January 12, 2015 at 09:48 AM

OEM activation of Windows Vista / 7/8 / 8.1 under the QEMU hypervisor

• Virtualization

Microsoft's OEM OS versions starting with Vista use three-component comparison authentication:

• OEM certificate embedded in the OS distribution
• a binary key embedded in the BIOS, specifically in the ACPI SLIC table
• a 25-digit manufacturer license key embedded in the OS distribution

With a successful comparison of these three components, offline activation of the OS occurs. On the PC case, in this case, there is a sticker containing the license key of a specific OS instance (and not the manufacturer), which can be used to activate the OS online if it is installed not from the image provided by the PC manufacturer, but from a "clean" (MSDN) OEM- image from Microsoft.

In addition, the license key for a specific OS instance can be sewn into text form in the BIOS, to the ACPI MSDM table. In this case, when installing the OS, the key will be extracted from the BIOS and sewn into a specific instance of the OS. In this case, the OEM sticker on the laptop case may no longer contain the license key. This method is used to Windows activation 8/8.1

You can view the contents of ACPI tables both from WIndows using the RWEverything utility, or by booting from a Linux Live-CD, for example, SystemRescueCD. The latter method is relevant when it is no longer possible to boot into an installed instance of Windows.

We have two laptops - Samsung NP305 and Acer aspire V5-551G, on the first Windows 7 OEM Home Basic x86_64 is preinstalled, on the second - Windows 8 OEM Single Language x86_64. Let's use SystemRescueCD. After booting, let's look at the contents of the / sys / firmware / acpi / tables directory:

Ls / sys / firmware / acpi / tables / APIC dynamic DSDT FACP FACS HPET MCFG SLIC SSDT1 SSDT2
We are interested in the SLIC and MSDM tables. A description of their structure can be found, for example, in this file. Let's first look at the SLIC table on a laptop with Windows 7 (real data are "closed" with X):

> xxd / sys / firmware / acpi / tables / SLIC 0000000: 534c 4943 7601 0000 01fb 5345 4343 5344 SLICv ..... SECCSD 0000010: 4c48 3433 5354 4152 0920 0701 414d 4920 LH43STAR. ..AMI 0000020: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000030: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000040: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000050: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000060: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000070: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000080: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000090: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000a0: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000b0: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000c0: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000d0: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000e0: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000f0: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000100: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000 110: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0,000,120: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0,000,130: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0,000,140: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0,000,150: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000 160: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 0000170: XXXX XXXX XXXX xxxxxx
As you can see, licensing information is stored here in binary form.

MSDM tables in Laptop BIOS with Windows 7, no.

Now let's see the SLIC table on a Windows 8 laptop:

> xxd / sys / firmware / acpi / tables / SLIC 0000000: 534c 4943 7601 0000 0168 4143 5253 5953 SLICv .... hACRSYS 0000010: 4143 5250 5244 4354 0100 0000 3130 3235 ACRPRDCT .... 1025 0000020: 0000 0400 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000030: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000040: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000050: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000060: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000070: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000080: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000090: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 .............. .. 00000a0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 00000b0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ............ .... 00000c0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 00000d0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 .......... ...... 00000e0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 00000f0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000100: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000110: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000 120: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000 130: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000 140: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000150: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000160: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................ 0000170: 0000 0000 0000 ......
The table is empty, so it is not possible to use offline activation on this laptop.

Now let's look at the MSDM table (real data are "closed" with X).

> xxd / sys / firmware / acpi / tables / MSDM 0000000: 4d53 444d 5500 0000 030b 4143 5253 5953 MSDMU ..... ACRSYS 0000010: 4143 5250 5244 4354 0100 0000 3130 3235 ACRPRDCT .... 1025 0000020: 0000 0400 0100 0000 0000 0000 0100 0000 ................ 0000030: 0000 0000 1d00 0000 XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ........ XXXXX-XX 0000040: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXX-XXXXX-XXXXX- 0000050: XXXX XXXX XX XXXXX
The 25-character OS instance key is stitched into the MSDM table in clear text.

From the / sys / firmawe / acpi / tables directory, the SLIC and MSDM files can be copied to any other location in the usual way.

