Enterprise customers input Volume License Product Key (VLK) to install the software to computer but Microsoft does not enforce or check for compliance, partners say.

Large firms and OEMs who did not want to go through the hassle of typing in a CD key for every install received Volume License Keys (VLKs) that could be used on as many installs as necessary.

Volume keys are licenses purchased by entities like governments, schools, and corporations. An IT administrator determines which machines have an active license. This PC has a retail license for ...

But that’s too cumbersome for enterprises that have thousands of computers, so Microsoft uses Volume Activation to let businesses use a single volume license key, or VLK, for all their computers.

The volume license key, leaked and posted online, allows Windows Server 2003 to be installed on multiple systems without the activation process required for single licenses.

Unlike Volume Activation 1.0, which produced keys that bypassed product activation, Volume Activation 2.0 still gives keys for bulk-licensed copies, but it doesn’t disable activation.

A client has a lot of retail MS software installed on their computer in their corporate office and around the country. The IT person literally has an ...

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Unlike the retail versions of Office 2007, copies installed using volume license keys -- the typical way large organizations purchase Microsoft's software -- will simply skip product activation ...

If you install 4,000 Vista clients and pay for 3,000 under Volume Licensing 2.0, Microsoft won’t be sending you a bill for the missing 1,000 product keys, officials insisted.