Re: [Unattended] OT: winxpoem bad serial number!?!
- Original Message - From: "Patrick J. LoPresti" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [Unattended] OT: winxpoem bad serial number!?! > > That is absolutely correct. Just try installing XP from an Acer (Or > > other major brand) onto an IBM (Or other major brand) using the > > ProdID from the second machine. > > That is not what I meant by "BIOS locked". > The question is, if you use the Acer media *and Acer product key*, > will it install on an IBM? Or will it fail because it somehow notices > the IBM hardware and chokes? Ah, my misunderstanding, sorry about that. The way I understand it, Acer media *and Acer product key* will indeed install on an IBM, but unfortunately I can't verify this for at elast a couple of days. I know the product recovery CDROMs are BIOS-locked; for instance you cannot recover a Toshiba with an IBM recovery CD set. I do not believe the XP is the same way though, and honestly can't see how an OEM would be able to accomplish BIOS-locking (or why they would care enough about MS' product licensing scheme to put the effort into doing so!). --- This SF.net email is sponsored by: SF.net Giveback Program. Does SourceForge.net help you be more productive? Does it help you create better code? SHARE THE LOVE, and help us help YOU! Click Here: http://sourceforge.net/donate/ ___ unattended-info mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/unattended-info
Re: [Unattended] OT: winxpoem bad serial number!?!
Michael Kahle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Let me make sure I understand. Your modified script somehow uses a > particular winxpoem store based on which serial number works with > the setupp.ini in a particular store? Or does the script modify the > PID entry in the setupp.ini file before it starts the install? > Interesting... No, it just computes the ProductKey and ComputerName values by looking up the particular machine in a spreadsheet which I maintain by hand. (I need such a spreadsheet anyway, so this is no extra burden.) Computing the OS_dir (installation media) as well would be an easy addition. In my case, I begin by prompting for a hardware "asset tag". This is a local concept which identifies the particular machine. Shad's version uses the MAC address, so there is no prompting involved. And these are not modified scripts; they are just Z:\site\config.pl files. I should have time this weekend to get some examples up on the Web site or on this list. - Pat --- This SF.net email is sponsored by: SF.net Giveback Program. Does SourceForge.net help you be more productive? Does it help you create better code? SHARE THE LOVE, and help us help YOU! Click Here: http://sourceforge.net/donate/ ___ unattended-info mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/unattended-info
Re: [Unattended] OT: winxpoem bad serial number!?!
"Curtis Anderson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > That is absolutely correct. Just try installing XP from an Acer (Or > other major brand) onto an IBM (Or other major brand) using the > ProdID from the second machine. That is not what I meant by "BIOS locked"... That is just different XP media using different license keys. (So Acer keys work with Acer XP media, IBM keys work with IBM media, and so on.) This has nothing to do with the BIOS of the machine; it just means there are different "strains" of OEM media from different vendors. The question is, if you use the Acer media *and Acer product key*, will it install on an IBM? Or will it fail because it somehow notices the IBM hardware and chokes? Of course, you can only ever activate it on one machine, so the difference is moot. But calling something "BIOS locked" when it has absolutely nothing to do with the BIOS (or any other hardware property) seems like a misnomer... I believe you will find that the different strains of OEM media have different "Pid" values in i386\setupp.ini. Unattended has a table of these values, and that is how it identifies the media for display. The table is incomplete; we only know about Dell media at the moment. Contributions are welcome. - Pat --- This SF.net email is sponsored by: SF.net Giveback Program. Does SourceForge.net help you be more productive? Does it help you create better code? SHARE THE LOVE, and help us help YOU! Click Here: http://sourceforge.net/donate/ ___ unattended-info mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/unattended-info
Re: [Unattended] OT: winxpoem bad serial number!?!