We now have images of the SLIC and MSDM tables. It turns out that it is possible to simulate the presence of these tables when booting Windows in a QEMU / KVM hypervisor environment using the -acpitable option. For example, we will start the installation of Windows 7 from an OEM disk, while we will not connect network adapter to make sure it is offline activation.

> qemu-img create -f qcow2 -o lazy_refcounts /media/storage/VMs/win7-slic-test.qcow2 40G> qemu-system-x86_64 -smp cores = 2 -m 1024 -enable-kvm -cdrom / media / storage /iso/Windows_7_SP1_RU/7601.17514.101119-1850_x64fre_client_ru-ru_OEM_HomeBasic-GRMCHBXFREO_RU_DVD.iso -acpitable file = / media / storage / misc / Samsung_NP305V5A / ACPI-storage / file / media / media VMs / win7-slic-test.qcow2, if = none -device ahci, id = ahci -device ide-drive, drive = disk, bus = ahci.0
After installation, by going to Computer -> Properties, we will see that our system is not activated. This is natural, since we emulate only one of the components of the offline activation system - the SLIC table, but for successful activation we also need a certificate (XML file with the XRM-MS extension) and an OEM key. These components are already embedded in the recovery image on the laptop disk, and if we mark the recovery partition as bootable, we can activate the installation of an instance of Windows, which will be authenticated immediately after installation.

If we somehow get the certificate and key separately, then we can install them with the commands

SLMGR.VBS -ILC<Файл_сетрификата.XRM-MS>and
SLMGR.VBS -IPK<25-значный ключ производителя>
You need to pay attention to that. that the SLMGR.VBS utility has been working for a long time and, upon completion, displays a message in a separate window.

Upon completion of the SLMGR.VBS utility copy of windows will be activated successfully.

I have met three-component offline activation only on laptops with pre installed Windows Vista / 7, for laptops with Windows 8 / 8.1 preinstalled, online activation is used with a 25-digit OS instance key embedded in the MSDM table. When installing Windows 8, the key is automatically extracted from the BIOS, and, after checking for compliance with the installed Windows versions is written to the registry. Let's make sure of this:

> qemu-img create -f qcow2 -o lazy_refcounts /media/storage/VMs/win8-msdm-test.qcow2 40G> qemu-system-x86_64 -smp cores = 2 -m 1024 -enable-kvm -cdrom / media / storage /ISO/Win8_OEM/HRM_CSLA_X64FREO_RU-RU_DV5.ISO -acpitable file = / media / storage / misc / Acer_Aspire_V5-551G / ACPI / tables / MSDM -net none -drive id = disk, file = / media / storage / VMs / win8- msdm-test.qcow2, if = none -device ahci, id = ahci -device ide-drive, drive = disk, bus = ahci.0
Install Windows 8 and use the utility

Manufacturers of modern laptops and computers are actively abandoning floppy drives, since any program or game can be downloaded from the Internet, and the presence of a drive only makes a PC more expensive for the end customer. At the same time, users who are accustomed to receiving a Windows disc and a license key with a computer have difficulties when it comes to reinstalling the operating system. While Windows itself can be installed from a USB flash drive, you will still need a license key from it. In this case, users have a question: how to find out the Windows product key that was preinstalled on a laptop (stationary computer), or was installed later from a disk that is not available in this moment? It is quite enough to do this, both using Windows tools and using third-party programs.

Asking the question of determining the license key of the operating system operating on the computer, you should understand such concepts as Installed Key and OEM Key. In fact, they are both Windows license keys, but there are some differences between them. The way they are defined also differs.

Installed Key is the installation key of the operating system operating on the computer. It can be determined on those laptops and stationary computers on which Windows was installed by users on their own from a disk or in the form of a digital copy purchased over the Internet and activated.

The OEM Key is the license key for the version of Windows that was originally installed on the computer. OEM key information is sewn into motherboard laptop or stationary computer, and it cannot be changed.

