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Trouble with slipstream Dell OEM Win XP


bingho

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  • 4 weeks later...

hi! i just wanted to report that i was able to do some tests the past couple of days ... tried using it with Dell OEM XP Pro SP2 ... verified that oembios.* files were present in i386 ... but upon getting to the GUI, it asked for activation ... tried likewise previous suggesion to copy winnt.sif from i386 to FIX (although i thought it wouldn't have mattered anyhow since the original file is copied over too during the cmd run ;) ) ... still with the same result ... i know this is an obvious Q but i'd like to ask anyway: would using these OEM CDs be exclusive only for the vendor's machine? you i am trying this in a piece-by-piece assembled system ... i know Dell employs a BIOS-lock mechanism to keep it activation free ...

btw, i've been using HFSLIP for a time now ... & i only got to pay attention to the use of winnt.sif in fix just very recently ... i understand that FIX is used to overwrite compressed file in the source ... so why is FIX (vs HFEXPERT/APPREPLACEMENT) the directory for winnt.sif? :wacko: he! he! thanks!

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Kiki - The files in the hfexpert\appreplacement folder get "pemodified" (if required) and compressed. The FIX folder assumes the files are already compressed and pemodified (if required). Not all files require pemodify, but the ones in appreplacement typically do. I suppose putting your winnt.sif file in appreplacement could work, but I never tried it. Why not test and report back?

Sorry I can't answer your first part of your q.

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ey TP ... nice to hear from you again! thanks for the reply ... as always i actually intend to experiment on that too (winnt.sif in APPREPLACEMENT) to explore alternate avenues for our cmd :P ... it's just sad that i couldn't do much testing yet as i'm just using my sister's pc (the reason too for trying OEM pre-activation in a clone machine ;) )... as mine's still busted (mobo is for Athlon XPs but it doesn't work for 2000+, 2200 & 2600 ... yet surprisingly works on Sempron 2200 although shows as Athlon 1200 only ... he! he!)

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All that has to be done is to look in the I386 folder of the original Dell OEM disk and copy the WINNT.SIF that's in there to the FIX folder hfslip creates. That's it.
hi gentlemen! ... what i discovered in one of my runs today was odd ... i tried Homer_m's suggestion on a clone desktop machine with a Dell OEM XP SP2 issued for a portable ... by simply copying winnt.sif found in i386 of the cd & placing it in FIX ... and it worked --- preactivated OS! install test was done in a VM so i've yet to burn & test it on a real machine ... strange ... i understand that our CMD copies everything from the SOURCE to SOURCESS ... & this includes winnt.sif residing in i386 directory ... however installing the build without prior placement of winnt.sif in FIX requests for activation upon hitting GUI ... now i'm confused :wacko: ... i will try to do the tests again to duplicate this ...
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hi to those interested (if any still?) :whistle: i just wanted to share that putting winnt.sif in FIX seemingly worked as no more prompt down at the lower right portion of the taskbar for activation shows ... however by going through Event viewer, this was what i saw:

post-84520-1171101247_thumb.jpg

... o geez! :( i guess, it's back to the drawing board again ...

Edited by Kiki Burgh
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Hey all.

Man it's been a LOOOONNNNGG time since I've been around, but saw this topic and thought I'd join in (kinda late but...).

I have been using HFSLIP with IBM OEM and Toshiba OEM since I first tripped over this forum, back in 2k5. I have no issues with the actual slipping process. everything is great. My installs of XP are from network share (instead of CD) so I use unattend.txt file instead of winnt.sif. The issues are:

1. cannot share source between OEMs. Results same as #3 below. Need to run HFSLIP on each OEM. I don't have the patience to look for specific files each computer requires as validation (one of the reasons HFSLIP is now labled "PreRequisite tool #1a" on my list of utilities along with BARTs [#1b] :sneaky: ).

2. unattend.txt needs to be modified with proper key. OEM specific (IBM, Toshiba) as well as OS specific (XP, MCE, Tablet)

3. installation into VMWare requires activation. Virtual environment not seen as OEM?

4. (side note) Activation can't be done automatically if you use key from COA sticker. OEMs are required to call MS to activate.

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3. installation into VMWare requires activation. Virtual environment not seen as OEM?

4. (side note) Activation can't be done automatically if you use key from COA sticker. OEMs are required to call MS to activate.

Your above two comments may not be valid if you use VLK. With VLK, you do not need to activate AT ALL (applicable to XP, 2000, and 2003). All else....I have no doubts.

I am similar to you:

- use unattend.txt

- use both CD/DVD and NETWORK installation through MSDOS (WIN98SE DOS) and WinPE

- use VMware Workstation, ESX, VPC and VPC Enterprise Server for developing and testing customized OSes

I have never activated any operating systems with VLK before, except the WinXP Tablet PC Edition, which our Enterprise Agreement did not include VLK for Tablet PCs for some reason.

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hi to those interested (if any still?) :whistle: i just wanted to share that putting winnt.sif in FIX seemingly worked as no more prompt down at the lower right portion of the taskbar for activation shows ... however by going through Event viewer, this was what i saw:

post-84520-1171101247_thumb.jpg

... o geez! :( i guess, it's back to the drawing board again ...

btw, there is a line in the UNATTEND.TXT (or WINNT.SIF) that tells the system to automatically activate:

[Unattended]
Unattendmode = FullUnattended
OemPreinstall = YES
TargetPath = WINNT
Filesystem = ConvertNTFS
OemSkipEula = YES
DriverSigningPolicy = Ignore
ExtendOemPartition = 1
AutoActivate = No
UnattendSwitch = Yes
CrashDumpSetting = 0
DisableDynamicUpdates = Yes
WaitForReboot = No

I have not tried setting it to "AutoActivate = Yes" before. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I never need to activate with VLK

Btw, If you are using Winnt.exe to install Windows (install from DOS), make sure that "UnattendSwitch = Yes".

It's worth a try...but I believe you may need to have a direct connection to the Internet. If however you are behind a proxy server, try adding this:

[Proxy]
Proxy_Enable=1
Use_Same_Proxy=1
HTTP_Proxy_Server = http://proxyserver:80

I don't mean make it sound complicated :w00t: but if your company uses Automatic Configuration Scripts like we do, add this setting instead of [Proxy]:

[URL]
AutoConfigURL = http://configserver/autoconfig.ins

Edited by iTwins
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3. installation into VMWare requires activation. Virtual environment not seen as OEM?

4. (side note) Activation can't be done automatically if you use key from COA sticker. OEMs are required to call MS to activate.

Your above two comments may not be valid if you use VLK. With VLK, you do not need to activate AT ALL (applicable to XP, 2000, and 2003).

VLK activation is not an issue as VLK media is not being used, making 3 and 4 always valid :rolleyes:

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VLK activation is not an issue as VLK media is not being used, making 3 and 4 always valid :rolleyes:

Heh, in that case, I rest my case. :blushing:

But then, it would be pointless to say that "installation into VMWare requires activation". If VLK is not used, Installation ANYWHERE, inside or outside of VMware, would require activation. :whistle:

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