Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

[Topcat]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

Blame it on the customer all you want but a good business does their job, not whine at customers.

Very good school of thought in this business, so many forget that. The customer (as a rule) brought it in because they broke it....the last thing they need is a sermon or being talked down to... Giving recommendations is always advisable/helpful, but being an ass about it is the key to a happy customer. Always look on the bright side, if they break it again, you'll get paid to fix it again!

[ratdude747]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

Manufacturers provide a recovery partition as it's cheaper than supplying the disc and they have to provide a copy of the OS when the sell a PC.
There is no need to provide it for a customer unless they specifically ask and pay for it.

Unless you service a lot of one brand... in which case you could just pull the pre-activated .iso and burn it. While most of my stuff is dell, I have 3 other makes (none, lenovo, and asus).

Plus, what if they croaked a HDD? What if the recovery partition was formatted over? What if the recovery partition is full of shit that is too much trouble to work with? Blame it on the customer all you want but a good business does their job, not whine at customers.

[diif]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

Manufacturers provide a recovery partition as it's cheaper than supplying the disc and they have to provide a copy of the OS when the sell a PC.
There is no need to provide it for a customer unless they specifically ask and pay for it.

[ratdude747]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

I found I had to run different versions of RWEverything. If there's no SLIC in the BIOS at all, it seems the newer versions just error out.

I fix PCs for a living and after this one that I'm working on, I'm probably gonna provide recovery discs for the customers, so the pre-activation is nice for them. I made a recovery partition on a Vista machine a long time ago. If I remember, it was a bit crazy. I'd like to learn how to do that for 7 again. I remember I had to set a "hot-key" so the user could press a button before Windows started to get into the recovery partition. I picked one of the function keys that weren't being used. It'd be nice to wipe all the bloat ware off people's PCs, do a fresh install, fully update, install the drivers, etc and then create a recovery partition for them (or if they bring it back, for me!!!).

If it's for customers, then I agree that pre-activation is the way to go. I didn't realize you weren't working on personal gear.

[japlytic]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

On a Dell Studio 1555 where I extracted the recovery image .wim file (which was still good from its failing hard drive), I did not have to enter the Product Key after the restore procedure since the recovery image was from the same computer - and it was not an issue for the free upgrade to Windows 10.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

Phoenix isn't too bad if you have the right tools. I've had a few not work but usually the biggest pain is having to get an RW everything ACPI report (which I bet one could get from linux as well; I've pulled 8.x/10 keys both ways with success). Sometimes the tool wouldn't buy the report. In that case I run a different version which usually gives a report that the tool likes better.

Otherwise, I've only bricked two models, both Supermicro (Award BIOS). One was a pair of X5DAL's (a G and a TG2), which I determined aren't SLIC-able and I use some of the college-bought upgrade keys on. Oh what a nightmare those were... there's a few threads on my struggles. The other was a couple of X6DAE-G/X6DA8-G2 boards, which seemed to be the same way until I did successfully flash by flashing stock, then flashing the modded w/o bootblock (where the bricking issue seems to be). Oddly that trick didn't work for the other pair. Good thing I had pairs so I could hotflash between the two... and also a good thing that SM sells replacement BIOS chips for only $18 + shipping, which unlike ebay chips can be re-flashed (ebay chips will get rejected by the BIOS flash utility).

Since I do have upgrade keys floating around (and different makes to flash to), I'd rather not mod the images, mainly to save space on the server. I also don't slipstream them (unlike my XP images) because I've never gotten it to work and that unlike XP, I can just chuck the driver I need on a flash drive and easily integrate it that way. Like I said, for the SLIC part, i just pull up the folder on a flash drive, run the .bat as administrator, open the key .txt and copy the key, and activate using the copied key. Not a lot of extra effort and I don't have a bunch of mostly identical windows 7 images hogging server space.

I found I had to run different versions of RWEverything. If there's no SLIC in the BIOS at all, it seems the newer versions just error out.

I fix PCs for a living and after this one that I'm working on, I'm probably gonna provide recovery discs for the customers, so the pre-activation is nice for them. I made a recovery partition on a Vista machine a long time ago. If I remember, it was a bit crazy. I'd like to learn how to do that for 7 again. I remember I had to set a "hot-key" so the user could press a button before Windows started to get into the recovery partition. I picked one of the function keys that weren't being used. It'd be nice to wipe all the bloat ware off people's PCs, do a fresh install, fully update, install the drivers, etc and then create a recovery partition for them (or if they bring it back, for me!!!).

