And still works fine.
But as suspected, Lenovo has a lot (in the way of Lenovo specific ThinkVantage applications and utilities) to catch up on to make all of their proprietary hardware work 100% under Windows 7. Until then, I’ll use my leaked Lenovo key and when Lenovo irons things out on their end, purchase the OEM installations of Windows 7 (from NewEgg) with legitimate keys and load in the Lenovo Windows 7 specific applications. (Then use lenovo rescue & recovery to build my own set of System Restoration DVDs.) I’m not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I will buy the OS because I’ll use it. If lenovo does not resolve their issues, Windows Se7en goes and I load Ubuntu Mint onto those systems or downgrade back to my legitimate Vista licenses.
My feeling is this, if you cannot afford the OS (whether you live in Pakistan, Brazil, Fiji, Los Angeles, Bora Bora, etc.) – you probably don’t need it in the first place. Seriously … if you can’t afford the commercial OS, how are you going to afford the OS specific commercial applications? Saying “I can’t afford it, so I’ll just crack-n-steal it” just doesn’t cut it now. That’s why we have Ubuntu and Open Office. There’s no reason to steal Microsoft or Apple operating systems, when you have Ubuntu or Mint as great alternatives (I use them myself on systems that I did not plan to upgrade the Microsoft OS on). Otherwise, you’re just a common pathetic street thief who snatches old ladies purses. :^)
BTW: I thing the poster above said they paid £50, not $50. In dollars, £50 right now converts to $84. The cost of some legitimate OEM versions of Windows 7 from online sellers.
It is so funny to see people crying over who stole this and who paid that. But the important issue is what the above poster had said. A lot of pirating would be put to an end if only to unactivated OEM ISO’s were available from a trusted source for download (don’t get all weepy, this is my interpretation). Strong software always makes people buy a legitimate copy (unless it is one of those “I never buy ANYTHING” people). Then yes of course there are the “pirates” Software piracy only is a small fish in the big stream. There are the people that work for the company that are told to GIVE (yes I said give) away free copies of the software to whomever, wherever. So what does THAT do for piracy?
The issue at hand (do you homework) is not piracy, but instead the company’s corruption that created the software. You mean to tell me that it cost 50 BILLION dollars to develop windows 3.11 – windows XP Pro? (I know there are OTHER things involved too)…. All I am trying to piont out is that they M$ took advantage of the American Business industry and charged 199.00 for a copy of windows v.whatever! and for M$ office C’mon! a license for that was (from the first office) $659.00 RETAIL up until today where it is still $495.00 do you really think that HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, and Sony are paying that price for M4 office for thier bundles on pre-installs? I THINK NOT. But the average joe does. Because if not then he just simply doesn’t get a copy! now think about how many people that you know of that run M$ Office, and how many have from the beginning, now multiply that by how many pc’s they run it on, now multiply that for every new version you know that they had (I personally have installed all 11 versions) That people, is where the theft comes into play. I am not saying it is ok to steal software, but I am also saying it is not right for companies to cry about it happening and getting a kickback and then raping joe public when the “big biz” gets the breaks. C’mon dammit! THINK PEOPLE THINK!
[dismounts soapbox]
What I am mainly trying to point out is simply that when you add all the prices of the OEM versions of software together on a “bundled” system there is no way that they could possibly sell it “THAT” cheap.
IE:
Win 7 Ultimate = $199.00 (USD)
M$ Office = $495.00 (USD)
5 other insignificant apps = $99.00 (USD)
Now lets add hardware @ $549.00 (USD)
By the time you get done a simple setup would cost an average of 1200.00 – 2000.00
and I was just quoting the specs of a cheap 300.00 laptop! now try that with one of the powerhouse laptops that we have today. This means that the software companies are selling legit copies for PENNIES! Pennies while we pay HUNDREDS!
Now do you GET THE PICTURE?
Actually, I don’t know any cheap $300 laptops that include windows 7 ultimate. On top of that, from what I have seen, most computers that come with office, rather than having the full version, they have either a 30, 60, or 90 day trial, after which, you have to either remove it, not use it, or purchase a full version.
That point aside, at a price tag of almost $200 for windows, it would be practically impossible to sell a laptop at $300, and even if a company could do it, the profit margin would be so small that they couldn’t sustain a business. There is definitely some price cutting to shoehorn all that software into a machine that inexpensive.
Ha,
Microsoft is completely lying.
With the key all you can’t do is “register” Windows 7.
It has nothing to do with entering the serial key during the installation process.
This is a load of bs. You don’t get random “pop-ups” saying your version of Windows is “un-genuine” or anything.
This is the leaked key they are talking about:
22TKD-F8XX6-YG69F-9M66D-PMJBM
It is for Windows 7 Ultimate. Try it yourself and see if any pop-ups pop up about your copy of Windows being “un-genuine”. They won’t.
This is Microsoft simply trying to scare off people from using the key.
It’s not going to work lol.
Download link of windows 7 activation crack
software
http://www.ziddu.com/download/8623689/Loader.exe.html
All this BS about how much it costs MS to develop W7 when really its just a(nother) upgrade from W Vista (The windows ME of the 2000′s), when will MS learn that unless they start producing an OS that EVERYBODY can afford they will never beat piracy, it can be done you only have to look at Linux to see that.
The other thing that really p***es me off with MS is they try to stop you selling your OEM version without selling the PC as well, I upgrade my computer and want to upgrade my OS, I could get back some of the money by selling my current OS on EBay, but I can’t because of MS’s policy. I know I haven’t really bought the software, just the licence to use that software, so surely what I do with the licence I bought is up to me.
I only use MS because I run my own business building, repairing etc computers and the vast majority want MS on them otherwise I’d ditch it all together and run Linux.