A Twitter user, with the handle @TCNOco, encountered an issue trying to activate his Windows with his license key from the Microsoft Store. After initial attempts with Microsoft support failed, the situation escalated to other support levels. During a remote maintenance session, official Microsoft support used a crack to activate Windows 10. The procedure involved downloading a script using Powershell commands which provides multiple activation methods, including those commonly used by cybercriminals.
The script, however, appears to only unlock 180-day versions, but can then be reused, making it a crack. This is not the first time this script has been used by Microsoft support professionals either. The developer of the script, known as WindowsAddict, has confirmed that the script is neither official nor legal, and is available for download as a password-protected file.
Although it is not Microsoft’s official requirement to use this script to resolve issues, the support agents are typically solution-oriented, and may use it as a last resort. While there have been no reports of pests piggybacking the script as of yet, it leaves the customers with a bad feeling. A Windows version, which was officially purchased for several hundred euros, should run smoothly out of the box, but instead, ends up being an (officially) cracked version.
In conclusion, relying on a cowboy solution offered by an official support center of a billion-dollar multinational is undoubtedly bewildering. Microsoft should ensure that their employees’ actions comply with their company’s standards and customer expectations by providing them with official and legitimate tools to resolve such problems.