[ratdude747]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

Thanks. I discovered this after I asked the question. The whole Windows doesn't care thing. Just in case you're wondering, you can skip the whole slmgr.vbs step if you mount the install.wim file using dism and then just create the directory <location_to_mounted_wim>\windows\system32\OEM and copy the cert to that directory. Then, using DISM again, you can plop in the product key so you don't have to type it. I posted a batch script that mods the install.wim. You can just comment out the driver part if you're not slipstreaming any drivers. If you want to make a disc that can install any version of 7, pre-activated, on your machine, you simply change the index number and use the proper pre-activation key for your machine. Remove the ei.cfg file from the sources directory and when you install 7, it'll ask what version of 7 you want to install. You pick it, it just installs, fully activated. If you remove the cversion file, I guess you can upgrade systems that normally won't let you upgrade (maybe because you have a full OEM disc or something).

**EDIT -- Also, Phoenix BIOSes (Dell, Gateway, maybe Acer) seem to be a real pain, if you're modding the BIOS. Award, nice and easy. Phoenix, freaking nightmare. Just dumping the BIOS can be a challenge. Not saying that I was pirating software or anything. Just, you know, ummm, doing it for educational experiences!! I did two machines (a Dell and a Gateway). The Dell wasn't bad because I could find the BIOS update on their site and didn't have to dump it. The Gateway though, their website didn't even list it as existing. The WinPhlash64 program doesn't work, at all. I had to boot off a Windows 32-bit live disc and run the old WinPhlash 32-bit program. Then, because it had Vista SLIC v2.0 in it, I had to replace that. First, I tried going with Acer, because Acer bought Gateway. But the modules wouldn't fit. Toshiba compressed better. After I flashed it with the Toshiba, I was able to dump it again and then flash it with the Acer, to make it look more legit. It was definitely a learning experience.

Phoenix isn't too bad if you have the right tools. I've had a few not work but usually the biggest pain is having to get an RW everything ACPI report (which I bet one could get from linux as well; I've pulled 8.x/10 keys both ways with success). Sometimes the tool wouldn't buy the report. In that case I run a different version which usually gives a report that the tool likes better.

Otherwise, I've only bricked two models, both Supermicro (Award BIOS). One was a pair of X5DAL's (a G and a TG2), which I determined aren't SLIC-able and I use some of the college-bought upgrade keys on. Oh what a nightmare those were... there's a few threads on my struggles. The other was a couple of X6DAE-G/X6DA8-G2 boards, which seemed to be the same way until I did successfully flash by flashing stock, then flashing the modded w/o bootblock (where the bricking issue seems to be). Oddly that trick didn't work for the other pair. Good thing I had pairs so I could hotflash between the two... and also a good thing that SM sells replacement BIOS chips for only $18 + shipping, which unlike ebay chips can be re-flashed (ebay chips will get rejected by the BIOS flash utility).

Since I do have upgrade keys floating around (and different makes to flash to), I'd rather not mod the images, mainly to save space on the server. I also don't slipstream them (unlike my XP images) because I've never gotten it to work and that unlike XP, I can just chuck the driver I need on a flash drive and easily integrate it that way. Like I said, for the SLIC part, i just pull up the folder on a flash drive, run the .bat as administrator, open the key .txt and copy the key, and activate using the copied key. Not a lot of extra effort and I don't have a bunch of mostly identical windows 7 images hogging server space.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

SLIC doesn't care about versions... as long as the certificate matches the BIOS and the OEM key matches the version, it works. M$ can't tell the difference so unless they saw the unit itself, they can't call foul (I also do my certificate swap on things that had 7 out of the box, just because I like starting with vanilla 7).

Around here Ultimate is common as that's the version the local college was selling upgrade copies of for $20 (students/staff only, although the limit quantities wasn't well enforced).

The only bin files are the BIOS mods, which often are already done and available (sometimes with other mods too ) and the ones that aren't are often easy to make (as they make semi-automated tools). Dells can be a bit of a pain as can be insyde BIOS's, but that part is a one time per model affair (unless there is a legit BIOS update later, but anything w/o 7 out of the box isn't going to get any more updates at this point).

