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Microsoft Windows Product Key in C#
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04/11/05 03:20 PM EST
posted by JER email web |
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So I just wrote a handy utility in C# that decrypts your Windows product key (serial number) and your Microsoft Office product key(s). I haven't really found a good example of anyone else doing this, especially in C#. Anyone think it's legal to redistribute this code? I notice that this guy offers the exe as freeware but provides a link for donations. He doesn't offer the source, of course, just the exe. And his office key finder is actually incorrect since it doesn't take into account an office 2003 install on XP, it just gets the XP office serial.
Are there digital copyright issues involved here? It's not like this is a key generator, which has no legal purpose. I legitimately needed to recover my product key on my home PC before doing a reinstall since all I have is the disc. |
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04/12/05 06:21 AM EST
posted by JS |
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I don't think that there is even a minor issue. The product key
is *your* property. Re-discovering what it is can't possible
break the EULA.
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05/05/05 01:14 AM EST
posted by Jason |
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I think the issue is that this tool could possibly be used on someone
else's computer to procure a valid product key. This is a problem for
corporate environments who have a site license with Microsoft, since
the product key(s) registered to those in a corporate environment do
not require activation. Corporate keys, although harder to obtain, can
nevertheless be discovered through "cracks" or "keygens," but Service
Pack 2 of Windows XP has largely eliminated this problem by validating
product keys to a database or checking to see if the keys follow an
additional pattern.
But like guns, locksmith's tools, MP3 encoders, backups, et al,
anything can have a legitimate use. This tool does not circumvent any
copy-protection mechanisms because it is only retrieving a product key
from a presumably activated- (or corporate-) version of Windows XP. On
the other hand, some may argue that decrypting is circumvention (such
as CSS-protection on DVDs or protected MP3/AAC/WMVs), but what exactly
one is circumventing (by decrypting the product key) is questionable.
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08/18/05 06:11 PM EST
posted by psistalk |
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| Uh, good one, psitalk... |
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