Curtis Anderson a écrit: - Original Message - Michael Kahle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Today I was testing out the XP install on VMWare when I was greeted with an error during the unattended install of Windows XP. It read, "Error: The Product ID you entered is not valid."! *groan* So my question is this, am I to assume that IBM has different oem "versions" (for lack of a better word) of Windows XP for the different machines that they use? There are rumors that some OEM versions of XP are "BIOS locked" to a particular vendor's hardware. I have been skeptical of these rumors, but perhaps that is the problem. That is absolutely correct. Just try installing XP from an Acer (Or other major brand) onto an IBM (Or other major brand) using the ProdID from the second machine. If you EVER get it to work let me know because I have run into this numerous times. IBM XP can only use IBM ProdIDs, Acer XP can only use Acer ProdIDs, etc. etc. at least in my experience (>1000 desktops...) I discovered the same comportment of XP installation with DELL computers and their windows XP OEM installation cdrom. The workaround I use was to buy 5 XP pro licenses covered by an Entreprise Volume Licence key (LVK is availble from from 5 licenses/products) and use the XP installation files provided on this media (not the same files than retail or OEM ones) to install computers here. The VLK key also does not require you to activate XP. So each of my machines has an OEM XP licence, but is installed with an VLK productID. It violates a bit the unreadable XP license agreement, but each machine has at least an XP licence, so what ? Regards, Pierre Bourgin PS: the same license scheme is possible for Office products, with the same benefits. --- This SF.net email is sponsored by: SF.net Giveback Program. Does SourceForge.net help you be more productive? Does it help you create better code? SHARE THE LOVE, and help us help YOU! Click Here: http://sourceforge.net/donate/ ___ unattended-info mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/unattended-info
Re: [Unattended] OT: winxpoem bad serial number!?!
- Original Message - > Michael Kahle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > Today I was testing out the XP install on VMWare when I was greeted > > with an error during the unattended install of Windows XP. It read, > > "Error: The Product ID you entered is not valid."! *groan* So my > > question is this, am I to assume that IBM has different oem > > "versions" (for lack of a better word) of Windows XP for the > > different machines that they use? > > There are rumors that some OEM versions of XP are "BIOS locked" to a > particular vendor's hardware. I have been skeptical of these rumors, > but perhaps that is the problem. That is absolutely correct. Just try installing XP from an Acer (Or other major brand) onto an IBM (Or other major brand) using the ProdID from the second machine. If you EVER get it to work let me know because I have run into this numerous times. IBM XP can only use IBM ProdIDs, Acer XP can only use Acer ProdIDs, etc. etc. at least in my experience (>1000 desktops...) Curtis AKA "Homer" --- This SF.net email is sponsored by: SF.net Giveback Program. Does SourceForge.net help you be more productive? Does it help you create better code? SHARE THE LOVE, and help us help YOU! Click Here: http://sourceforge.net/donate/ ___ unattended-info mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/unattended-info
RE: [Unattended] OT: winxpoem bad serial number!?!
