Genuine Windows Blog

I hope you’re all enjoying the recent upgrade to The Windows Blog – I personally really like the new look and feel.  I wanted to let you know about just one more change as we continue streamlining the way we are delivering content to you.  Because...

Are you deploying Microsoft Office 2010 and Windows 7?  Come learn from the experts in Engineering and Support how the new release of the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) helps manage product activation for Windows client and server operating...

We often hear from customers asking about tools they can use to track and report activation data for Windows operating systems activated using Key Management Service (KMS) or Multiple Activation Key (MAK). Microsoft’s free Volume Activation Management...

Last week we blogged about how the newly released Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) 2.0 helps manage product keys . This week, we cover how VAMT can help you centrally manage Windows 7 activations. VAMT 2.0 also manages activations for Windows...

As an IT administrator, you probably are responsible for managing product keys, often for multiple products that are acquired from multiple sources. Sometimes it can be challenging to keep track of these keys and prevent their distribution to unauthorized...

We are pleased to announce the release of the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) 2.0 . This free download is an important tool that helps customers automate and centrally manage a range of activities related to Windows and Office activation.  ...

Missed our TechNet webcast on April 14 th ? Not to worry, we’ve made the recording available on-demand through LiveMeeting. View “Product Activation in Development Environments” now.

Due to technical difficulties, the TechNet webcast Product Activation in Development Environments , originally on April 1, has been rescheduled. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. If you were registered for the original...

Our product management team members have some new guidance to share with those of you with questions about activation in your development or test environments: First, we have a newly revised whitepaper, Windows Activation in Development and Test Environments...

IT professionals – there’s another TechNet activation methods webcast planned soon: Title:  TechNet Webcast:  Product Activation in Development Environments (Level 200) Overview: Development environments are typically complex and dynamic. Systems...

There’s a new Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) available from Microsoft to help administrators manage Multiple Activation Key (MAK) activation for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. The way MAK activation works is that the key must be installed...

Also this Friday, Genuine Windows’ Joe Williams will be appearing live on This Week in Law , a weekly online interview show hosted by Denise Howell.  Joe will be discussing the recent Windows Activation Technologies Update for Windows 7.  Date...

IT professionals – there’s another TechNet activation issues planned for this Friday: Title:  TechNet Webcast: Troubleshooting Activation Issues with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Overview: Product activation is a critical part of Windows...

In the coming days, we’ll be deploying a new update for Windows Activation Technologies, the set of built-in activation and validation components built into Windows 7. Called Windows Activation Technologies Update for Windows 7, this update will detect...

Missed our TechNet webcast on January 22 nd ? Not to worry, we’ve made the recording available through LiveMeeting. View “Deploying Windows with Volume Activation” now. Thanks! - Jodi

IT professionals – if you haven’t already seen this elsewhere, our Volume Activation folks have a TechNet webcast planned for this Friday they’d like you to know about: Title: TechNet Webcast: Deploying Windows With Volume Activation...

I wanted to follow up on our last post about Windows activation – a friend of mine had posted on Facebook about seeing a notification from Windows that he might be a “victim of counterfeit software”. Following his status update, someone else commented...

Sometimes when talking to friends either in person or online, they’ll ask me questions about work-related topics like software piracy or activating Windows, or they’ll tell me about notifications they’ve seen on their PC that relate...

We want to let you know about a new addition to our Volume Activation TechCenter on TechNet. The section, called Cheat Sheets, will contain short but detailed technical whitepapers covering topics that were too lengthy to post directly to our team blog...

I wanted to add my thoughts to the blog following Alex’s departure from Microsoft last week, and give our readers a little bit of insight into our focus for the new year. Alex, you’ve been a key part of Microsoft’s anti-piracy efforts for many years and...

Today is my last day at Microsoft and this will be my last post to this blog. I want to thank everyone who read, commented and supported the blog over the years. I believe in the mission of this group and in the overall goal of Microsoft’s Genuine Software...

Today, Kim Griffiths shares: One of the more common questions that we are hearing about volume activation today is around how to update your existing Key Management Service (KMS) to support Windows 7 and/or Windows Server 2008 R2. This is also causing...

Today, Microsoft announced a surge of over 150,000 voluntary reports in the past two years from people who unknowingly purchased counterfeit software that often included viruses or other malware. More than double the amount of previous records, this increase...

Team member Kim Griffiths shares this today: Missed the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 deployment live webcast?  Don’t worry - you can still listen in on what we talked about.  View the webcast via LiveMeeting on demand , and stay tuned...

Team member Kim Griffiths has this to share today: On Wednesday, Nov. 18th, I'll be hosting a webcast that will give you info on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 deployment planning. The webcast will run 60 minutes and will go into the best practices...