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Retired Microsoft Engineer details the story about the famous leaked FCKGW Windows XP key — copy protection used 10MB of encrypted Microsoft Bob for validation Next. Next. Click. FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8. Enter. Anyone old enough to be messing with PCs in the early to mid-2000s probably has the following burned into their mind: FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8. That's neither a magic spell nor a password for a cabal — it's the best-known Windows XP key, letting anyone install and run the operating system with its incantation and just the one CD. Ever wondered how or why Microsoft let such an apparent gaping hole in its copy protection? Former engineer Dave Plummer explained in an X post. First off, there were actually two versions of the original Windows XP media: Retail and Volume. The former was for anyone who just bought the OS off the shelf, while the latter was reserved for Microsoft partners and OEMs that needed to easily install it on thousands of machines without needing to individually activate every single one at install time. Retail and Volume media had different keys, too, and the installer would validate the key you input against specific data on the disc, "encrypted so hard that even today it hasn't been decrypted [...]" (Someone will take those words as a challenge). The magical piece of cryptic data was nothing other than the whole 10 MB of... Microsoft Bob. The short-lived assistant was technically the antecessor of the much-maligned and memed-upon Clippy, and did its best in 1995 to introduce newbies to basic computing tasks. Regular Joes and Janes weren't supposed to be anywhere within a stone's throw of a Volume disc, though, as those were strictly enterprise-only. The final version of the CD, called Release to Manufacturing, or RTM, was complete in August 24, 2001 — two months before the official launch on October 25. The discs were available to OEMs and partners before the release date so those companies could have their wares ready with Windows XP on them. Plummer notes that "very few" organizations had access to the Volume image and the corresponding Volume License Key (VLK) and believes that someone at a major OEM, potentially Dell or Intel, leaked the Volume media and the key together before the official release. The pirate group Devils0wn then quickly spread it online for everyone to enjoy Later on, when Service Pack 1 arrived, the FCKGW key was among the 640 blacklisted from the operating system due to leakage. Service Pack 2 and its Windows Genuine Advantage checks went a couple steps further and blocked updates entirely on machines with a blacklisted VLK. Plummer states that Microsoft didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble for customers, hence its laissez-faire attitude and choice to stick to just blacklisting affected keys. Many theories over the years proposed that the FCKGW key worked because Microsoft's key generation algorithm was very basic, a notion outright dismissed by Plummer. He plainly states that algorithm was written by "ACTUALLY smart guys with heads so big that they bumped the doorjamb on the way into your office." Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. The truth of the situation was far simpler: as is usual with computing, ultimately the problem was between the keyboard and the chair. It's a good a time as any to reminisce about that compact disc you totally don't have on a bookshelf somewhere with the FCKGW key written on it with a Sharpie. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Bruno Ferreira is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. He has decades of experience with PC hardware and assorted sundries, alongside a career as a developer. He's obsessed with detail and has a tendency to ramble on the topics he loves. When not doing that, he's usually playing games, or at live music shows and festivals. - thesyndrome Just a heads-up, there's a typo in the articleReply The short-lived assistant was technically the antecessor of the much-maligned and memed-upon Clippy, and did its best in 1995 to introduce newbies to basic computing tasks. - derekullo Reply Antecessor means a person or thing that goes before another, serving as a predecessor or ancestor.thesyndrome said:Just a heads-up, there's a typo in the article Technically correct is the best kind of correct !!! - ezst036 Reply I switched to Linux shortly before the XP boom era.Admin said:Anyone old enough to be messing with PCs in the early to mid-2000s probably has the following burned into their mind: - LordVile Reply “There are dozens of us”ezst036 said:I switched to Linux shortly before the XP boom era. - ezst036 Reply There were dozens of us.LordVile said:“There are dozens of us” But back then, for XP users there was 94% to 96% of you. Now there isn't even what 70% of you. We've grown. And you've shrunk. - LordVile Reply Really isn’t the case budezst036 said:There were dozens of us. But back then, for XP users there was 94% to 96% of you. Now there isn't even what 70% of you. We've grown. And you've shrunk. - Mathrawkee Reply Negative, Ghost Riderthesyndrome said:Just a heads-up, there's a typo in the article - USAFRet Reply And increasingly, there are people in multiple camps.ezst036 said:We've grown. And you've shrunk. Knowing the benefits of both (or all 3-4), and using what is relevant for a particular task. - vinay2070 Reply I tried switching to linux in 2015 and gave up. It was like fighting a war with bare hands. My team lead (now 50 years old) keeps trying different linux and hes still not happy with one. Last time I saw him he was installing a new one.ezst036 said:I switched to Linux shortly before the XP boom era. Ive made my peace with windows and mac.
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