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Product key on a Proof of License Certificate of Authenticity for Windows Vista Home Premium. A product key, also known as a software key, serial key or activation key, is a specific software-based key for a computer program. It certifies that the copy of the program is original. Product keys consist of a series of numbers and/or letters.
In this case, the copy of Windows installed does not use the product key listed on the certificate of authenticity, but rather a master product key issued to OEMs called a System Locked Pre-installation (SLP) key. On each boot, Windows confirms the presence of specific information stored in the BIOS by the manufacturer, ensuring the activation ...
A product key is required to proceed and use Windows 95. In one form, product activation refers to a method invented by Ric Richardson and patented (U.S. patent 5,490,216) by Uniloc where a software application hashes hardware serial numbers and an ID number specific to the product's license (a product key) to
System Locked Pre-installation (SLP), also referred to as OEM Activation, is a product activation procedure for Microsoft Windows used by major OEMs of laptops and pre-built PCs wherein a Windows product key is added and locked to the machine's firmware before mass distribution. SLP product keys cannot be moved to other machines.
Additionally, the product key in question can't be used to install current versions of Windows XP, and if you installed the first version of XP with that product key, you would be unable to obtain any security updates or other support from Microsoft. This makes the key in question pretty worthless.
On Windows XP, if WGA determines that a user's copy of Windows is unauthorized, but was installed from seemingly legitimate media (i.e., the CD/DVD and holographic emblem present on real copies of Windows seems genuine), then Microsoft will supply the user with a new CD/DVD. However, newer versions of Windows will still require the user to ...
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The first, Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, was intended for IA-64 systems; as IA-64 usage declined on workstations in favor of AMD's x86-64 architecture, the Itanium edition was discontinued in January 2005. [57] A new 64-bit edition supporting the x86-64 architecture, called Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, was released in April 2005. [58]