Building a Pre-activated CD from an existing installation

[andrewwan1980]

If you have the Dell CD you don't need this. In setting up this procedure I compared a Dell CD to a hologram CD and wrote a program that would generate the files that were different.

I have a Dell SP1a slipstreamed to SP2 CD. However I do not like the branding and other customised files and wish to OEMBIOS process a generic MSDN SP2 CD. I used Beyond Compare to compare the I386 folders of the Dell SP2 CD & MSDN SP2 CDs. Files differing are:

I386\ACC_DIS.CH_

I386\ACCESSIB.CH_

I386\EULA.TXT

I386\IESUPP.CH_

I386\IEWEBHLP.CH_

I386\MDMSSYS.IN_

I386\MINDEX.DL_

I386\MSISAM11.DL_

I386\MSUNI11.DL_

I386\NEWALERT.WA_

I386\NEWEMAIL.WA_

I386\OEMBIOS.BI_

I386\OEMBIOS.CA_

I386\OEMBIOS.DA_

I386\OEMBIOS.SI_

I386\ONLINE.WA_

I386\OSCHOICE.EX_

I386\PRIVACY.HT_

I386\SETUPP.INI

I386\SUPP_ED.CH_

I386\WMERRENU.DL_

I386\WMIDX.OC_

I386\WMMFILT.DL_

I386\WMMRES.DL_

I386\WMMUTIL.DL_

I386\WMPSTUB.EX_

I386\WMPVIS.DL_

I386\WMV8DMOD.DL_

----------------------

Besides the OEMBIOS.* and SETUPP.INI differing, why do you think the other files would differ? Was it because of Dell's SP1a or Dell's customisation to these files? And back to the main query, is it possible to use Dell OEMBIOS files into MSDN and change SETUPP.INI to accept OEM keys?

[maxXPsoft]

I used an MCE 2 CD set that was not manufacturer specific ; Dell, HP

Mine is a HP but just adding those files and getting all the Hotfixes for Media Center Edition worked for me.

And benefit is NO 40 games they want you to pay for and Trial versions of a bunch of stuff I don't use.

Mine squeaky clean

His getkey.vbs works and makes the basic Winnt.sif which is good for beginner's, yes you can use JellyBean

You sent me a msg andrewwan1980

I used vbs file from original installation and done as above with my UnattendXP application.

I used an MCE 2 CD set that was not manufacturer specific ; Dell, HP had a friend who had the 2 CD set non OEM

[Archigos]

I've mainly just skimmed this... but a quicker way of getting the SLP needed for the OEMBIOS files (this has been checked on different royalty style systems from different companies. Ex. Lenovo TabletPC, Dell XP Pro Desktop)

Open up the following file in notepad or whatever and it's listed under [Version]

C:\Windows\System32\oobe\oobeinfo.ini

By the way... great work guys... It's helping me further my steps in ridding my Tablet of Lenovo's bloatware.

[Archigos]

Hey guys,

I ran into a small problem... I'm trying to create a disc so I can reinstall XP Tablet Edition on my system... (I have a Lenovo X41 Tablet)

I borrowed a legit disc from a friend that has another tablet, changed the setupp.ini to match the one in the recovery files on my system so it would take the oem key and put the oembios files in the i386 directory. I think integrated a bunch of DriverPacks into the disc and again copied over the setupp.ini and oembios files in case they changed. I then used nLite (only for the ISO making, nothing else) and I'm trying to test it in VMWare. It's telling me the product key is invalid... (the one that your getkey file and the one I mentioned above are identical). I assume this is because the VM obviously wont have a Lenovo branded BIOS, but I wanted to check with you because I tried that key, the one on the bottom of the system and the one that he had with the disc and they all failed.

I'm just a little paranoid about formatting the tablet if this isn't going to work since I need the system on a daily basis and formatting the drive will temporarily lock out the recovery partition until you install some of their crap software that modifies the MBR.

(Oh, I'm about to try making an iso that's a fresh disc with just the setupp.ini and oembios files and not put in the driverpacks, to see if that works.)