The batch file is a one line special, which consists of :

slmgr.vbs -ilc "%~dp0\LENOVO-68351C09.XRM-MS"

That's out of my lenovo version (what I had in front of me at the moment) The other ones specify a different file as they use a different certificate (although in many cases I've flashed the dell SLIC table to non-dell systems, such as a Micron AIW, a few Tyan boards, and a Supermicro X6DAE-G2). It uses a relative file path (the %dp0) so as long as the batch file and the certificate are in the same folder (and not anyplace on the user directory it seems), when run as administrator, the batch file works. All it is doing is calling a single command that is a bitch to remember and type manually every time. Instead I can just run it from a flash drive and be done.

I'd rather do that and not have to hack up my installation than go through a bunch of warez and be vulnerable to a future bust. Do what you're going to do, and I'll do what I'm going to do.

Thanks. I discovered this after I asked the question. The whole Windows doesn't care thing. Just in case you're wondering, you can skip the whole slmgr.vbs step if you mount the install.wim file using dism and then just create the directory <location_to_mounted_wim>\windows\system32\OEM and copy the cert to that directory. Then, using DISM again, you can plop in the product key so you don't have to type it. I posted a batch script that mods the install.wim. You can just comment out the driver part if you're not slipstreaming any drivers. If you want to make a disc that can install any version of 7, pre-activated, on your machine, you simply change the index number and use the proper pre-activation key for your machine. Remove the ei.cfg file from the sources directory and when you install 7, it'll ask what version of 7 you want to install. You pick it, it just installs, fully activated. If you remove the cversion file, I guess you can upgrade systems that normally won't let you upgrade (maybe because you have a full OEM disc or something).

**EDIT -- Also, Phoenix BIOSes (Dell, Gateway, maybe Acer) seem to be a real pain, if you're modding the BIOS. Award, nice and easy. Phoenix, freaking nightmare. Just dumping the BIOS can be a challenge. Not saying that I was pirating software or anything. Just, you know, ummm, doing it for educational experiences!! I did two machines (a Dell and a Gateway). The Dell wasn't bad because I could find the BIOS update on their site and didn't have to dump it. The Gateway though, their website didn't even list it as existing. The WinPhlash64 program doesn't work, at all. I had to boot off a Windows 32-bit live disc and run the old WinPhlash 32-bit program. Then, because it had Vista SLIC v2.0 in it, I had to replace that. First, I tried going with Acer, because Acer bought Gateway. But the modules wouldn't fit. Toshiba compressed better. After I flashed it with the Toshiba, I was able to dump it again and then flash it with the Acer, to make it look more legit. It was definitely a learning experience.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

I believe those Loaders work the same. They just emulate the SLIC v2.1 data so you don't need to mod the BIOS, right? They use the same certificates and everything, just they kind of do the steps for you. I think, if I remember correctly, Daz gets written to the MBR (last I checked, I don't think it works with GPT partitions), and before Windows starts, it emulates the SLIC v2.1 in the BIOS. When Windows checks to see if the cert matches what's in the BIOS, Daz intercepts the call and replies with the proper data.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

Isn't Daz a Windows loader? This wasn't to pirate software or anything. I'm trying to make a recovery disc for a customer. It seems the SLIC certificate is the easiest way to go.

What I did was copy the DVD to a folder on the C: drive, then I mounted the install.wim file (with the index for the version of 7 that they had). I used a batch script to do this:

dism /mount-wim /wimfile:c:\test\images\install.wim /index:2 /mountdir:c:\test\install
dism /image:c:\test\install /add-driver /driver:c:\test\drivers /recurse
dism /image:c:\test\install /Set-ProductKey:VQB3X-Q3KP8-WJ2H8-R6B6D-7QJB7
mkdir c:\test\install\Windows\System32\OEM
copy c:\ACER-ACRSYS-2.1.XRM-MS c:\test\install\Windows\System32\OEM\
dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:c:\test\install /commit

The product key is a pre-activation key and is on all Acer's so it doesn't matter if it's shared. The following allowed me to install 7, not have to type a product key, and have it automatically activated. I don't think this violates any terms of service agreements because the SLIC v2.1 data is already in the BIOS.

