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203 Windows Product Activation Creator Reveals Truth Behind XP's Most Notorious Product Key

Slashdot
msmash @ Slashdot · 10/09/2025 16:01 EDT

Windows Product Activation Creator Reveals Truth Behind XP's Most Notorious Product Key

Dave W. Plummer, the Microsoft developer who created Task Manager and helped build Windows Product Activation, has revealed the origins of Windows XP's most notorious product key. The alphanumeric string FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8 was not cracked through clever hacking but leaked as a legitimate volume licensing key five weeks before XP's October 2001 release.

A warez group distributed the key alongside special corporate installation media. Windows Product Activation generated hardware IDs from system.

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