ZenCoder

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but ... the ones that are crossed off are no longer needed as they are covered by a newer OEMBIOS file for that manufactuerer. I think they just keep adding and adding detection for new BIOS without removing detection for old ones. PS I also wish someone were to summarize this stuff into a nice article/tutorial format. I myself gave up. I just switch to the correct OEMBIOS files in safe mode after installation.

Thanks. I will give that utility a try. To be safe I extract the OEMBIOS and CD key from the original installation whenever possible. I will start matching the keys to the manufacture in case MS changes the rules again. Quick PS edited MSDN iso to make it OEM and it is working as expected, I feel more comfortable starting out with a 100% stock disc vs one customized by an OEM

That explains it. I guess I was confused because MS only sells OEM versions of MCE 2005. So I never though to check to see if it was retail vs OEM. Thanks. You can take both CD and turn them into a DVD without editing any files. If the 2nd CD is in the same disc as the first it just works.

Thanks I am comfortable using Knoppix, and using to to replace the OEMBIOS files is a lot better option than burning another custom disc. NEW QUESTION Any reason why a custom MCE 2005 disc make from a MSDN download wouldn't work with SLP? I am just wondering is there is something different about Media Center when it comes to SLP or something different about discs from MSDN? I don't see many systems running Media Center, so I haven't had much oportunity to answer these questions for myself.

I normally am able to extract the system's OEMBIOS from the hard drive, so I always know I am using the right set. However sometimes that simply isn't an option (dead HD, improper reinstal ...) My problem is that there is often more than one set of OEMBOIS for each manufacturer at oembios.net. 1) Is there a way to try a different OEMBIOS without reinstalling Windows XP? 2) If not is there an easy way to see if an alternative OEMBIOS will work so I don't waste time trying another wrong OEMBIOS set? 3) I tend to use the same SLP key for each version of windows. Do you think this might cause problems down the road. Think Microsoft will someday decide that I am using an HP XP Home SLP key for a Dell XP Home OS and decide to label the system as pirated?

Neat, you can trick the OEM's F whatever partition booting utility to boot something other than their recovery program. Personally I quick using Ghost when (in my option) True Image surpassed it in terms of quality, performance and features. True Image already has support for launching at boot time by pressing F11.

Yes I tried F11, but that option exists as a program in the MBR and was as I said absent from the system. --- Checking out the recovery partition from linux it looks like nothing more than a stripped down version of Windows XP, maybe a modified version of Windows PE? So up in some boot loader software and added the recovery partition as an option. My guess was on the money and it completely restored everything to the factory defaults including the F11 boot utility which will come in handy next time someone needs to restore the system. Anyway its 100% restored to original condition and I didn't have to pay HP and wait 5-7 days or install everything from scratch. -- So if you are in a similar situation check out the hard drives with a Knoppix DVD and see if the recovery partition looks bootable, then install a boot loader to boot it. The F11 utility seems to be nothing more than a OS selector with only one choice - the recovery partition.

Unfortunately its not actually in the BIOS, its a boot time utility which was removed during the vista install. Also as I mentioned HP Tools is not present. What I didn't mention is that Vista is broken to the point that there is no USB, no internet. I was hoping there was a bootable CD/DVD or floppy that can be used to run the recovery software. The laptop doesn't have a floppy, but I can make a bootable CD that emulates one.

I am trying to repair someone's HP DV2000 laptop. It came with Windows XP MCE, but someone attempted to upgrade it to Windows Vista and it went badly. Anyway the owner doesn't have restore discs, so normally I would just take a generic OEM CD and add the appropriate OEMBIOS files. However I notice that the recovery partition is still there, just no HP recovery software installed, either in windows or as a boot time utility. I was wondering if it was possible to simply reinstall the recovery software and recover from the recovery partition?

I am trying to build a collection of OEMBIOS and SLP keys for System Lock Preactivation when reinstalling on a Royalty OEM. http://www.oembios.net has the OEMBIOS files. Microsoft publicly lists SLP keys, http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457078.aspx , for Windows XP Professional 32 bit Windows XP Tablet PC Edition Windows XP Professional x64 bit But not for Home or Media Center edition! I extracted a working SLP key for XP Home from a Dell I had to repair, but so far no luck so far on Media Center 2005. --- Anyway .... I am curious if Microsoft (or anyone else) has a more complete list. I am even more curious as to why Microsoft didn't included some but not all versions of XP.

Thanks, I will play around with the options you have suggested. My operating procedure to make zero changes until I am ready to start repairs. So its Run non-invasive scans and tests-> Give Estimate and Options -> Full HD Backup -> Repairs -> Offer Restore to original Condition if they are not 100% satisfied with my work and my price. The non-invasive virus scanner doesn't have to be perfect. I'll either be doing a clean install or updating all the security software at a later point anyway.

Currently I tend to just do a backup image and then scan than on another PC. If I have to open the case I sometimes connect a IDE to USB Adapter and a Molex Power brick to scan the system with another PC. However there are many cases where it would be best just to scan from a Boot CD. I know several free options available but haven't personally tried any. I am hoping to skip the trial and error and benefit from someones else's expertise.

I prefer Perl style regular expressions. My favorite editor for monkeying with text is UltraEdit 12.10a. However when I try complex Perl Regular Expressions on large text files UltraEdit gets all buggy. Not only does my regular expressions not work as desired, when I undue the replace operation multiple lines disappear and others are slightly garbled. Then Ultra Edit usually ends up crashing. I am not 100% sure my syntax was correct, but thats no excuse for corrupting the file when undoing the operation and or crashing the program. Its other two Regular Expression options work fine.

Thanks, it would have taken me awhile to figure all this out on my own.

I am just starting playing with AUR this week, so I am have little clue what I am doing. Answer as many or a few of my questions as you see fit. If the answer is in the product manual and I missed it feel free to tell me to RTFM 1) By "Uninstall non-general hardware" I take it you mean open up device manager and uninstall the drivers for the hardware, as obviously some of the devices can't be uninstalled and still do a backup. Should I get device manager to show devices not present in the system so I can uninstall the drivers there as well? How do I know which ones are non-general. For example should I uninstall the drivers under System Devices that mention a brand other than Microsoft? Are there any seemingly standard drivers that are actually specific and need removed like ACPI devices? --- 2) After uninstalling the drivers do I just shut the system down and create an image? 3) Does running sysprep help or is it just a way to change the SID and CD-Key? 4) What drivers if any should I specify as forced drivers? 5) I have a driver pack with drivers for almost all system software. Will it hurt or help to let AUR search that directory for drivers. 6) Would it help to do a clean install on another drive, then point AUR to the clean installs Windows folder as a place to search for drivers. 7) Would it help to restore the OS to a VMWare Virtual Machine then re-image it. 8) For deploying new PC, would it help to install in a Virtual Machine then image from there? ---- Again I apologize for asking so many questions, but I am just starting to play with their software.