Microsoft may be recycling Windows 7 activation keys
Microsoft fumbled the initial Windows 7 beta offering taking it down for about 24 hours will it added “infrastructure” to deal with “demand.” That’s not all the company may be doing. The download is back up but something odd has cropped up in the activation keys.
When I went to download the Windows 7 beta the first time I got one activation key but the download did not complete and I could not resume it so I started it over. It would be difficult to say whether this was Microsoft’s fault or something wrong with my ISP.
On the second attempt, I was given a second activation key which I thought was odd but as long as it worked I didn’t really care. This download stopped short of 98% and also refused to be resumed.
The third attempt went smoothly but was very odd. I was given the first license key which I would think is nearly statistically impossible if Microsoft were issuing unique license keys.
Both keys that I currently have work and are interchangeable. I’m also tempted to think that both keys will activate multiple systems. Perhaps Microsoft is not issuing unique keys to Windows 7. This does save it the overhead of having to generate unique keys but is also un-Microsoft like.
OCForums is currently discussing the issue and have found there are about five keys that are being re-used. There may also be other keys being tossed into the mix now, as well.
One of the possibilities is that your IP address is being assigned several unique keys in case of download problems. However, the keys appear to work regardless of how the beta was obtained.
The company probably doesn’t care who gets a key for the beta version and this may just to be test the activation servers before the final version comes out. Remember problems activating Vista, the company probably doesn’t want a repeat of that.
What appears to be the corner stone here is the company’s initial beta launch didn’t go as planned when servers got overloaded and the download was taken down. The official line from Redmond is because of that downloads will be allowed well past the original 2.5 million limit and presumably the activation keys as well.
From Microsoft,
I know many of you have had issues with the Windows 7 Beta site over the last 24 hours. As you may have noticed the download site has been up and running smoothly since this morning. That said, we apologize for the inconvenience that it caused some of you.
Due to an enormous surge in demand, the download experience was not ideal so we listened and took the necessary steps to ensure a good experience. We have clearly heard that many of you want to check out the Windows 7 Beta and, as a result, we have decided remove the initial 2.5 million limit on the public beta for the next two weeks (thru January 24th). During that time you will have access to the beta even if the download number exceeds the 2.5 million unit limit.
Thank you for your enthusiasm, interest and willingness to beta test. It has been great to see the positive early reviews and feedback. As you know, this is a beta product. We are working hard to get Windows 7 ready and right. Your input is a critical part of that process. Thank you!
The Windows 7 beta (either 32-bit or 64-bit) is available for download complete with activation keys. Get it while you can.
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January 12th, 2009
They are using a rotation of keys. Easily found info on Technet. Nothing strange about it, they know keys won’t stay private so why not limit the keys to kill in August?
January 14th, 2009
Yes there are five keys for 32 bit and five keys for 64 bit. If one of the keys don’t work, just try another.