Bezalel

You can make a fully unattended CD that runs sysprep when finished. You can use it when rebuilding a customer's PC but you can't give them the CD.

I think Ethan wants to make a CD with the OOBE interface instead of the Setup interface and distribute it as recovery media. I'm not sure if this can be done but System Builders are not allowed to distribute external recovery media.

Upgrades from earlier versions of MCE were only available through the manufacturers. You can convert an OEM copy of MCE 2005 into an upgrade version by modifying setupp.ini.

I think the OEMBIOS section is hand written by the OEMs and the HashTable is appended using a MS provided program.

The [sM] section is only if you want OEMScan to do something (like prompting to change the CD Key) if no valid SLP Strings are found. If you don't want to do anything just don't include a [sM] section.

I think that the Bahamas are (or should it be "The Bahamas is") in MS's West Indies region and not in their Latin America region. Once and end-user purchases a product they may use it anywhere so you shouldn't have any problems activation or using it. How is an end user supposed to know if their "specific country within Latin America" is on the list of "specific countries within Latin America"?

Section 1.7 from which EULA? Windows XP 32bit SP2 Pro OEM English (Also covers TPC and MCE) EULAID:XPSP2_RM.0_PRO_OEM_EN

What effect does the comma have in 'AMOI Electronics CO.,Ltd'? Is everything after the comma ignored since OEMBIOS.DAT is using a comma as a delimiter? @FreeStyler I just got the 678752DC set and expect to be posting it later today.

D2D64C41 requires a leading space but BACB9A77 and 9CF90CA8 don't need them. My repository origionally had 9CF90CA8 and when I got BACB9A77 and determined that they were functionally identical I decided to continue with the origional fileset.

Phone activation should work but online activation will be blocked. For a better method see Building a Pre-activated CD from an existing installation and OEMBIOS Repository.

%USERPROFILE%

build the answer file with a vaild Key and the delete that line from the answer file. If you generally purchase from the same manufacture take a look at Building a Pre-activated CD from an existing installation.

Royalty OEMs usually don't provide a hologrammed CD. To determine if thay are a Royalty OEM look at the COA sticker. If it says "OEM Product" it is not a Royalty OEM and can be activated online. If it has the MESH name or logo it is a Royalty OEM.

This only works for manufacturers who choose to use their names in the SMBIOS table as their SLP string. The manufacturer of your computer chose to insert their SLP string somewhere else in the BIOS so it won't work for this computer.

What does gdidetl.cmd do?

In order to Preserve the Pre-Activation you will need Royalty OEM Media. For details on creating the Royalty Media see Building a Pre-activated CD from an existing installation. If you no longer have the origional OEMBIOS files on the laptops or want to use newer versions you can get them from my OEMBIOS Repository . You will also need an OEM version of setupp.ini [Pid] ExtraData=786F687170637175716954806365EF Pid=76487OEM

Why? You cant generate a CD-Key from a PID.

Only Pro has downgrade rights. Here is section 1.7 of the EULA:

I have been having trouble with RapidShare lately so I am moving my OEMBIOS repository to http://www.oembios.net. If there are any files that are no longer available on RapidShare that you need, just send me a PM and I'll make sure that they are available on the new site. (This site has just been launched and isn't even valid HTML but any browser should render it properly.)

All you need to do is configure your firewall settings in the registry before the first boot. If any firewall settings exist than Post-Setup Security Updates is not activated.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...88-4CAB82F31DC8 KB888795 is included in KB912024

Use DVI. DVI is a digital connection and VGA is an analog connectoin.

An SLP-Key is the Type of CD-Key that manufacturers use in their factory when installing Windows. This key is required for pre-activation to work. The key isn't Acer specific you can extract the key from any pre-activated XP Home system using the magical jelly bean.

There are two variations of Acer files. They can be identified by the CRC32 of OEMBIOS.CAT. The 700A8481 set is used only on TravelMates and the 717B6EF3 set is used on all other models (and some TravelMates). Once you have the correct files you need to compress them with MAKECAB and replace the OEMBIOS.??_ files on the CD. You cannot use the key on the COA-Sticker, You must use an SLP-Key.

right i am still slightly confused.. i ran the vbs file and it said Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard Model: hp pavilion ze4900 (PJ947EA#ABU) 4865776C 6574742D 5061636B 61726420 but the oemscan said Reading BIOS Memory Matched: Compaq Checking Authenticity of OEMBIOS files CAT file currupt: C:\Documents and Settings\Chris\Desktop\HPQ\OEMBIOS.CAT the laptop is definatly a hp pavilion ze4900, so why has it said that it is a compaq, so what set do i use? Based on these reports either CD4E1902 or 06D652A4 will work. I'd configure OEMScan to use 06D652A4 first because that set is closer to a universal HPQ set.