Pirates have been using BIOS loaders and OEM BIOS mods for Windows 7 for months, and of course even longer for Vista. This can be done either via software tools or through direct modification of a motherboard's BIOS. The most reliable way to bypass Windows product activation is still the use of BIOS emulation tools to fool the operating system into thinking it has been preloaded onto an OEM system. These attempts were foiled by Microsoft with updates to the operating system, and we can expect the same to occur this time around since this method involves patching many system files, especially with the next WAT update or with Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Advertisementĭuring the early days of Windows Vista, pirates also tried to permanently bypass Windows Vista activation by stopping the activation grace period countdown timer. In addition to removing and disabling WAT from the Windows system, the tools clean up the side-effects by stopping relevant services and patching certain DLL files. Most of the tools support all editions of Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit) and Windows Server 2008 R2. You can continue to use the operating system indefinitely, but the side-effects can be annoying, so pirates have created tools to clean these up. Still, disabling WAT isn't the end of the story: after the 30-day evaluation period is expired, Windows 7 will still start nagging the user to activate the operating system, the wallpaper will be set to black, and a watermark saying 'This copy of Windows is not genuine' will be placed in the bottom right-hand corner. By blocking, preventing, removing, and disabling access to, or the loading of, all activation and licensing related Windows system files, slui.exe (the exe required to activate Windows 7) will fail to start, resulting in the permanent circumvention of Windows activation. The hack in question works by bypassing activation altogether, and thus does not require a product key. A new activation crack method has been discovered and implemented to bypass Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 activation: remove and disable Windows Activation Technologies (WAT, older versions were referred to as Windows Genuine Advantage).

Windows 7 activation