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If you have installed the final version of Windows 8 on a PC recently, you have noticed that you had to enter a valid product key at one time during setup to continue with it. That’s different from previous versions of the Windows operating system where you had the option to install the system without a product key. This was a way to try out the operating system for a specific amount of time before you either had to enter a product key or uninstall it (yes, even if you used the rearm command).

Windows Vally reports that there is still a way to install Windows 8 without entering a product key during setup. It requires a little bit of tweaking, but no modification of any files of the operating system. You basically add a file to the ISO image. What you need is a Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro or Enterprise ISO image, and a program like 7-Zip to extract the contents of the disk image to your local drive.

Once you have extracted the contents of the ISO, create the ei.cfg document in the Sources folder of the operating system. Add the following lines to the system:

[EditionID]
Core
[Channel]
Retail
[VL]
0

You can replace Core with Pro or Enterprise, Retail with OEM, and VL with 1 (for true). Once that has been taken care of, you need to create a bootable Windows 8 ISO image again. The whole process is explained on this page.

For that, you need the Assessment and Deployment Kit for Windows 8, which you can download from Microsoft. You can alternative use a software like ImgBurn directly to create the bootable ISO image.

Once you have created and burned the ISO image, you can run the installation from it. When you get to the product key screen simply skip it when it appears.

Microsoft Windows 8 that is the only operating system that runs on tablet, smartphones and desktop, making everyday office software works on all devices. An ISO image must be converted into installation media stored on a DVD or a USB flash drive.Windows 8 Consumer Preview ISO files (.iso) are provided as an alternative to using Windows 8 Consumer Preview Setup.

You can download windows 8 bootable ISO images on official Microsoft site through going to the following   and also users can find the free Serial key for windows 8 consumer preview.

Universal Serial key for windows 8 consumer preview - NF32V-Q9P3W-7DR7Y-JGWRW-JFCK8 (or) If it is not working go to this official page and choose and select your versions.

See our other Articles related to Windows 8 consumer preview in below related post section.

When something is in high demand, it usually does not take long before it is being exploited in one way or the other. While the verdict is still not in if Microsoft’s newest operating system is a hit or not, it is certain that it is quite the popular topic on the Internet since its release.

Windows 8 ISO images are readily available on various P2P indexing sites and other sources, what users do not get there though is a product key that is needed to register the operating system. What may be included on the other hand are fake keyword generators that supposedly generate a legit Windows 8 product key when run.

A key generator is sometimes supplied with cracked applications if the cracker managed to find out which algorithm for key generation has been used by the developer.

The two programs that Trend Micro got hold of are fake, which means that they try to make the user believe that they can activate Windows 8 when run. What they actually do however is try to get the user to send an SMS to a number to activate the operating system. That’s not as bad as it could be, considering that they could also try and install a trojan, virus or other form of malware on the user system. The programs connect to web pages for click fraud in addition t the SMS scam.

Experienced users will likely spot the scam once they come to the page where the program requests that a SMS needs to be sent to continue. The interface language may prevent others from going any further, even though that may be easily fixed with a language patch or updated.

One of the programs disguises itself as a Windows 8 downloader, the other as an activator program (Windows 8 Activator 2011) that activates the operating system when run.

The scam takes advantage of Windows 8′s popularity and it is likely that it is doing quite well in the market that it is targeting.It is obviously best to ignore these types of programs completely, especially since you may end up with something that is worse than a request to activate via SMS.

Those purchasing Windows 8 PCs are noticing that the small “Certificate of Authenticity” that is normally home to the product key is missing, and instead a “Genuine Microsoft” label has replaced it.

This seems to be a cause of concern, and is prompting a number of questions.

Rather than using a sticker, PC manufacturers are instead embedding the product key — associated with a fingerprint of the hardware — into the BIOS/UEFI firmware on the motherboard. This is part of Microsoft new OEM Activation 3.0 (OA 3.0) mechanism and has been designed to combat piracy and, according to my OEM contacts, makes it easier for OEMs to order new keys from Microsoft, and even return unused keys back to Microsoft.

But what does it mean to the end user?