Thus, if the computer was running Windows 8 at the time of purchase and later upgraded to Windows 10, the OEM and Installed key information will be different. At the same time, wanting to install on new computer Windows 8, you will need to enter the OEM key - only it will work with this version of the operating system. Installed Key is fine if you want to install Windows 10.

Attention: You can use an existing OEM or Installed key only for the version of the operating system that is installed on the computer. You cannot enter a key from the Basic version of Windows 10 for the Professional assembly.

How do I find out the Windows 10 key using the operating system?

On any computer, having administrator rights, you can find out the licensed windows key 10. At the same time, the procedures are different, in the case of the definition of OEM and Installed keys.

It is very easy to find out the operating system license key, which is "sewn" into the computer's motherboard, if you know the command that is specifically provided for this in Windows 10. To determine the OEM key, do the following:

The issued OEM key can be used to reinstall the version of the operating system that was originally installed on the computer.

Using one command, the Installed Key cannot be determined, and it is hidden a little deeper in the Windows operating system. But you can get information about the Windows license key if you want without installing third-party applications on your computer. To do this, you need to do the following:

1. Start a blank standard Windows Notepad, which can be found in the following path: "Start" - "All Applications" - "Standard Windows" - "Notepad".
2. IN open program text editor copy the following code:

function Get-WindowsKey (param ($ targets = ".") $ hklm = 2147483650 $ regPath = "Software \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion" $ regValue = "(! LANG: DigitalProductId" Foreach ($target in $targets) { $productKey = $null $win32os = $null $wmi = "\\$target\root\default:stdRegProv" $data = $wmi.GetBinaryValue($hklm,$regPath,$regValue) $binArray = ($data.uValue) $charsArray = "B","C","D","F","G","H","J","K","M","P","Q","R","T","V","W","X","Y","2","3","4","6","7","8","9" ## decrypt base24 encoded binary data For ($i = 24; $i -ge 0; $i--) { $k = 0 For ($j = 14; $j -ge 0; $j--) { $k = $k * 256 -bxor $binArray[$j] $binArray[$j] = ::truncate($k / 24) $k = $k % 24 } $productKey = $charsArray[$k] + $productKey If (($i % 5 -eq 0) -and ($i -ne 0)) { $productKey = "-" + $productKey } } $win32os = Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem -computer $target $obj = New-Object Object $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty Computer -value $target $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty Caption -value $win32os.Caption $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty CSDVersion -value $win32os.CSDVersion $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty OSArch -value $win32os.OSArchitecture $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty BuildNumber -value $win32os.BuildNumber $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty RegisteredTo -value $win32os.RegisteredUser $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty ProductID -value $win32os.SerialNumber $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty ProductKey -value $productkey $obj } } !}

Please note that Installed Key is displayed under Product Key. Also, following the steps above will give you some information about the operating system used on your computer.

How do I find out Windows keys using third-party programs?

From the instructions above, you can see that it is very easy to find the Windows OEM Key, but "getting" to the Installed Key is much more difficult, and the procedure for detecting it using Windows tools takes a lot of time. If you do not want to carry it out, you can install a third-party application that independently detects information about the OEM Key and Installed Key on the computer, and then gives it to the PC administrator.

ShowKeyPlus is considered one of the simplest and most convenient programs for determining the Windows key. It can be downloaded from the official website of the developers absolutely free. In this case, the program not only shows information about the license keys of the version of Windows used, but also allows users to save the information received in a txt document.

Good afternoon friends! Lately, I increasingly began to receive messages with a request to help activate the system. It so happened that a lot of users who previously used the licensed seven or eight, after the update, did not receive activated windows 10. And in order to return everything to its place, you just had to find the key indicated on the sticker and re-indicate it in the activation window and thus completely legalize your system. But, how do you find your Windows product key?

Here, just then, some users were confused. In general, the sticker with the key can be either on the disk or glued to the laptop. Usually in these places everyone is looking for keys, but those who bought a laptop already with a pre-installed Windows system 8, we didn’t receive such a sticker because required code was sewn into the BIOS. Thus, after the next one, the computer was automatically activated using the key that was pre-installed in the BIOS.