I am interested in seeing the examples of code to query and match asset tag/mac with a key source. I believe it might also be possible to get the asset tag programmatically from the bios (at least on dell machines). Cheers, Scott -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Patrick J. LoPresti Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 4:06 PM To: Michael Kahle Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Unattended] OT: winxpoem bad serial number!?! Michael Kahle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Today I was testing out the XP install on VMWare when I was greeted > with an error during the unattended install of Windows XP. It read, > "Error: The Product ID you entered is not valid."! *groan* So my > question is this, am I to assume that IBM has different oem "versions" > (for lack of a better word) of Windows XP for the different machines > that they use? There are rumors that some OEM versions of XP are "BIOS locked" to a particular vendor's hardware. I have been skeptical of these rumors, but perhaps that is the problem. Can you clarify a bit? Are you saying that the same installation media and serial number work on one machine but not on VMware? (This would favor the "BIOS locked" theory.) Or are you saying you have two different installation media and the serial numbers are not compatible between them? (This would be more what I would expect, and it can be dealt with.) Take a look at the i386\setupp.ini on one of your CDs. In theory, the "Pid" string uniquely identifies the kind of product keys which that media needs. > The idea here is that we purchased copies of XP pre loaded (as if we > had a choice!) on these machines and I thought we could get away with > using unattended as long as I used the serial number on the machine. > So where do I go from here? That should work fine. You just might have to pick the precise media and product key based on the machine you are installing. I have code to use a spreadsheet for this... I prompt for our corporate "asset tag" of the system, and use it as an index into the spreadsheet. Shad has code which uses the MAC address similarly. I am working on turning these into real examples, but we can surely share the code with you in advance of that. > If this doesn't work I am thinking of just upgrading our company to > some sort of site license for Windows XP Pro. Any suggestions as to > what flavor of license I should go for? To go this route, you want an "Open License". You need to buy five or more copies of XP to qualify. An Open License is a volume license; the machines you install will require no activation. Now, is it strictly legal to buy 5 open licenses and then use the volume key and media to install your 100 machines, given that those machines already shipped with an OEM version of XP? I don't see why not... But if it bothers you, you can do as I mention above and select both the media and the product key based on the particular machine you are installing. - Pat --- This SF.net email is sponsored by: SF.net Giveback Program. Does SourceForge.net help you be more productive? Does it help you create better code? SHARE THE LOVE, and help us help YOU! Click Here: http://sourceforge.net/donate/ ___ unattended-info mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/unattended-info
Re: [Unattended] OT: winxpoem bad serial number!?!
Michael Kahle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Today I was testing out the XP install on VMWare when I was greeted > with an error during the unattended install of Windows XP. It read, > "Error: The Product ID you entered is not valid."! *groan* So my > question is this, am I to assume that IBM has different oem > "versions" (for lack of a better word) of Windows XP for the > different machines that they use? There are rumors that some OEM versions of XP are "BIOS locked" to a particular vendor's hardware. I have been skeptical of these rumors, but perhaps that is the problem. Can you clarify a bit? Are you saying that the same installation media and serial number work on one machine but not on VMware? (This would favor the "BIOS locked" theory.) Or are you saying you have two different installation media and the serial numbers are not compatible between them? (This would be more what I would expect, and it can be dealt with.) Take a look at the i386\setupp.ini on one of your CDs. In theory, the "Pid" string uniquely identifies the kind of product keys which that media needs. > The idea here is that we purchased copies of XP pre loaded (as if we > had a choice!) on these machines and I thought we could get away > with using unattended as long as I used the serial number on the > machine. So where do I go from here? That should work fine. You just might have to pick the precise media and product key based on the machine you are installing. I have code to use a spreadsheet for this... I prompt for our corporate "asset tag" of the system, and use it as an index into the spreadsheet. Shad has code which uses the MAC address similarly. I am working on turning these into real examples, but we can surely share the code with you in advance of that. > If this doesn't work I am thinking of just upgrading our company to > some sort of site license for Windows XP Pro. Any suggestions as to > what flavor of license I should go for? To go this route, you want an "Open License". You need to buy five or more copies of XP to qualify. An Open License is a volume license; the machines you install will require no activation. Now, is it strictly legal to buy 5 open licenses and then use the volume key and media to install your 100 machines, given that those machines already shipped with an OEM version of XP? I don't see why not... But if it bothers you, you can do as I mention above and select both the media and the product key based on the particular machine you are installing. - Pat --- This SF.net email is sponsored by: SF.net Giveback Program. Does SourceForge.net help you be more productive? Does it help you create better code? SHARE THE LOVE, and help us help YOU! Click Here: http://sourceforge.net/donate/ ___ unattended-info mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/unattended-info
RE: [Unattended] OT: winxpoem bad serial number!?!
