Windows Vista BillGated was one of the first pirated copies of the operating system to be available for download. The MelindaGates Vista activation workaround takes care of the significant other Gates. In fact, the Windows Vista Local Activation Server - MelindaGates is a spoofed Key Management Service activation server and its creators claim that it operates 24/7.

Microsoft isn't scheduled to launch its own KMS volume licensing activation server until 2007. In this context, the MelindaGates spoofed KMS activation server is by no means a crack to activate the Business and enterprise editions of Vista, but a workaround. It involves a VMWare image and the use of the VMWare Player to boot the image.

The MelindaGates spoofed KMS server delivers a key for Vista Business Edition: YFKBB-PQJJV-XXXXX-YYYYY-ZZZZZ. This key has been modified so as to make it useless, and it's not synonymous with the pirate release, being only presented for informative purposes. Concomitantly with the activation server download, examples of VBS script are also supplied in order to take Microsoft out of the activation equation and to activate the copy of the operating system from the local server and to bypass the Volume Activation 2.0 model.

Once activated via the spoofed KMS, both Vista Business and Enterprise will function for a period of 180 days before having to communicate with the KMS server again. The MelindaGates Vista activation workaround has an Achille's heel in the initial key introduced in the operating system. Even activated, Windows Vista will have to be validated by the Windows Genuine Advantage tool. If the key is detected as invalid the operating system will go into reduced functionality mode.

Here are the instructions from the spoofed KMS server, again altered as to make them useless:

01) Install Vista Business Edition with key YFKBB-PQJJV-XXXXX-YYYYY-ZZZZZ
02) Setup your Internet access, then
- From STAR menu, ACCESSORIES, Run "COMMAND PROMPT" as admin
(Right click the "COMMAND PROMPT" icon, select "Run as Admin" from the sub-menu)
03) In Command Prompt (Admin mode) dialog, type
cscript c:windowssystem32slmgr.xxx -skms kms.xxx.xxx.xx
OR
cscript c:windowssystem32slmgr.xxx -skms xxx.xxx.xx
wait for response, then type
cscript C:windowssystem32slmgr.xxx -xxx
wait for few seconds, Vista Business edition now activated !!!
To check status,
cscript c:windowssystem32slmgr.xxx -xxx