Basically, Windows installation 10 is simple update, after which the keys should be saved, but unfortunately, some users are faced with such a situation that after the end of the update process, the system did not automatically activate. It was necessary to do this manually, re-entering your license code, although most owners of laptops with a preinstalled eight did not even know how to find out their Windows product key.

It is because of these troubles, new questions began to appear, such as: how to find out the Windows 8 key or How to find the OEM license for a product Windows 7 and 8.1. You can view your key using third party program, this is how I answered the question posed to me. But, one more question immediately begs itself, which utility is best suited for this, and in general, how to use the utility to find out this Windows product license key.

Therefore, so as not to describe to each step by step in the comments, how and what to click, I decided to prepare for you, here is such a small, but very useful guide, on how to find out the product key of Windows 10, 7 and 8.1.

How to find the product license key of the installed Windows using the RWEverything utility

So, in order to find out the OEM license key that is embedded in the BIOS, we will have to use one convenient, and most importantly free program, which shows all the hardware information of the computer, and of course, directly, everything about the installed BIOS, which stores the required key.

This way you will recognize the OEM product key of Windows 10 or any other operating system. Now, rewrite your license key on a piece of paper and enter it in the activation form, which will allow you to return your licensed Windows back.

Most quick way find out the Windows 8 OEM license key

To read this material, many are pushed by a very standard and widespread situation: once bought a laptop with a licensed operating system Windows 7 or 8. Through certain time due to the need reinstall Windows or for any other reason, you need an activation key, which was indicated on a sticker that is located on the bottom of the laptop, but over the months and years of using the laptop, it has long been worn out or completely peeled off. How to be?

If your PC is running Windows with an activated license key, then "getting" it from the operating system will not be difficult. If the icon My computer right click and open Properties, then below we will see only product code, not the activation key itself. It is also important to distinguish between what you need to get - just the code that was indicated on a special sticker or the code for Windows 8 that is in the BIOS of the computer.

Screenshot of "My Computer" properties

For Win8 from BIOS using RWEverything

To retrieve the OEM license key Windows 8 from the BIOS of a laptop or desktop computer, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with - in it we looked at how to use the program to get the key from Win8 from the BIOS of a new type: UEFI. This method is also relevant for those who are trying to recover the key if another OS was installed instead of licensed Windows 8 "from the store".

Screenshot of the RWEverything program

Windows activation key in AIDA64

If you need an activation key for an installed and working system, you can use the program already familiar to us for complete PC diagnostics - - go, get acquainted, download and install. Then we launch the program and open the tab Operating system ... In chapter License information in field Product key and the required Windows activation code will be indicated.

Screenshot of AIDA64 program

In AIDA64, as in RWEverything, you can see the key hard-wired into the BIOS. To do this, go to the tab Motherboard then ACPI... In chapter Description of the table find MSDM and in the field SLS Data the 25-character Windows activation code we need will be registered.

Screen AIDA64

Finding an activation key through KeyFinder

Simple utility from Magical Jelly Bean. This small program does not take up much space and gives out only the very minimum of information, but this is what we need. You can download KeyFinder from here (the official website of the developers), it is available in two versions - the free one is enough for us. Download, install, run. In the left window, select the software for which you need to find out the activation key - in this case, we are interested in Windows 7 Home Premium. CD Key and there is the code you are looking for.

Screenshot of KeyFinder

Instead of a conclusion

This list could be continued endlessly, since there are at least a dozen more popular utilities for solving the same problem, but I think that the provided set will be enough for you. They are found on the Internet and various scripts using VBScript or PowerShell to retrieve keys without installing any extra software. Everyone chooses the method that is more convenient for him.

So, it so happened that you have to reinstall windows (hdd, bsod dies, other problems ...) and next to the problem there is a desire to transfer the honestly acquired license. But here's the bad luck: the sticker was erased, the record was not preserved, but what did I care? It still worked! There is a way out, but with Windows 8 , 8.1 and 10 even simpler, there the key is sewn into the bios. Microsoft uses a 25-digit code, which is what we need. I'll tell you about three comparatively simple ways find out the product key: software, using a script and wired into the BIOS, let's go:

ProduKey, a time-tested program, shows keys for Windows, MS-Office, SQL Server. Just download and run the .exe file from the archive in a couple of seconds, everything is ready.

