OEM install of XP

P

Philip Lee

I have been asked to investigate creating an OEM version of XP bootable CD
that can detect what machine it is being installed on (BIOS version I guess)
an to prevent installation unless the correct machine is detected.
Can anyone give me any clues as how to proceed?

Thanks in advance.
Phil Lee
 
J

Joseph Conway [MSFT]

Cant be done. You can make base images by machines type but if you want to
ensure the installation is done on the correct hardware then it would make
the most sense to label the CDs based on image type.
 
M

Mike Brannigan [MSFT]

Philip,

Do you work for the OEM in question ?
If so there are more efficient routes for you to get assitance with matters
such as this.
This technology is not made available to private indiviuals but only to OEMs

--
Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Brannigan [Microsoft]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights

Please note I cannot respond to e-mailed questions, please use these
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B

Bruce Chambers

Greetings --

Then how do Dell and Gateway, amongst others, do it?

Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH
 
M

Mike Brannigan [MSFT]

Bruce Chambers said:
Greetings --

Then how do Dell and Gateway, amongst others, do it?

System Locked Pre-Install - sometimes known as "BIOS Locking".

But your question was rhetorical :)

As I posted to the original poster unless he is working with a serious OEM
he is not going to get access to that technology.

--
Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Brannigan [Microsoft]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights

Please note I cannot respond to e-mailed questions, please use these
newsgroups
 
B

Bruce Chambers

Greetings --

Yes, I know, Mike. I was just wondering why Mr. Conway was saying
that it couldn't be done at all.

Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH
 
G

Guest

This is more or less a question, since you mentioned SLP
and it looks like you are a MS person. (I'm just a curious
granny) -

I took the time to thoroughly read my Terms of Use and the
EULA that came with our N. America (only) Radio Shack
Compaq. It has a lot of info, warnings, Federal laws, and
even mentions Iraq, Iran and N. Korea. Even incluldes
Death warnings for Java (!!). Of course, I'm not going to
use my computer to deploy weapons, run an air traffic
control tower or use it in a hospital, create nuclear
bombs or biological agents. I'm not that smart.

I then wondered if major manufacturers like HP/Compaq that
use a restore scheme and SLP is a way of covering their
behinds too since they seem to be all over the world.
Kinda like locking the computer into each respective
region?

I'm only guessing at this, but I don't think they use this
type of scheme just because they can - it must have some
grander purpose besides preventing piracy, otherwise the
computer/software wouldn't be treated like the single
entity (as it appears to me to be in the wording of my
Terms of Use/EULA). There are many dire warnings about the
Feds ability to suspend terms of use if the
computer/software in question is used for illegal activity.

Anyways, if this is one of the reasons why SLP is used, I
can see why it's a "trade secret" ... Not just for MS, but
maybe National Security?

Thank you for hearing me out.
 
B

Bruce Chambers

Greetings --

No, I'm not a "Microsoft person," although I do have a lot of
experience repairing PCs and using and supporting Microsoft operating
systems.

You've raised some interesting points. You've just blown the
NSA's "cover." ;-} Seriously, though, I doubt the federal government
is clever enough to have thought of such a thing. And it's a cinch
that if they had, they wouldn't have been able to keep it secret for
very long.

Actually, the "grander scheme" on the part of the major OEMs is to
maximize profits. An essential part of maximizing profits is
minimizing costs. One way that they OEMs save costs is by hiring
less-than-brilliant, shall we say, support personal. Paying a person
to say "Insert your Restore CD and reboot...." has got to be a whole
lot cheaper than hiring an experienced, competent technician who will
stay on the line for an hour or more to troubleshoot and fix the
problem. The "el-cheapo" OEMs like HP and Compaq (who are really the
same company, now) pinch pennies further by not even having the
decency to provide Restore CDs.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH
 
T

Torgeir Bakken (MVP)

Bruce said:
Then how do Dell and Gateway, amongst others, do it?

Hi

Actually, you can use the Dell OEM CD to install WinXP on a non-Dell computer
(and I would think Gateway as well). The only thing that is different, is that
the OS will not be automatically activated. This will also be the case if you
change the motherboard on a Dell computer to a non-Dell motherboard.

So the "BIOS Locking" (at least for Dell) is only for the automatic activation
part, and not the install of the OS.
 
G

Guest

Feds don't invent anything. Bright people invent and the
Feds regulate and control if they think national instest
is at stake. Computer technology has very high stakes both
economicaly (protection from piracy) and from a National
Interest/Security standpoint (federal trade laws, etc.)-
If security wasn't important, the N. America EULA/Terms of
use would not have Federal laws that includes the language
it does.

I imagined that perhaps MS and manufacturers do this to
cover themselves because of the feds (and to protect their
own corportate interests) since we have a global economy
now. Just like MS can enforce EULA agreements, so too can
computer manufacturers enforce their terms of use. But, as
I said, I had wondered (and guessed, and don't claim to
know facts).

I won't comment on Compaq's tech support. But, I will say
that I don't see any difference bewteen constantly wiping
the HD clean of XP and doing a clean install and doing a
factory restore when things go wrong. I personly like the
challenge of untangling an XP mess (usually created by me
as I learn) and find great presonal satisfaction in
solving computer problems when they arrise. If I destroy
XP every time it misbehaves, I'll never learn anything.

Off topic terribly. I apologize. Thank you for your
response.
 
M

Mike Brannigan [MSFT]

Hello,

Yes, I am a Microsoft employee.

To address your point, SLP is nothing to do with tying the product to any
particular region.
It is just about a manufacturer trying to simplify the activation process
for the end user while also maintaining the letter of the OEM EULA which is
related to the license being a "one time use" license in that it should only
be installed on the machine the OEM shipped it on. So SLP allows for an
easy way to try and tie the license and install to the specific OEM machine
by using checks against BIOS entries to activate the product.

There really isn't any other motive to use SLP it is just an option of the
large OEMs to assist the end user experience (like when you do a reinstall
you do not need to activate either via the Internet or via the telephone)

--
Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Brannigan [Microsoft]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights

Please note I cannot respond to e-mailed questions, please use these
newsgroups
 

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