Activate Windows 8 M2/M3 Build 7955 with Free Windows 7 Beta Product Keys

Is Windows 8 Beta near? Or it’s just because Microsoft is going to recycle the product keys that are used to activate the Windows 7 Beta for Windows 8 Beta? Apparently, no hack nor crack is required to activate Windows 8 M2 (pre-M3) Build 7955. To activate an installed Windows 8 Build 7955 system, the trick is to just use a free product key provided by Microsoft during Windows 7 Beta.

If you still remember, Microsoft actually only provides 10 product keys – 5 for 32-bit (x86) and 5 for 64-bit (x64) – for the whole world to activate Windows 7 Beta. In other words, these free product keys can be used for unlimited activation. But it’s unknown why Microsoft still does not block or blacklist the Windows 7 Beta product keys.

Here’s the list of Windows 7 Beta product keys:

Windows 7 Beta 32-bit Product Key

6JKV2-QPB8H-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
TQ32R-WFBDM-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
GG4MQ-MGK72-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
4HJRK-X6Q28-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
QXV7B-K78W2-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Windows 7 Beta 64-bit Product Key

7XRCQ-RPY28-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
RFFTV-J6K7W-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
482XP-6J9WR-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
JYDV8-H8VXG-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
D9RHV-JG8XC-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

For information, Windows 7 RC product keys and even retail product keys for Windows 7 RTM may work to activate too. If you have difficulty in activating your Windows 8, try phone activation, disconnect and reconnect to Internet or the following trick, found by gabrielinio_julian:

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
2. Press Ctrl + Shift + F9.
3. Issue the slmgr.vbs commands stated below to activate.

Unfortunately, Windows 8 Build 7955 activated with the product keys above does not unlock any hidden features, as the Windows 8 activation system generates a special hash ID which determines which feature is available from the product key used to activate the system. Thus, these supposedly expired product keys cannot unlock the features.

Note that it’s not necessary to activate the system to unlock most hidden locked Windows 8 features. After installation, there is 30 days activation grace period to enjoy the system for free.

To activate Windows 8 Build 7955, go to Control Panel -> Action Center -> Genuine Center. Click on Enter a new product key button.

Enter one of the 32-bit product key and proceed to activate the system. The activation should be successful. Interestingly, it’s “Windows 7” that is been activated successfully.

And, Windows 8 Genuine Center will now show activation status of “Activated” but edition of “Windows 7 Ultimate”.

Alternatively, it’s also possible to activate Windows 8 M2/M3 via Command Prompt with the following commands:

slmgr.vbs -ipk <product key>
slmgr.vbs -ato