diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'readme-activation-faq.html')
| -rw-r--r-- | readme-activation-faq.html | 193 |
1 files changed, 193 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/readme-activation-faq.html b/readme-activation-faq.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4cd62fc --- /dev/null +++ b/readme-activation-faq.html @@ -0,0 +1,193 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<title>Read Me - Activation FAQs</title> +<html> +<head> +<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> +</head> +<body style="background-color: #DfDfDf;"> +<pre> +<code> +Updated 30-08-2019 + + +==================================================================================================== + Activation FAQs: +==================================================================================================== + + The following text is a mixture of facts and few guesses. The facts as listed are true as far as + I am able to know. + You should read it with a grain of salt. It's a good habit to doubt things, but don't start to + believe your doubts if you don't have any reasonable argument to justify the doubt. + + Digital License and KMS38 activation descriptions are based on reverse engineering efforts by + the methods' authors - @mspaintmsi and an Anonymous developer. + + If you think anything written here is false, please notify https://windowsaddict.ml/ + +==================================================================================================== + +===================================== + Digital License (HWID) Activation: +===================================== + Written by @mspaintmsi- + + During the upgrade process from Windows 7, 8, 8.1 to Windows 10 (Also from Windows 10 to a newer + version of Windows 10) properly activated systems are eligible for a digital license. + The digital license activation is permanent and linked to a specific user (Through hardware and optionally through a Microsoft Account). + + Internally it works something like this, + + The upgrade process executes gatherosstate.exe contained in the installation medium. + The job of gatherosstate is to generate a Genuine Ticket for use by the Client License Platform migration tool (ClipUp) + This ticket is a GenuineAuthorization XML file containing the following information: (There are more fields in tickets from ClipUp, but we won't need those) + * Its version. As of now, this is always "1.0" + * the genuineProperties: + * Properties: + * OA3xOriginalProductId - The Product ID of the BIOS key. + * OA3xOriginalProductKey - The BIOS product key. + * SessionId: + * OSMajorVersion - The OS Version Major + * OSMinorVersion - The OS Version Minor + * OSPlatformId - The OS Platform ID. Always 2 (2 means Windows NT) + * PP - Protected Process - Whether or not gatherosstate was run as a protected process + (It practically never does. ClipUp is also capable of generating those tickets, and it runs as a protected process.) + * Hwid - The Hardware Id - a base64-encoded byte array containing information about the current hardware configuration. + * Pfn - Package Family Name - The package family name of your Windows edition. + * OA3xOriginalProductKey - The BIOS product key. (Yes, it's a duplicate) + * DownlevelGenuineState - Indicates whether or not your system is genuine. (activated) + * TimeStampClient - The ISO 8601 format date of ticket generation. + * Signatures: + * signature: (Either downlevelGTkey or clientLockboxKey depending on which utility actually generated the ticket - SLC, gatherosstate or ClipUp) + * downlevelGTkey - rsa-sha256 signature for the Properties field + * clientLockboxKey - rsa-sha256 signature for the Properties field + + This ticket is later applied using ClipUp and sent to Microsoft Servers. + In return, the Microsoft servers responds with the JSON "receipt" for the digital license. The fields in it are irrelevant and mean practically nothing. + + This license is linked to specific hardware, and can be transferred to other hardware if needed using a linked Microsoft Account. + + This process during upgrading requires a lot of time, and it's not as easy as clicking an “Activate” button. + so to achieve this, @mspaintmsi and an Anonymous developer discovered a way to quickly generate a valid ticket for acquiring a license. + + There were a lot of methods for this, but the simplest one is placing a modified SLC (Software Licensing Client) library next to gatherosstate. + Due to gatherosstate loading this library dynamically it can be substituted very easily without modifying the gatherosstate file at all. + This library was originally a modified version of SLSHIM by @vyvojar on GitHub (but has went through so many changes that it barely resembles it anymore). + + This library is supposed to query the licensing information for use by gatherosstate. + gatherosstate has no way to verify this information, so it blindly places it into the ticket. + + After sending the ticket and receiving the receipt your system is activated. + + Now a question arises, + Q.) Can Microsoft differentiate counterfeit tickets and block the license? + A.) Umm.. Yes, but actully no. + The signature type can (sort of) be used to determine what utility is responsible for the ticket. + There is no way (in a standard environment) for a non-activated Windows 10 installation to generate a ticket. + In the normal process, gatherosstate will ask SLC for the entire ticket, but when this fails it will generate and sign it by itself, creating a + "downlevelGTkey" signature. + For every system with an installed product key a generated ticket will be returned by SLC and thus will have a "clientLockboxKey" signature. + + Put simply, the signature (should) always be a "clientLockboxKey" one in case of an activated system, but in this case it isn't. + Microsoft will not take action against it, because of the risk of voiding valid licenses. + Besides, they