Microsoft Gives Away Windows 8 MC Pack For Free, Pirates Exploit It To Go Legit

In our previous article, we talked about how Microsoft’s latest OS Windows 8 can be activated by using a rogue KMS activation server. But it gets even better – Microsoft is running a promotion giving away the Windows 8 Media Center Pack for free. Pirates have found a way to exploit this offer to convert their pirated Windows 8 copies into legitimate copies WITH the MC pack! Yes it does work on pirated copies activated using the rogue KMS method. Proof below:

Exploiting this does not involve running any sort of crack, patch or custom code on the OS. You simply need to visit the Microsoft Media Center offer site on an activated Windows 8 machine (activated legitimately, or otherwise) and enter your E-mail. You should get a product key in your inbox in about 24-72 hours. This product key can be used to upgrade your copy of Windows 8 Pro to Windows 8 Pro + Media Center Pack and can be used when reinstalling Windows as well . Product key ( as of now ) is WGA safe and is considered legitimate. The MC offer is valid till 31st January 2012. Step by step instructions on how to do this is already posted on My Digital Life forums [Link]. This has also been covered on high profile publications such as The Verge and is pretty much all over the web. Patch this soon Microsoft. You are losing a lot of $$$ here.

Edit: I just went to the offer site on a Windows 7 machine and entered a different E-mail address just for the lulz, and it still said “A key will be emailed within 72 hours”. So this might actually work for anyone with internet access and a web browser.

Edit 2 : Whether a fresh reinstall of Win 8 Pro using the MC key will activate the OS after January 31st, 2013, is still unclear. If it doesn’t activate for the MC key directly, you should be able to activate it after first activating Windows against a rogue/legit KMS server and then entering the MC key. In any case, activation is permanent until you decide to reinstall.