To most people, nothing. Windows is activated and should run normally. If, for any reason, you need to reinstall Windows 8 from the recovery partition or recovery discs, then the setup should recover the product key from the hardware, making it a lot less of a headache than having to read a string of tiny numbers off a sticker located somewhere awkward on your desktop or notebook PC.

But what happens if you want to upgrade Windows? Does this BIOS-embedded product key mean that you’re stuck with whatever version of Windows that was installed on the hardware when it left the factory?

Of course not.

Windows 8 users can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro either using the “Add features to Windows 8″ feature baked into the operating system, or using a retail copy of Windows 8 Pro (which is a far more expensive way to upgrade).

Commercial customers can also use volume license product keys and volume license media to upgrade hardware.

But what happens if you hate Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro and want to nuke it and downgrade? Will the BIOS-embedded product key cause problems? No, it won’t. As long as you have the relevant media, and a valid product key, you can install an earlier version of Windows — or Linux — onto the hardware without any problems.

With laptops and mobile devices slurping up battery power and desktops and servers chewing up electricity, Microsoft has wanted to ensure that any device running Windows 8 can tap into better power management.

“Very small changes done well in Windows can result in very large positive environmental impact because of our scale,” Pat Stemen, a program manager on Microsoft’s Kernel team, said in the latest Building Windows 8 blog. “In many markets around the world, increasing electricity consumption is putting more demand on every aspect of the workplace to reduce power consumption. PCs are a significant source of potential savings.”

Software itself can impact power usage, noted Stemen, since the CPU, hard disk, memory, and other components each consume resources. The operating system and drivers also play a role since they manage the hardware.

With energy savings in mind, Stemen says that Windows 8 has been designed with three goals:

• Aim for power efficiency on all types of hardware. Whether someone is using a Windows tablet or a powerful gaming machine, the idea was to standardize on the same power management features to be consistent across all platforms.

• Provide improved battery life. Windows 7 offered a large reduction in energy use, particularly in the battery life of mobile PCs, said Stemen, and the goal with Windows 8 is simply to maintain that same level amid all the feature changes.

• Apply the smartphone power model to PCs. Smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices can quickly switch in and out of a low-power mode so they’re instantly available when you need them. Microsoft’s intent is to apply that same technique to computers running Windows 8.

Looking at Windows 8 itself, Stemen said that the new OS offers three “key innovations to improve how software influences power consumption.” Those include the Metro style app model, idle activity, and a new device power management framework.

Metro apps can potentially be running all the time, delivering news, e-mail, and other updates. But Microsoft designed the Metro model so that apps retreat into the background when not needed so as to consume less power. To gauge this, the new Task Manager in Windows 8 shows which specific Metro apps are suspended.

Idle activity is a measure of how much power a component is consuming even when it’s idle. In Windows 8, Microsoft has improved the idle activity through what it calls idle hygiene, thereby consuming less power in certain situations.

Finally, Microsoft has created a new device power framework in Windows 8, especially tweaked for mobile devices. The new framework lets devices “advertise” their power management abilities so they can work with a new Windows 8 driver designed to optimize energy usage.

“Battery life and power consumption continue to be some of the most important topics in the computing industry,” Stemed noted. “We wanted to give you a look at how we think about power management for Windows 8, and how we measure power consumption on a daily basis. We consider power management a core OS capability that is critical on any chip architecture and any PC form factor.”

Because of its promise of improved feature and security, Windows 8 is naturally making waves in the tech industry and among ardent Windows users. Unfortunately, we are all too aware of the pitfalls of popularity when it comes to online security. It’s just a matter of time before cybercriminals will take advantage of Windows 8′s popularity.

We got hold of two samples that are packaged as key generator apps for Windows 8, which are available on  Key generators are used to generate serial numbers and are typically used for bootleg copies of a paid software. Based on our analysis, the apps we’ve found are malicious. Trend Micro detects these as ADW_SOLIMBA and JOKE_ARCHSMS respectively.

