Hithanks for the tool, I hope this thread is still being checked. I had 2 quick questions, i restored my computer from a backup (the built in bare metal backup with 2008r2/7) i then used the tool to restore the key from my usb. but does the process not work if the key is already in the system? or does this have to be a fresh install. also when you write " "When your done with that just install the key you used on your previous installation. then reboot your machine and it should be activated." do you mean go to the activation screen and enter a new Key or is there some other method when you say "install the key" the reason i ask is I went to the change product key section in the activate screen on 2008, I didnt choose active just went to change Key. but as soon as i hit change it appears to go online and activate. did i do something wrong.
Thanks! Works perfectly ... but I downloaded them from another site (here, the files are corrupted). I have a link but I can't put it (search in google or reupload them).
OK For future versions, you should create this tool displays with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 (although I can also use it) Can you edit the first post and fix the links?
thanks for this very useful tool, i have successfully recovered my retail MSDNAA win7 prof x64 sp1 activation Attention win7 sp1 users! the tokens.dat and pkeyconfig.xrm-ms files has different sizes in win7 sp1, in win7 no sp tokens.dat is 3-4MB and in win7 sp1 its 7.2MB so first install the service pack from windows update then backup your activation, i have done it this way and its 100% working on my laptop i think if you backup your activation files in win7 without sp and you try to recover it in win7 sp1 it should not work
I use Windows Loader for activation so which version of your program should I use? MAK or other one? Thanks.
Glad to see this thread is still going.... Here is my dilemma: I had 350 computers that had XP on them and due to licensing, I had to upgrade them to Windows 7 Enterprise 32 bit. I created a mini image that I put on a few hard drives that would boot, install windows, activate, and backup the tokens.dat and pkeyconfig.xrm-ms files from their directories to another computer. The files were saved in a sub-folder on the "server" with the machines serial number so I knew which activation files went to which machine... At the end of the process I sysprepped the drive with the install image on it with /generalize and /oobe and had an unattended.xml with SKIP REARM in it so I could re-use it on many computers. I went around to all the machines, unplugged the hard drive, ran the install/backup and verified that it would reactivate. It worked, I tried it on many machines, the reactivation worked good, I used a batch file to copy the files to the server, and used paymyrents MAK activation restore (the 0.2 version) and everything was cool... I thought. This was end of December since I did all this, now I am going back to the machines and trying to load fresh Win 7 on them and restore activation and its not working for some reason and I am having trouble tracking it down. The only thing that is changing on the machines is that they dont have the sysprepped drive in them, they are using the hard drive they came with. In my testing, this did not invalidate the activation and it worked a few months ago, but its not working now.... Its stumping me on why this is... It has the correct token.dat and pkeyconfig.xrm-ms files installed, but still is saying that I must activate windows within 3 days... anyone had this problem before? I have re-read this thread and many other similar ones but still wont accept the activation files.... Could it be the BIOS is now set to AHCI is invalidating it? Could it be some other minor change I am missing? Thanks in advance for any input. -Wilma
Most probably, cause after Intel RST driver installation/upgradation, retail/KMS activated operating systems require reactivation cause the HDD is detected as a new device. Follow vymrdal's solution.
Our EA agreement ended with Microsoft, that is why we had to "upgrade" all the machines... Whatever OS that was loaded on them was what they were stuck with. I tried to get the management to use VAMT, but in their infinite wisdom, they refused to use this... Yeah, I thought it was a joke myself. I had to put a VHD on the computers and the windows 7 bootloader and VHD boot Windows 7 from within XP. That itself was a pain in the ass, but with the time restraints, it was the only option that would satisfy Microsoft's "installed OS" criteria. Our environment has many isolated labs that are air gapped and security isolated. These computers once installed are difficult to remove for servicing and to have network access. Since our EA has ended with microsoft, do you think we can still use VAMT? Ill keep digging to find out why this maybe not working... It maybe the BIOS or another setting. Thanks, Wilma
Things are done so backwards here, it drives me insane... I am not sure how it got started like this but that is just how it goes. I will present my case again to the management team and see if I can change their minds about this. It would definitely make my life 100x easier... I feel that the more we automate things and do things the way that MOST organizations do it the more time we (IT) can have for doing more important things.... Sometimes I think that the dummer and more anti-logical a person is... the higher they make it in management! What ever happened to those days where the head people were the ones who knew "everything" and really did! -Wilma
doesn't work or i don't understand (i think, it's the second option) ;-) I backup the MAK (from my w7-enterprise), but there is only a file pkeyconfig.xrm-ms and a tokens.dat created. no text-file. and after restoring on the new installation of W7 it doesn't have any effect to the activation. so where i use your program in a false way? thanks and greetings eater
Whats the use for the MAK version if you already have the activation key? Wouldn´t you just install the same version and activate with the key? I thought the whole purpose of this was to help you reinstall when you didn´t have the key?