Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
License managers enable software vendors to offer a wide range of usage-centric software licensing models, such as product activation, trial licenses, subscription licenses, feature-based licenses, and floating licensing from the same software package they provide to all users. A license manager is different from a software asset management ...
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.
Product activation is a license validation procedure required by some proprietary software programs. Product activation prevents unlimited free use of copied or replicated software. Unactivated software refuses to fully function until it determines whether it is authorized to fully function. Activation allows the software to stop blocking its use.
In Windows 7 and later, significant hardware changes (e.g. motherboard) may require a re-activation. In Windows 10 and 11, a user can run the Activation Troubleshooter if the user has changed hardware on their device recently. If the hardware has changed again after activation, they must wait 30 days before running the troubleshooter again.
A software license is a legal instrument governing the use or redistribution of software. Since the 1970s, software copyright has been recognized in the United States. Despite the copyright being recognized, most companies prefer to sell licenses rather than copies of the software because it enables them to enforce stricter terms on redistribution.
A volume license key that was commonly used to bypass product activation in early versions of Windows XP was FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8. [8] This key was part of the first warez release of the final version of Windows XP by a group called devils0wn , 35 days before the operating system's official retail release on 28 August 2001. [ 9 ]
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
This build treated Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 product keys as Windows 10 product keys, meaning they could be entered during installation to activate the free license, without the need to upgrade first to "activate" the hardware with Microsoft's activation servers. [99]