Windows 7 Enterprise rearm?

If each download had a different key then Microsoft could conceivably track the number of activations and stop you from using it indefinitely. I don't think they would do that though, it could add up to a lot of keys. Plus somebody that is using it as intended, testing, could end up re-installing several times just because of messing things up. I haven't read the EULA but if I had several PC's to test I'd burn one disk and install it on all the PC's. I wouldn't download the trial 6 times and burn 6 disks. Not unless I had to anyway. To my way of thinking most people wouldn't want to have to re-install their OS every so many days, even if you could go a year plus. Assuming you don't forget to rearm before the 90 days runs out. I would think that those that are determined to cheat will find a more permanent way. I have limited funds so when I bought my bare bones PC it didn't come with an OS. I had to wait for more funds to become available to purchase windows 7. Faced with running XP on my new PC or trying out windows 7x64 to be sure it worked I downloaded the trial. I didn't have a windows 7 DVD to even try it for 30 days. I could have got something off of bit-torrent but you never know if its infected or messed up. So why not get it straight from the horses mouth and download it from Microsoft. I only tried the rearm command because I was running the trial and saw this thread. How does that saying go "inquiring minds want to know". I still had 45 days left to play with. Some of you that are still running it could compare keys via Pm's. Just looking at the first 5 or 10 should tell you if every download is coded with the same key. You'll have to use something like "The magical Jelly Bean key finder on a running system to find it.

WindowsStar said:

@richc46 FYI it does not work on the Windows 7 Enterprise 90 Trail downloaded from Microsoft. When we first downloaded the ISO from Microsoft we setup a testing machine when it was 2 days from expiring we did not want to rebuild it because we were deep in to testing with some complicated software. We tried all the rearm ticks and none of them would give us more time. We then tried rearming another machine that had about 20 more days before expiring and it would not rearm as well.

Ummm ... no disrespect intended, but has it occurred to you to BUY a copy of Win7?

Just sayin ...

-Max

alphanumeric said:

... Just looking at the first 5 or 10 should tell you if every download is coded with the same key. You'll have to use something like "The magical Jelly Bean key finder on a running system to find it.

Part of the confusion about rearm for the 90-Day Enterprise Trial is that there seems to have been at least two different trials. One (maybe the one that came out before it could even be purchased) could not be rearmed according to some posters. The current one (available for download until the end of this year) can be rearmed 5 times. That's the one I'm using.

I suspect that the current one has a single key for all downloads (74M4B-BTT8P-MMM3M-64RRJ-JCDDG). I've seen this key posted in other forums and compared that to my own key found with the Jelly Bean keyfinder. They're the same. But my understanding of "activation" is that Microsoft ties the key to your hardware and it's the combination that makes your version unique. So I still wonder what would happen if one reinstalled the current download to the same hardware and tried to activate it. (It would be the 1st time to the newly formatted drive, but the 7th time using the same hardware.) To prevent activation, Microsoft would have to keep a record of the number of activations to the same hardware on their servers and prevent the 7th one. In that case the purpose of the rearm count (slmgr /dlv) would be to let the end user know where he stands relative to recorded activations at Microsoft.

Activation is tied to hardware but I'm not sure how much of that info Microsoft stores on it's activation server. There are files on your PC you can retrieve and then put back after a re-install and not have to activate again. They only work on that PC and it has to activated in the first place to create the files. They are based on the hardware in the PC when activated so you can't use them on another PC to cheat activation. If Microsoft actually stores that info on their activation server then they could do what you propose. Even if they could I wonder if they would? I don't think you want to piss off your Enterprise customers because of a couple of cheaters. I'll never know as I likely won't ever run the trial again. Even if I do I'd never hit the 5 rearm point. And even then it wouldn't be on this PC so it would be new hardware. I meant to check my key but forgot too before I nuked it and went to home premium. In closing I would just like to say that in no way do I condone piracy. I only say this because this thread may be getting close to a point where the modes might object. I don't think its there yet but maybe we should be careful what we say. I do find this stuff interesting though, just from a its cool how this stuff works point of view.

[QUOTE=roncerr;752632][QUOTE=alphanumeric;751081]...QUOTE]

The current one (available for download until the end of this year) can be rearmed 5 times. That's the one I'm using.

QUOTE]

..And by the time, the 5 rearms are over, it'll be time for Windows 8. I sometimes have trouble understanding MS's strategies. Dont they want enterprises to buy??

@Bill2 I don't think you will find too many legitimate enterprises running a trial version of windows in their production environment. Large companies are audited to make sure they have the licenses for the software installed on every PC they are using anyway. Looking at the ei.cfg file for my trial version I see that it is not volume license. I would say that the full enterprise edition is, in fact I am certain it is, that is one of the key differences between ultimate and enterprise. enterprise editions can be activated on site. You have to activate every time you re-arm so every PC would have to have INTERNET access. Plus you have to make sure they don't time out. I would think that if you have any amount of PCs it is going to end up being more work that it's worth. I'm sure some people are going to do it. Give and inch take a mile. I actually think the pricing for windows 7 is reasonable for a change. I got Home Premium for $109 Canadian, about $140 with shipping and handling with some other stuff I ordered. Pro was only 50 bucks more but I didn't really need the extra features. Most people don't need Ultimate. Just my 2 cents.:)