nLite and Dell OEM XP, Automatic Activation

[deeem119]

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

[XIII]

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.

[TranceEnergy]

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, 2008 by TranceEnergy

[deeem119]

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...

[XIII]

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)

[deeem119]

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!

[hkbairi]

Deleted, warez.

Edited November 8, 2008 by nuhi

[TranceEnergy]

What does this archive contain?

[XIII]

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.

[Kelsenellenelvian]

Reported.

Edited November 8, 2008 by nuhi
removed too much info, pm me if it's not clear why.