never really cared for consumer piracy; That's not where they get the most money from. + +==================================================================================================== + +============================== + KMS38 Activation: +============================== + + Written by @mspaintmsi- + + The KMS38 method is closely related to the HWID method, as it utilizes the same tools. + This method also generates a GenuineAuthorization XML file using gatherosstate, but with slight differences. + This time instead of the "Pfn" field, we have the "GVLKExp" field. + GVLKExp is short for "Generic Volume Key Expiration (date)" and contains an ISO 8601 timestamp of when the KMS activation ends. + + This volume expiration date can be changed to an arbitrarily (signed) integer value using the SLC library. + The very long time for activation is related to the Y2K38 problem as this date (19 january 2038 around 3AM) is the maximum date we can give + to gatherosstate without it looping back to year 1970. + + The main difference is that those tickets are only valid on Volume:GVLK systems. That mostly includes Enterprise and Education editions. + + Now another question, + Q.) Can Microsoft block this kind of activation? + A.) Not directly. They could only update Clipup to allow for a maximum activation period of 180 days. + Not much beside that can be done on their part. + The tickets are not sent to Microsoft at all, so they can't block them or take action directly. + +==================================================================================================== + +============================== + Online KMS Activation: +============================== + + - What is KMS activation? + Key Management Service (KMS) is a genuine activation method provided by Microsoft for volume + licensing customers (organizations, schools or governments). The machines in those environments + (called KMS clients) are activated via the Environment KMS Host Server (authorized Microsoft's + licensing key), instead of Microsoft activation servers. + By design, the KMS activation period lasts up to 180 Days (6 Months) at max, with the ability to + renew and reinstate the period at any time. Activation renewal automatically happens every 7 + days if the client can connect to the KMS host server. + For more info, see, + https://www.microsoft.com/Licensing/servicecenter/Help/FAQDetails.aspx?id=201#215 + https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee939272(v=ws.10).aspx#kms-overview + + - How we are getting it for free? + Developers reverse-engineered the KMS Host Server setup, so now anyone can host a KMS server and + activate the systems without any limitations. + KMS activators such as KMSpico, MTK, KMS_VL_ALL, and etc., locally create an emulated KMS Host + Server and activate Windows and Office. + + This locally-emulated KMS server requires you to run binary files which often cause + anti-virus alerts (false positives). + + Another method of KMS activation is publicly-available Online KMS Host Server. + In this method, the site hosts the emulated KMS server and anyone can simply use this server to + activate their systems, there is no requirement for running any software on your system and + no worry of AV's alert. And this method is the most identical to the genuine KMS activation. + As long as the site hosting the emulated KMS server remains on line, and is available to connect + to, continued activation will be assured. + + - Is it safe to use Online KMS activation? + Yes. + Now let's go into the details, why, + In the KMS protocol, there is a relationship of host and client. The client system asks the host + system to grant the activation, and the host system grants the activation if it's eligible. + In doing this, the client system shares some of the system’s data, which is not sensitive in nature. + According to the Microsoft documents, the client system shares the following LIMITED data + with the host system: + Client FQDN, CMID, time-stamp, Product license state, expiration time and IP address + https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee939272(v=ws.10).aspx#kms-overview + + In this info sharing, the only important part is your IP address. + We can now talk about possible assumptions and consequences regarding this, but before we begin, + you should know the following facts. + - IP addresses do not necessarily represent a specific person. Internet Service Providers (ISP's) + mostly use DYNAMIC IP, which means the same IP address can be used by many different persons, + and a dynamic IP address is periodically reassigned to different people all the time. But a + STATIC IP address is permanently assigned to a single, unique, subscriber. + However, the Internet Service Provider (ISP) won't reveal that information unless + there is a legal reason to do so. + - Microsoft has NEVER tried to catch Home users for using a few pirated activations (not + talking about stolen legal keys) simply because the cost of legal actions would be much higher + than the amount of money gained by forcing a few people to PURCHASE activations. + - No law enforcement is going to take action based on the IP's from all over the world without + the consent from the Microsoft itself. + - In case you are feeling that your machine’s sharing of IP address information as part of the + ongoing KMS activation process is quite intrusive in nature, then you should keep in + mind that any website can fingerprint your device, which means that website can keep a record of + you not only by your IP address, but also with information about your device hardware. + + * After these facts, I can't imagine how Online KMS Activation can negatively affect the user. + If you know exactly how it can, than please let me know. Thanks. + +==================================================================================================== +</code></pre> +</body> +</html> + +<p> </p> + + |