Any suggestions would be great.

[kmaheshkumar]

i am using assembled pcs in our lab and i am using registered version of windows xp only, what is the perfect method to make the windows as pre-activated

plz help me for this

[ZaForD]

@Archigos,

I won't discuss editing the 'setupp.ini' file here as I think its agasint the forum rules.

But I'd use the 'setupp.ini' from the orignal machine along with the OEMBIOS files and winnt.sif collected with the scripts. As they all come from the orginal machine they should all work.

@kmaheshkumar,

If by "assembled pcs" you mean PC's that you or someone eles have assembled.

You can't pre-active them.

You can only pre-activate pre-assembled OEM machines bought from 'Royality OEMs' like Compaq, Dell or HP.

[kmaheshkumar]

@kmaheshkumar,

If by "assembled pcs" you mean PC's that you or someone eles have assembled.

You can't pre-active them.

You can only pre-activate pre-assembled OEM machines bought from 'Royality OEMs' like Compaq, Dell or HP.

thanx for giving reply

[Madeye]

Hi! I've got a License from a Toshiba computer I got on Ebay, I installed and activated it by telephone, using the key from the COA sticker. It worked.

But, now that I had to reinstall XP a couple of times I get tired of phoning Microsoft each f***ing time I reinstalled Windows XP

The problem is, I had to build a home cd from my recovery cd, using the instructions on http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/in...hp/t219260.html and http://forums.techguy.org/tech-tips-tricks...on-cd-your.html

(because my system is no Toshiba Notebook, but I own only the license. This is LEGAL - I looked it up, and Microsoft doesn't deny it!)

I could install and activate it correctly!

But now I read in this thread that I could create a pre-activated cd, I reinstalled the recovery on a free partition and created the files

OEMBIOS.CA_

OEMBIOS.BI_

OEMBIOS.DA_

OEMBIOS.SI_

with the great script on this cd, creating the Winnt.sif with the Jellybean keyfinder from the recovered partition.

I used the I386-folder from the recovery partition and copied the above files over them.

I burned the cd installed the cd without problems BUT I STILL HAT TO ACTIVATE WINDOWS

In another thread it said to include the files

DPCDLL.DL_

OEMBIOS.BI_

OEMBIOS.CA_

OEMBIOS.DA_

OEMBIOS.SI_

PIDGEN.DLL

SETUPP.INI

SETUPREG.HIV

(and maybe the OOBEINFO.IN_)

from the oiriginal cd, but these are already there in the i386 folder on the recovered Toshiba partition!

Should I maybe create them the same way I created the oembios-files ?

Thanx very much for your help!!!

[Madeye]

Hi

I now found out what thw problem was / is.

First, as you may know or not, in Europe it's perfectly legal to buy OEM licenses and install the xp on a different system, than that which the OEM license is from...it may not be so in the USA. It is legal as long as it is only installed once and you got the COA key sticker and CD and booklet.

So, now I got a legal xp home that was activated correctly many times on my PC, never any prob with that when calling Microsoft´s Activation Hotline. The first time, after buying the license and cd I had to answer the usual two questions: 1. is this an OEM license - yes, 2. on how many systems is it installed - 1.

Since then I've installed xp on my system many times and have been able to activate correctly after - recently I formatted 10 GB less on my hard drive when installing and created a second partition with the rest of the system and use the FREEWARE TOOL http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/down.htm : Now this is the BEST software for creating backups I've ever encountered:

1. it is only one single, small file

2. You can make a backup of you Windows or Linux system while WORKING:

we even made backups of file servers while they were up and running in the network - never any problem recovering those!

3. The program lets you backup your system for a number of days (I think 30) but from then on you may always RESTORE the system!

Just use the rescue disk described on the homepage or build a Bart's PE or rescue CD. (With BARTS PE snapshot only lets you recover files ON A HARDDISK)

I think it is even better than TrueImage and other programs, because it is free and so easy to use!! Try it

I still think it obnoxious to have to activate my xp each time after installing it, but there seems to be no way to skip the SLP bios check in a legal way, and I want t have a legally activated CD -- I mean, that's what I bought it for.