When executed, ADW_SOLIMBA displays a fake message informing users to click ‘OK’ to download Windows 8 via the web browser. On the other hand, JOKE_ARCHSMS purports as a Windows 8 activator. Similar to ADW_SOLIMBA, JOKE_ARCHSMS also displays images to trick users into thinking that they can activate Windows once they have sent an SMS to a certain number. In addition, it also connects to the following URLs for click fraud:

When translated, the first window reads as:

Select the installation path:
To start the installation “Windows 8 Activator 2011″ click “Install”
Install

For the second window:

Installation successful
To generate a personal code, go free activation!
(Protection from automatic activation)
Country:
operator:
SMS with text:
on number:
Enter your activation code:

The people behind these malware are hoping to ride on Windows 8′s popularity and some user’s eagerness to try out the software. And so far, using new programs, software, or apps as a social engineering lure has been an effective vehicle for attacks. Remember the malicious Instagram apps that surfaced just as news of Facebook’s acquisition of the app broke out? Similarly, malicious versions of Bad Piggies, Angry Birds Space were also uncovered in time for these apps’ release.

Cybercriminals and other bad guys on the Internet know what users want and they’ll use it to their advantage. Users can never be too careful about what to download and from what sites. These samples may not be the only malicious key generators tools available on the Internet. For security purposes, users must avoid visiting or downloading from untrusted sources. Better yet, users should instead purchase the legitimate program.

Trend Micro Smart Protection Network™ protects users from this threat by detecting and deleting these malicious keygen apps. It also blocks access to the related site.

Microsoft has ditched the 30-day grace period, a trademark of Windows 7, in the retail copies of Windows 8, mandating that users provide a product key during setup.

The change runs counter to previous practice by the Redmond, Wash. developer. With Windows 7, for example, users could run the OS for 30 days before activating the copy by providing a legitimate key.

That “grace period” was used by some to evaluate the software prior to purchasing, to save up to $100 by using an “upgrade” license to install the OS on a newly-formatted hard drive, and to create physical partitions or virtual machines for quick testing purposes.

Because Windows 8 handles activation differently, the grace period has been eliminated.

As several blogs have noted, customers must enter a unique product key — a 25-character alpha-numeric string — to proceed during Windows 8 setup. Failure to do so stops the process in its tracks. The Consumer Preview and Release Preview used this technique too, although Microsoft provided users a generic key for those sneak peeks.

Once Windows 8 is installed — assuming the machine is connected to the Internet — it automatically seeks out a Microsoft server to verify that the key is valid and then activates the OS. “If the licensed computer is connected to the Internet, the software will automatically connect to Microsoft for activation,” states the end-user licensing agreement, or EULA, for Windows 8 Pro.

If Microsoft judges the key as counterfeit or stolen, the usual non-genuine measures kick in: The desktop background fades to a permanent black, on-screen messages remind the user that the operating system is illegitimate, and the PC shuts down every hour.

New PCs come with Windows pre-activated at the factory, so the product key/activation steps are only seen by users who upgrade to Windows 8 from an older edition, or those who use the upcoming “System Builder” to install Windows 8 on a new, custom-built machine.

Microsoft requires a product key during setup because both Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro — the two retail SKUs, or “stock-keeping units” — are included in the same .iso, or disk image, file now available for download from several Microsoft sources. The version installed depends on the key provided.

Windows 8 Enterprise, the version aimed at companies with volume license agreements, uses an entirely different mechanism for activation. Rather than ask the user for a key, Windows 8 Enterprise — like its enterprise-grade forerunner, Windows 7 Enterprise — ships with what’s known as a KMS (Key Management Service) client key that’s activated by an on-premises machine.

Another way to activate Enterprise — and the method used by copies downloaded from the MSDN and TechNet subscription services — is with MAK (Multiple Activation Key), which connects with Microsoft’s own activation servers.

As if there aren’t enough scenarios, Microsoft’s free 90-day evaluation of Windows 8 Enterprise does not require a product key: One is baked into the trial. As with the retail versions now available to some users, and that will go on sale Oct. 26, the evaluation automatically activates if the PC has a live online connection.

Microsoft declined to comment when asked to explain the reasoning behind the activation changes to Windows 8. “We have no information to share,” a spokeswoman said in an email Monday.