Not having problems with nLite as such - have used it before and got great results. The problem is with retaining the automatic registration/activation on Dell PCs with Dell OEM CDs.

I've been trying to make a cut down image to put on a large number of PCs. Usually, when you install from a Dell XP Pro CD you are not asked for a Windows key or to activate once installed. I'm assuming there's something Dell puts in the Windows setup that recognises a Dell PC complete with XP licence. This is very convenient - it means I can just roll out an image to hundreds of PCs (all with separate OEM licences of XP rather than a single site licence) and not worry about typing in hundreds of key codes.

The problem is that nLite seems to remove this auto activation, so a key is requested during install and XP then has to be activated.

Does anyone even know what I'm talking about, and does anyone know of a way around it?

Thanks

You are talking about System Locked Preinstallation (SLP).

As far as I know, nLite does NOT break it. It works fine for my SLP'd HP system.

Does your cd have a file called winnt.sif ? This file usually contains serial number used for registering windows. I have never used such a dell windows cd myself, so walking blind here.

edit: Aha i see a bit clearer now. There's a major thread in this forum where the goal is to achieve a universal oem collection for preactivating windows, i guess i could describe it as such. Unfortuntately link doesnt come to mind, so search the site.

Edited November 5, 200817 yr by TranceEnergy

The only out-of-place files I can find on the Dell OEM XP Pro CD are in a folder called $OEM$. They seem mostly concerned with adding a "DELL" folder to the root of C upon installation and copying a Dell graphic there, along with a Dell link and a couple of EXE files and registry mods that change the Wake-on-USB settings of the PC.

Will try making an nLite'd installation CD with a minimum of changes, see if it's something I'm removing that's breaking it.

Thanks for the SLP link - at least I know what isn't working now...

Check that:

- the four OEMBIOS.* files are identical to the ones on your original Dell CD

- the key used is identical to the one on your original Dell CD (so NOT the COA on your PC)

And now I realise where I went wrong in the nLite process... I must have removed the key that nLite took from the WINNT.SIF file, as it was absent from the nLite'd version. Thanks for pointing me to where I buggered it!

Deleted, warez.

Edited November 8, 200817 yr by nuhi

What does this archive contain?

What does this archive contain?

Possibly a virus...

That's what ClamAV thinks of it (it found Trojan.Agent-26117), but strange enough that's the only scanner from http://virusscan.jotti.org/ that found anything (and I do no trust ClamAV that much).

I might be curious, but definitely not curious enough to run the executable activate.exe that's inside the archive. Even without a virus/malware it most probably still is illegal software that should no be on this board.

Reported.

Edited November 8, 200817 yr by nuhi
removed too much info, pm me if it's not clear why.