Just messing around, I tried picking Professional and using the Acer professional key, sure enough, it installed and activated Professional.

It's nice to be able to make stuff like this for customers. Just gotta get the driver thing straightened out. I'd like to slipstream all the updates for 7 too so I don't have to manually update the machines each time. Just having some issues with integrating the drivers.

[Topcat]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

Daz...always works. Never had any update problems with it either....but on that note, I never do that on a client machine. They get to buy a license. COA's off scrap machines can be had for a few bucks these days...great to recycle/repurpose them.

[ratdude747]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

SLIC doesn't care about versions... as long as the certificate matches the BIOS and the OEM key matches the version, it works. M$ can't tell the difference so unless they saw the unit itself, they can't call foul (I also do my certificate swap on things that had 7 out of the box, just because I like starting with vanilla 7).

Around here Ultimate is common as that's the version the local college was selling upgrade copies of for $20 (students/staff only, although the limit quantities wasn't well enforced).

The only bin files are the BIOS mods, which often are already done and available (sometimes with other mods too ) and the ones that aren't are often easy to make (as they make semi-automated tools). Dells can be a bit of a pain as can be insyde BIOS's, but that part is a one time per model affair (unless there is a legit BIOS update later, but anything w/o 7 out of the box isn't going to get any more updates at this point).

The batch file is a one line special, which consists of :

slmgr.vbs -ilc "%~dp0\LENOVO-68351C09.XRM-MS"

That's out of my lenovo version (what I had in front of me at the moment) The other ones specify a different file as they use a different certificate (although in many cases I've flashed the dell SLIC table to non-dell systems, such as a Micron AIW, a few Tyan boards, and a Supermicro X6DAE-G2). It uses a relative file path (the %dp0) so as long as the batch file and the certificate are in the same folder (and not anyplace on the user directory it seems), when run as administrator, the batch file works. All it is doing is calling a single command that is a bitch to remember and type manually every time. Instead I can just run it from a flash drive and be done.

I'd rather do that and not have to hack up my installation than go through a bunch of warez and be vulnerable to a future bust. Do what you're going to do, and I'll do what I'm going to do.

[dan8139]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

As above, just Daz loader the fucking thing, I've had it with trying to do it legally and mess around jumping through Microsoft's hoops...

Had a bad week with Windows 7 updates 'Checking for updates' taking days and a machine which was running fine on 10, re-install and it won't activate!

Stupid MS

[diif]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

Nothing says pirate more than Ultimate Edition.
Bin files and certificates, sound like you're making work for yourself.
Far easier to install whichever version of 7 you want, skip the key and then run Daz.
Install the drivers you've downloaded on a different PC, run the update patch then update. Ninite for the useful software and it's done.

[ratdude747]

Re: Questions about Windows 7 Pre-Activation.

Here's what I do:

I start with a generic Windows 7 SP1 image (I always use ultimate) and a SLIC2.1'd BIOS installed. I install windows, skipping the product key step. Then, once I have enough drivers installed to have a working net connection, I open up a folder with a few files. One has the correct certificate that matches the SLIC'd BIOS. One has a single-line batch file that when run as administrator (gotta right click it) installed the certificate. The last is a .txt that has the appropriate product key.

It's always worked for me... I've only had to redo it a few times. Once for a lenovo T60, once for an ASUS (that would only SLIC mod ok with ASUS codes modded in). Otherwise I use Dell's codes for everything. Mainly because I have a lot of Dell laptops.

I do this both because unlike XP, 7 is a bitch to mod on the install image, and because this allows me to only store the generic images swiped off digital river ages ago, instead of having a zillion copies of the same thing minus a few files.

[Spork Schivago]

So, as I'm sure you guys know, it's not very hard to pre-activate a copy of Windows 7, so you don't have to activate it via the phone or internet. So long as the BIOS has SLIC v2.1 data in the BIOS and you have a matching certificate file on the drive, running slmgr.vbs with a few switches does the trick.

My question is, what exactly prevents someone from simply installing something like Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate, using the manufacturer's pre-activation keys, and then using slmgr.vbs to install the certs?

From what I can tell, there doesn't seem to be any special SLIC v2.1 bin files or certs for the different types of 7. Is it only the product key that determines what version gets pre-activated? Thanks.