Patrick J. LoPresti wrote: >Michael Kahle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > >> Today I was testing out the XP install on VMWare when I was greeted >> with an error during the unattended install of Windows XP. It read, >> "Error: The Product ID you entered is not valid."! *groan* So my >> question is this, am I to assume that IBM has different oem "versions" >> (for lack of a better word) of Windows XP for the different machines >> that they use? > > There are rumors that some OEM versions of XP are "BIOS locked" to a > particular vendor's hardware. I have been skeptical of these rumors, > but perhaps that is the problem. > > Can you clarify a bit? > > Are you saying that the same installation media and serial number work > on one machine but not on VMware? (This would favor the "BIOS locked" > theory.) > > Or are you saying you have two different installation media and the serial > numbers are not compatible between them? (This would be more what I would > expect, and it can be dealt with.) What I am saying is that it "worked" (past tense) on a few IBM IntelliStations, one of which I copied the i386 directory off of. It is NOT working with a serial number that I got from the sticker on a IBM NetVista that had Windows XP factory preloaded on it when entered in to a test install on VMWare. So perhaps this "BIOS locked" theory stands correct? > > Take a look at the i386\setupp.ini on one of your CDs. In theory, the "Pid" > string uniquely identifies the kind of product keys which that media needs. > The pid that exists in my winxpoem directory is, remember this was taken from a IBM IntelliStation: Pid=55274OEM The pid that exists on a NetVista's (Not the one I got the original serial off of) is: Pid=55274OEM The pid that exists on ANOTHER IntelliStation is: Pid=51873OEM This tells me that IBM's do not necessarily have the same PID ID. Now, I got a serial number from a tag that had the same PID as my winxpoem store, I entered this into my unattended XP test install on VMWare. It worked! This suggests that the winxpoem directory that I have, and for that matter that comes with an IBM, is NOT "Bios Locked". So perhaps the BIOS locked theory is just a myth? >> The idea here is that we purchased copies of XP pre loaded (as if we >> had a choice!) on these machines and I thought we could get away with >> using unattended as long as I used the serial number on the machine. >> So where do I go from here? > > That should work fine. You just might have to pick the precise media and > product key based on the machine you are installing. I have code to use a > spreadsheet for this... I prompt for our corporate "asset tag" of the system, > and use it as an index into the spreadsheet. Shad has code which uses the MAC > address similarly. I am working on turning these into real examples, but we > can surely share the code with you in advance of that. Let me make sure I understand. Your modified script somehow uses a particular winxpoem store based on which serial number works with the setupp.ini in a particular store? Or does the script modify the PID entry in the setupp.ini file before it starts the install? Interesting... > >> If this doesn't work I am thinking of just upgrading our company to >> some sort of site license for Windows XP Pro. Any suggestions as to >> what flavor of license I should go for? > > To go this route, you want an "Open License". You need to buy five or more > copies of XP to qualify. An Open License is a volume license; the machines you > install will require no activation. > I have just sent a letter to my CDW rep asking him to put in an order for this licensing scheme for me. This will be FAR less of a headache for me than to have to keep track of every computer serial number that I have out on the network. Thanks for the advice. > Now, is it strictly legal to buy 5 open licenses and then use the volume key and > media to install your 100 machines, given that those machines already shipped with > an OEM version of XP? I don't see why not... But if it bothers you, you can do > as I mention above and select both the media and the product key based on the > particular machine you are installing. I don't know if this is legal or not. I seam to remember hearing (when I was working at the now defunct Arthur Andersen) that you must purchase a license for EVERY machine that you wish to use the, what they called at that time, "select disk" on. So in effect, you were purchasing 2 licenses for every machine. The oem license that came with the ThinkPad, and the select license. Typical Microsoft shenanigans. I agree with you, why not? Since that time Microsoft has changed it's licensing scheme, so perhaps this is no longer the case. I guess we should make a call to our lawyer... I can understand how to write Perl, C and Java... but a Microsoft license agreement... no way! :) Michael -
