Hacktool:win32/Productkey???

Aidanmc

HereToday said:

Neil_Jones said:

But.... that method was superseded in later Windows 10 installations when you could install 10 with a Windows 7 or 8  key regardless of whether you'd had 10 on the machine or not.  In fact it was changed with the release of November 2015, so the method you've linked to is effectively obsolete.  Once you've got 10 on the computer you have a digital licence for the rest of the life of the device.

You just made all that up.
Of course it has not been superseded; it's just another method of upgrading to Windows 10 via a clean install. 
There are instances wherein you would use it in preference to entering the product key on the device and also as a belt & braces approach. 
Sometimes the key on the device isn't visible or available. Again gatherosstate/Genuine Ticket would be the preferred method.

I use it as a matter of course.

Thanks for clarifying that. I was beginning to doubt myself why i actually done that method.

Aidanmc

John_Gray said:

You might perhaps have misspelled "produkey.exe" (not productkey) from NirSoft / Nir Sofer's system tools?  This is a perfectly valid and very helpful tool.

Definitely showed as Hacktool:win32/productkey

Aidanmc

cooltt said:

Aidanmc said:

I just did a full scan on my laptop and it returned the following 'threat'.

What is it and do i need to remove it? Just wondering if it has something to do with when i  clean installed windows 10 from windows 7 using gatherostate method to keep licence?

Thanks

It's malware if you haven't downloaded any cracked software.

Can be used to install lots of nasty things on your PC but currently being used to hijack your PC to mine cryptocurrency without your knowledge.

Quarantine and remove it, plenty of guides online on how to do this. Back up anything important before you start.

Don't rem downloading any cracked software.

I have quarantined it. When i go into protection history on windows security page ,click on 'threat quarantined' it takes me to windows security screen 'do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device'

I don't see how to remove it completely,

HereToday

Aidanmc said:

cooltt said:

Aidanmc said:

I just did a full scan on my laptop and it returned the following 'threat'.

What is it and do i need to remove it? Just wondering if it has something to do with when i  clean installed windows 10 from windows 7 using gatherostate method to keep licence?

Thanks

It's malware if you haven't downloaded any cracked software.

Can be used to install lots of nasty things on your PC but currently being used to hijack your PC to mine cryptocurrency without your knowledge.

Quarantine and remove it, plenty of guides online on how to do this. Back up anything important before you start.

Don't rem downloading any cracked software.

I have quarantined it. When i go into protection history on windows security page ,click on 'threat quarantined' it takes me to windows security screen 'do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device'

I don't see how to remove it completely,

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/microsoft-defender-antivirus/restore-quarantined-files-microsoft-defender-antivirus
You can choose to restore or delete; then you have to state yes to allow the change.

Aidanmc

John_Gray said:

You might perhaps have misspelled "produkey.exe" (not productkey) from NirSoft / Nir Sofer's system tools?  This is a perfectly valid and very helpful tool.

On looking again, you are correct.

Went into powershell to view the 'threat'

Under resources showed file ending in produkey.exe

I must have downloaded Nirsoft to find product key.

So looks like no risk after all.

Thanks everyone,