Windows product keys can be defaulted during installation (meaning that the user doesn't have to
rummage around for the
manual/
sticker while installing; they can just press
enter) by creating a file named
msbatch.inf in the setup directory, containing
[Version]
Signature = "$CHICAGO$"
[Setup]
ProductKey = "XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX"
This will work for
windows 9x, and presumably for any product that allows administrative install. This way you can
backup your
legitimately purchased product key at the same time as your
legitimately purchased install
media
Obviously, you'd want to use a real product key... The legendary 00000-000-0000000-00000 key doesn't work after OSR2.
The product key authentication in
Quake 3's interface was quickly
reverse-engineered to make key generators. Unfortunately
id thought of this; The
algorithm has a few
billion valid keys, yet only the few hundres thousand keys
id have shipped are authorised by the server (This would be why product-key checking is not
optional). Your chances of generating a quake3 key that works on the internet are slightly lower than winning the
lottery.