I used Windows 2000 for a number of years and never had to activate, so I think the xp activation sucks!!

Because my PC doesn't have a SLP-recognized bios the pre-activation won't ever work on my PC - or so it seems. Do you know any way to pass the BIOS lock for regular PCs?

Edited March 16, 2008 by Madeye

[andrewwan1980]

Just curious whether this should work on chinese windows xp systems?

My winnt.sif file came out like:

CScript ¿ù»~: µLªk¬° Script "C:\getfiles\getkey.vbs"§ä¨ì Script ¤ÞÀº "VBScript" ¡C

so am not sure whether the OEMBIOS.* files came out okay :S

[Bezalel]

Just curious whether this should work on chinese windows xp systems?

I don't see any reason it wouldn't work but it might be getting messed up due to your regional settings. Try changing the settings to EN-US.

[Zio Razio]

Hi all.

First let me say Great Job for this guide

Second I need a little help with HP recovery cd.

HP sells pc with HP restore DVD plus (Done with Microsoft Desktop Deployment kit) and cd with OS(Vista or XP).

Now If Explore the OS cd (windows Xp professional Italian SP2) I see that there is another folder called ITWXP32p_ZX and under this folder there is a Windows\System32 folder which contains oembios.sig, oembios.bin and oembios.dat.

I tried your method but It still ask for activation... maybe I can use files stored into the folder above?

Thanks for the answer

Raziolo

[Bezalel]

Hi all.

First let me say Great Job for this guide

Second I need a little help with HP recovery cd.

HP sells pc with HP restore DVD plus (Done with Microsoft Desktop Deployment kit) and cd with OS(Vista or XP).

Now If Explore the OS cd (windows Xp professional Italian SP2) I see that there is another folder called ITWXP32p_ZX and under this folder there is a Windows\System32 folder which contains oembios.sig, oembios.bin and oembios.dat.

I tried your method but It still ask for activation... maybe I can use files stored into the folder above?

Thanks for the answer

Raziolo

HP does weird things with their recovery sets. The best option is to run mgadiag and post the report and the CRC32 of your OEMBIOS.CAT.

[Zio Razio]

Thanks for your suggestion Bezabel

Here is the MGADIAG

Diagnostic Report (1.7.0110.1):

-----------------------------------------

WGA Data-->

Validation Status: Genuine

Validation Code: 0

Online Validation Code: N/A

Cached Validation Code: N/A

Windows Product Key: *****-*****-2MDY9-F6J9M-K42BQ

Windows Product Key Hash: jY+nlE0RT38EEXpeUqSdQPABSQc=

Windows Product ID: 76435-OEM-2211906-00101

Windows Product ID Type: 2

Windows License Type: OEM SLP

Windows OS version: 5.1.2600.2.00010100.3.0.pro

ID: {A8CB23E6-DBD7-45F7-8412-9E0418A89282}(3)

Is Admin: Yes

TestCab: 0x0

WGA Version: Registered, 1.7.69.2

Signed By: Microsoft

Product Name: N/A

Architecture: N/A

Build lab: N/A

TTS Error: N/A

Validation Diagnostic: 025D1FF3-171-1_E2AD56EA-761-d003_E2AD56EA-762-0_E2AD56EA-134-80004005_E2AD56EA-761-8009_E2AD56EA-762-2f0d_E2AD56EA-148-80004005_16E0B333-89-80004005_78155E4D-221-80004005

