need help finding windows key in recovery disk

[goontron]

i have a OEM recovery disk from powerspec that has had damage to the outer sectors of the CD so i cant install from it and i heard that they use some sort of auto install config with the key in it but i cant find it i listed the output from 'ls' of the root of the disk and the 2 subdirs in hopes you can help

drive root

English.zip Master.log RCBoot.sys WIN51IC.B2  WIN51IP.RC2 XGA
GRAPH    MENUND   USTIME   WIN51IC.RC1 WIN51IP.SP1
GRAPH16   MOVE    WIN51    WIN51IC.RC2 WIN51.RC1
HPCD.sys   NTFS    WIN51.B2  WIN51IP   WIN51.RC2
[COLOR="Blue"]I386     PRELOAD[/COLOR]   WIN51IC   WIN51IP.B2  WINBOM.INI

PRELOAD

ALL.CRC   BASE_06.INP BASE_17.INP DATA5.INP   DATA9_05.INP DVD
ALL.FIL   BASE_07.INP BASE_18.INP DATA6.INP   DATA9_06.INP LANG.W32
ALL.I32   BASE_08.INP BASE_19.INP DATA7_01.INP DATA9_07.INP SPLIT.LOG
ALL.ITR   BASE_09.INP BASE_20.INP DATA7_02.INP DATA9_08.INP WINDOWS.CRC
ALL.MDF   BASE_10.INP BASE.DAT   DATA7_03.INP DATA9_09.INP WINDOWS.DAT
ALL.W32   BASE_11.INP BASE.INP   DATA7.INP   DATA9_10.INP WINDOWS.FIL
BASE_01.INP BASE_12.INP CD0     DATA8.INP   DATA9_11.INP WINDOWS.I32
BASE_02.INP BASE_13.INP DATA1.INP  DATA9_01.INP DATA9_12.INP WINDOWS.ITR
BASE_03.INP BASE_14.INP DATA2.INP  DATA9_02.INP DATA9_13.INP WINDOWS.MDF
BASE_04.INP BASE_15.INP DATA3.INP  DATA9_03.INP DATA9.INP   WINDOWS.W32
BASE_05.INP BASE_16.INP DATA4.INP  DATA9_04.INP DESC.TXT

the contents of I386 are so long i piped them into a text file. can anybody tell me where this darn install config is?

[Mad_Professor]

Re: need help finding windows key in recovery disk

if it's not in a file called Unattend.txt, it's probably slp bios or OEM Preinstallation Kit buried on the disc.

[bluto]

Re: need help finding windows key in recovery disk

I assume this is XP you are talking about... It also appears that POWERSPEC was a royalty OEM for XP (on the same level as HP, DELL, etc.) In XP, the SLP 1.0 pre-activation scheme needs three things. 1. The manufacturer specific product key for the edition of windows (Home, Pro, etc.) 2. The computer must have the appropriate OEM string in the BIOS (quite literally something to the effect of 'DELL COMPUTER'). 3. These 4 files that correspond to items 1 & 2: OEMBIOS.BIN, OEMBIOS.CAT, OEMBIOS.DAT & OEMBIOS.SIG. Note that they might be in compressed form with a '_' in the last character of the file name. You can install any edition of XP and then use a program called 'OEM BIOS Changer' to convert the license to Powerspec OEM SLP. Or you can use a tool like nLite to create a new XP install disc with items 1,2 & 3 already in place via an un-attended install script.

[goontron]

Re: need help finding windows key in recovery disk

thanks for the quick response

I assume this is XP you are talking about... It also appears that POWERSPEC was a royalty OEM for XP (on the same level as HP, DELL, etc.) In XP, the SLP 1.0 pre-activation scheme needs three things. 1. The manufacturer specific product key for the edition of windows (Home, Pro, etc.) 2. The computer must have the appropriate OEM string in the BIOS (quite literally something to the effect of 'DELL COMPUTER'). 3. These 4 files that correspond to items 1 & 2: OEMBIOS.BIN, OEMBIOS.CAT, OEMBIOS.DAT & OEMBIOS.SIG. Note that they might be in compressed form with a '_' in the last character of the file name. You can install any edition of XP and then use a program called 'OEM BIOS Changer' to convert the license to Powerspec OEM SLP. Or you can use a tool like nLite to create a new XP install disc with items 1,2 & 3 already in place via an un-attended install script.

thsi system runs a generic Intel BIOS, no SLP key to be found.

if it's not in a file called Unattend.txt, it's probably slp bios or OEM Preinstallation Kit buried on the disc.

theirs a file called Unattend.txt in the I386 folder is that the key? im trying to run these in VMware workstation 9 will it work in there?

[mockingbird]

Re: need help finding windows key in recovery disk

If it's not on th CD, you will either need to use a good OEM key and then activate it, or use an SLP enabled BIOS for VMWare.

[goontron]

Re: need help finding windows key in recovery disk

If it's not on th CD, you will either need to use a good OEM key and then activate it, or use an SLP enabled BIOS for VMWare.

yer, i found the Unattend.txt file and the key, can i use this in VMware?

[mockingbird]

Re: need help finding windows key in recovery disk

Theoretically yes. After installation, activate either online or by phone...

It shouldn't ask you for a a key during installation, since this is an unattended install.

If the key is blacklisted by Microsoft, then you'll need to use an SLP modded BIOS for VMware.

VMWare 10 is out by the way, in case you didn't know. I haven't seen that much of a difference. I installed it over a month ago. Don't forget to install the "extensions" or supplemental drivers or whatever they're called in VMWare for the enhanced drivers/features, and make sure virtualization is enabled if you're using a VT-capable platform.

[goontron]

Re: need help finding windows key in recovery disk

Theoretically yes. After installation, activate either online or by phone...

It shouldn't ask you for a a key during installation, since this is an unattended install.

If the key is blacklisted by Microsoft, then you'll need to use an SLP modded BIOS for VMware.

VMWare 10 is out by the way, in case you didn't know. I haven't seen that much of a difference. I installed it over a month ago. Don't forget to install the "extensions" or supplemental drivers or whatever they're called in VMWare for the enhanced drivers/features, and make sure virtualization is enabled if you're using a VT-capable platform.

oh! i forgot something, the disk is f*cked and testdisk was only able to get some of the data, the txt file included. im going to have to install from a disk with another key and change the key before i go online.

how silly of me to forget crucial information.

[Uniballer]

Re: need help finding windows key in recovery disk

Can't you just buy a [similar] recovery disk on ebay?

[mockingbird]

Re: need help finding windows key in recovery disk

No need for expletives...

Yes, make sure the disk is also an OEM disk, and after installation run "c:\WINDOWS\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a" (Yes, I want to activate by telephone, change product key, then run it again and activate online).

[Sparks88]

Re: need help finding windows key in recovery disk

xp does not have any slic keys for activation, slic licences started with vista and then win7 and now win 8 uses a totally different way to activate, you will also need an oem disk of the same version (oem xp sp1 or 2 or 3) for the key to be accepted and then you may also need to do the phone activation as well.

[mockingbird]

Re: need help finding windows key in recovery disk

As I understand it, XP does have a similar system to SLIC called "SLP"... Apparently, activation does check for a string in the bios and activates it without phoning in or connecting online.

[Nitro468]

Re: need help finding windows key in recovery disk

Looking thru my slipstreamed files.. wow 7000+ files..I'll let you know if I find anything.
I have a few OEM install disks, I will peek at them and see.

[Nitro468]

Re: need help finding windows key in recovery disk

For future reference if you use Nlite, the key is stored in Last session*.ini