Have you always made a point of buying all your Windows licenses? Then you've probably never heard of this little story.
Whether you're a Microsoft customer or an "illicit" Windows user, you've always been confronted with the famous serial number you have to enter to validate the installation of the operating system. It goes back to the dawn of time, so to speak, but one of these serial numbers has made headlines. A serial number linked to Windows XP, which for several years could be used on countless illicit versions of Windows without Microsoft lifting a finger. With so many numbers being blacklisted by Microsoft teams, why did this famous FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8 slip "through the net"? What makes it so special?
For years, the mystery has remained unsolved, and while Windows XP was launched on October 25, 2001, this famous key has been running for several years since its release with a pirate version of the system, the Windows XP Pro Devil's Own. There was no need to buy this version, since the serial number was always perfectly recognized and accepted by Microsoft's authentication servers. These servers were boosted by the launch of Windows XP. The release of the operating system coincided with the introduction of Windows Product Activation (WPA), which was intended to put an end to system piracy, or at least make it much more difficult to set up authenticated keys.
David W Plummer
Of course, Microsoft couldn't have been unaware of the existence of this famous FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8 key, which was running in a loop on most "indelicate" networks, so we wonder why Microsoft didn't decide to deactivate it very quickly? The answer can be summed up in three letters: VLK. VLK stands for Volume Licence Key, and refers to very specific keys. These keys enable Microsoft's close partners to greatly simplify their operating system installation and deployment procedures. A former Microsoft manager, Dave W Plummer, recently confirmed this and provided a few details.
Dave W Plummer clarifies that there was never any question of a hack of the Windows XP licensing system, as some people have been led to believe. No, the distribution of this FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8 key is nothing more than a leak. Without doubt one of the most incredible and costly leaks for Microsoft. A volume license key that bypasses the many "barriers" put in place to validate the installation of Windows XP. In fact, Microsoft's servers never checked the processor, motherboard or RAM when this key was entered, which is why so many people around the world were able to use the same key on thousands of PCs.
In fact, Microsoft waited almost three years to ban and deactivate this key. Why so long? Undoubtedly because this VLK was linked to a very large Microsoft partner, who must have needed it on tens of thousands of machines. Rumors have long linked this leak to Dell, one of Microsoft's closest partners, and to date, the Redmond-based company has said nothing about it. However, lately, we've been thinking more along the lines of an Intel leak, even if David W Plummer is careful not to speculate.