Resolution Status: N/A

WgaER Data-->

ThreatID(s): N/A

Version: N/A

WGA Notifications Data-->

Cached Result: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

File Exists: No

Version: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

WgaTray.exe Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

WgaLogon.dll Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

OGA Notifications Data-->

Cached Result: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

Version: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

WGATray.exe Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

OGAAddin.dll Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

OGA Data-->

Office Status: 100 Genuine

Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 - 100 Genuine

OGA Version: N/A, 0x80070002

Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

Office Diagnostics: 77F760FE-153-80070002_7E90FEE8-203-80070002_025D1FF3-171-1_E2AD56EA-761-d003_E2AD56EA-762-0_E2AD56EA-134-80004005_E2AD56EA-761-8009_E2AD56EA-762-2f0d_E2AD56EA-148-80004005_16E0B333-89-80004005_B4D0AA8B-1174-80004005_FA827CE6-153-8007007e_FA827CE6-180-8007007e

Browser Data-->

Proxy settings: proxy2.seicos.it:8080

User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Win32)

Default Browser: C:\Programmi\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe

Download signed ActiveX controls: Allowed

Download unsigned ActiveX controls: Disabled

Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins: Allowed

Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe: Disabled

Allow scripting of Internet Explorer Webbrowser control: Disabled

Active scripting: Allowed

Script ActiveX controls marked as safe for scripting: Allowed

File Scan Data-->

Other data-->

Office Details: <GenuineResults><MachineData><UGUID>{A8CB23E6-DBD7-45F7-8412-9E0418A89282}</UGUID><Version>1.7.0110.1</Version><OS>5.1.2600.2.00010100.3.0.pro</OS><Architecture>x32</Architecture><PKey>*****-*****-*****-*****-K42BQ</PKey><PID>76435-OEM-2211906-00101</PID><PIDType>2</PIDType><SID>S-1-5-21-1005927261-3298836489-3859011885</SID><SYSTEM><Manufacturer>Hewlett-Packard</Manufacturer><Model>HP Compaq dc7800 Small Form Factor</Model></SYSTEM><BIOS><Manufacturer>Hewlett-Packard</Manufacturer><Version>786F1 v01.04</Version><SMBIOSVersion major="2" minor="5"/><Date>20070718000000.000000+000</Date><SLPBIOS>Compaq,Hewlett,Hewlett,Compaq</SLPBIOS></BIOS><HWID>B57D36970184CE7B</HWID><UserLCID>0410</UserLCID><SystemLCID>0410</SystemLCID><TimeZone>ora solare Europa occidentale(GMT+01:00)</TimeZone><iJoin>1</iJoin><SBID><stat>2</stat><msppid></msppid><name>Hewlett-Packard Company</name><model>HP Compaq dc7800 Small Form Factor</model></SBID><OEM/><BRT/></MachineData><Software><Office><Result>100</Result><Products><Product GUID="{90110410-6000-11D3-8CFE-0150048383C9}"><LegitResult>100</LegitResult><Name>Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003</Name><Ver>11</Ver><Val>28A86EB48E4F500</Val><Hash>w8DNLIFbCGZ0wMELpX5qWaJFGns=</Hash><Pid>73964-640-8518686-57443</Pid><PidType>14</PidType></Product></Products><Applications><App Id="15" Version="11" Result="100"/><App Id="16" Version="11" Result="100"/><App Id="18" Version="11" Result="100"/><App Id="19" Version="11" Result="100"/><App Id="1A" Version="11" Result="100"/><App Id="1B" Version="11" Result="100"/><App Id="44" Version="11" Result="100"/></Applications></Office></Software></GenuineResults>

Licensing Data-->

N/A

HWID Data-->

N/A

OEM Activation 1.0 Data-->

BIOS string matches: yes

Marker string from BIOS: 5C19:Compaq Computer Corporation|117BC:Compaq Computer Corporation|1FFEA:Compaq Computer Corporation|A0D8:Compaq Computer Corporation|117E3:Compaq Computer Corporation|117E3:Compaq Computer Corporation|1FFEA:Hewlett-Packard Company|A0D8:Hewlett-Packard Company

Marker string from OEMBIOS.DAT: Compaq,Hewlett,Hewlett,Compaq

OEM Activation 2.0 Data-->

N/A

Hope it can help

[andwan0]

Anyone in this thread still have an old Dell OEM XP Vanilla CD?