With this utility, you can not only look at the key on installed system but also, for example, from an external device ( external drive, usb flash drive) or connect a disk with a second system. It happens that Windows does not start due to disk corruption or blue screen This is to blame and the key must be found out, then Product KeyFinder perfect solution.

Download, install. Run as administrator.

Click the tab Tools, and then Load hive…

We choose on external device Windows folder and press Enter. After a few seconds of scanning, we get the system version and the key to install on new disk clean windows.

2.Using a script

The method for seekers, it is a little more complicated, but more interesting.

Set WshShell = CreateObject ("WScript.Shell") regKey = "HKLM \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \" DigitalProductId = WshShell.RegRead (regKey & "DigitalProductId") Win8ProductName = "Windows Product Name:" & WReadShell.Reg (regKey & "ProductName") & vbNewLine Win8ProductID = "Windows Product ID:" & WshShell.RegRead (regKey & "ProductID") & vbNewLine Win8ProductKey = ConvertToKey (DigitalProductId) strProductKey = "Windows 8 KeyCey =" & Win8Product8 Win8ProductID & strProductKey MsgBox (Win8ProductKey) MsgBox (Win8ProductID) Function ConvertToKey (regKey) Const KeyOffset = 52 isWin8 = (regKey (66) \ 6) And 1 regKey (66) = (regKey (66) (And & is HF7) 2) * 4) j = 24 Chars = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789" Do Cur = 0 y = 14 Do Cur = Cur * 256 Cur = regKey (y + KeyOffset) + Cur regKey (y + KeyOffset) = (Cur \ 24) Cur = Cur Mod 24 y = y -1 Loop While y> = 0 j = j -1 winKeyOutput = Mid (Chars, Cur + 1, 1) & winKeyOutput Last = Cur Loop While j> = 0 If (is Win8 = 1) Then keypart1 = Mid (winKeyOutput, 2, Last) insert = "N" winKeyOutput = Replace (winKeyOutput, keypart1, keypart1 & insert, 2, 1, 0) If Last = 0 Then winKeyOutput = insert & winKeyOutput End If a = Mid (winKeyOutput, 1, 5) b = Mid (winKeyOutput, 6, 5) c = Mid (winKeyOutput, 11, 5) d = Mid (winKeyOutput, 16, 5) e = Mid (winKeyOutput, 21, 5) ConvertToKey = a & "-" & b & "-" & c & "-" & d & "-" & e End Function

Create a regular Text Document .txt open and paste this text there:

Change the file extension from .txt on the .vbs and run the script, after a couple of seconds we see the key. Who is too lazy to do the manipulations, download the ready-made script.

3. Remove the key from BIOS (bios)

This method is real hardcore, it will help you find out the key of all windows hardwired into the bios. IN latest versions computers with preinstalled Windows 8, 8.1, 10 there are no stickers with a key, it can of course be recognized by the above methods, but what if you put another version or Linux on top of it? The key is stored in the bios chip and this is great on the one hand, you will not lose it, and if you want to find out, use RWeverything. Download the utility according to the version of your system, version 32 bit or 64 bit. It needs to be downloaded, unpacked (winrar, winzip), installed and run. Then:

1. Click on the ACPI button.
2. Select the MSDM tab.
3. The bottom line of Data will be the Windows key hard-wired into your BIOS? copy it and use it as intended

Conclusion: if you had to find and restore a key, be sure to write it down in a safe place. The license is important, you paid for it.

If it came in handy click on the button below and tell your friends, Thank you!

A new working way to retrieve the key, even if the system won't start.

I found this method on the Internet and checked that it works even in the latest build Widows 10.0.14393 it is certainly a little difficult for regular user, but sometimes the cost of a lost license makes us purposeful, especially since the instruction itself is detailed and understandable. Yes, it is in English, but who among us does not use a translator in chrome? So, be careful and follow the instructions, if you do everything correctly, then at the end you will decrypt the binary code and get the product key, this field looks like this: