PC Manufacturer ID in System Properties

[Dolemite]

How does the system know who manufactured the PC? When I first got my Dell
when you opened the System Control Panel, in the lower left of the window to
the left of where it lists the CPU speed and RAM amount it said "Manufactured
and supported by Dell" but after I reinstalled the system on to a new hard
drive, that part of the window is now blank. It still listed the correct CPU
speed and RAm, but the Dell graphic is gone.

Any idea how to get that back to showing what it did before?


Thanks for any help as this one has me stumped.

 

[James M. Fisher [MVP]]

Did you use the CDs supplied by Dell to install Windows on the new HDD?

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

Normally, that area is left for system builders to insert their logos. In a
retail install, it is blank.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Kelly]

Hi,

There are two files that need to be in C:\Windows\System, OemInfo.ini and
OemLogo.bmp. Example:

This is the text that appears underneath the OemInfo text.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware\Description\System\CentralProcessor\0]
"VendorIdentifier"="GenuineIntel"
"Identifier"="x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9"

You can modify what is listed under the Manufacturer and the Support
section. But I haven't found a way to make an URL clickable either on the
General Tab nor under Support Information.

Also, if a system is not an OEM, there isn't a Support Information tab. To
add one, go to Windows Explorer\Windows\System32. In the right pane scroll
down to OEMINFO.INI and open it in Notepad.

Here is an example to copy and paste into the opened Notepad window, modify
as you wish:

[General]
Manufacturer=Kellys XP Korner
Model=http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

[Support Information]
Line1= For Technical Support and information on frequently
Line2= asked questions, issues and fixes for Windows XP visit:
Line3= Troubleshooting Windows XP
Line4=
Line5= http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp.htm
Line6= http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm

 

[Tom Porterfield]

How does the system know who manufactured the PC? When I first got
my Dell when you opened the System Control Panel, in the lower left
of the window to the left of where it lists the CPU speed and RAM
amount it said "Manufactured and supported by Dell" but after I
reinstalled the system on to a new hard drive, that part of the
window is now blank. It still listed the correct CPU speed and RAm,
but the Dell graphic is gone.

Any idea how to get that back to showing what it did before?


Thanks for any help as this one has me stumped.

This is done by OEM's by placing two files in the \windows\system32
folder. The image is a bitmap file called oeminfo.bmp. You can create
your own. The other is called oeminfo.ini. A basic oeminfo.ini file
might look like:

[General]
Manufacturer=Dell
Model=Whatever your model number is such as Precision

[Support Information]
Line1=A DELL support number
Line2=And maybe their website at support.dell.com
Line3=Whatever additional info you want
Line4=
Line5=
Line6=
Line7=
Line8=
Line9=

--
Tom Porterfield
MS-MVP MCE
http://support.telop.org

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.

 

[Dolemite]

Hi,

There are two files that need to be in C:\Windows\System, OemInfo.ini and
OemLogo.bmp. Example:

This is the text that appears underneath the OemInfo text.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware\Description\System\CentralProcessor\0]
"VendorIdentifier"="GenuineIntel"
"Identifier"="x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9"

You can modify what is listed under the Manufacturer and the Support
section. But I haven't found a way to make an URL clickable either on the
General Tab nor under Support Information.

Also, if a system is not an OEM, there isn't a Support Information tab. To
add one, go to Windows Explorer\Windows\System32. In the right pane scroll
down to OEMINFO.INI and open it in Notepad.

Here is an example to copy and paste into the opened Notepad window, modify
as you wish:

[General]
Manufacturer=Kellys XP Korner
Model=http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

[Support Information]
Line1= For Technical Support and information on frequently
Line2= asked questions, issues and fixes for Windows XP visit:
Line3= Troubleshooting Windows XP
Line4=
Line5= http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp.htm
Line6= http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm

Thanks to all for the info.

I did re-install from the Dell provided CD's so I wonder why those two files
did not get included in the install.

Is there a way to get just those two OEM files off of the install CD's?

I'll try making my own too. And I think I can pull the Dell OEM logo file
off of my buddy's Dell. His still shows it in the System Properties window.

Thanks again for the help!

D

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Simply create and modify as desired the
"c:\windows\system32\oeminfo.ini" and
"c:\windows\system32\oemlogo.bmp" files.


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

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Kelly, one question, if I may?

How does one get the support URL to appear as a clickable,
functioning link?

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

 

[Parish]

Thanks to all for the info.

I did re-install from the Dell provided CD's so I wonder why those two files
did not get included in the install.

Probably because they are not on the CD. Dell don't build each machine
by installing off the CD, they build one then clone the HD. Maybe they
omit those files from the CD so they can tell if you've re-installed the
system (maybe related to the terms of their warranty?)

 

[Parish]

Probably because they are not on the CD. Dell don't build each machine
by installing off the CD, they build one then clone the HD. Maybe they
omit those files from the CD so they can tell if you've re-installed the
system (maybe related to the terms of their warranty?)

Just realized, I had to rebuild my Inspiron laptop with the Dell
supplied CDs. I've checked and the Dell-specific stuff is missing from
my System applet too; so it's not just yours.

 

[Kelly]

I have tried more than once, Bruce. (

The problem is that the support information is displayed in a standard text
box in the dialog, and they do not support clickable links, as such. It
might be possible to track down the responsible EXE or DLL and hack the
DLL/EXE to show labels instead of text boxes, and write the code to drive
the opening of IE when a label was clicked.

More information: You can use a resource editor (Reshacker for example) to
modify dialog 101 and 102, but this only changes the physical appearance,
not the coding of the System applet itself.

So changing the text box that shows the support information to a label, with
the appropriate color, mouse over cursor and everything else is virtually
impossible. The only feasible way to do this would be to re-write the
entire System applet.

Any takers? In the meantime, we patiently await the brave soul who can
successfully complete this binarily complex journey. <w>

Greetings --

Kelly, one question, if I may?

How does one get the support URL to appear as a clickable,
functioning link?

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

Hi,

There are two files that need to be in C:\Windows\System,
OemInfo.ini and
OemLogo.bmp. Example:

This is the text that appears underneath the OemInfo text.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware\Description\System\CentralProcessor\0]
"VendorIdentifier"="GenuineIntel"
"Identifier"="x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9"

You can modify what is listed under the Manufacturer and the Support
section. But I haven't found a way to make an URL clickable either
on the
General Tab nor under Support Information.

Also, if a system is not an OEM, there isn't a Support Information
tab. To
add one, go to Windows Explorer\Windows\System32. In the right pane
scroll
down to OEMINFO.INI and open it in Notepad.

Here is an example to copy and paste into the opened Notepad window,
modify
as you wish:

[General]
Manufacturer=Kellys XP Korner
Model=http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

[Support Information]
Line1= For Technical Support and information on frequently
Line2= asked questions, issues and fixes for Windows XP visit:
Line3= Troubleshooting Windows XP
Line4=
Line5= http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp.htm
Line6= http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm

 

[Dolemite]

Just realized, I had to rebuild my Inspiron laptop with the Dell
supplied CDs. I've checked and the Dell-specific stuff is missing from
my System applet too; so it's not just yours.

Parish,

Yeah they must not be on the install CD's at all.

I did find a site that has the Dell OEMInfo text file and OEMLogo. All you
have to do is fill in your Model number and your Service Tag number etc.

http://www.bay-wolf.com/downloads.htm

After you get the files and edit them with your system's info just follow the
instructions Kelly posted on how to install them.


Thanks again to all for the suggestions.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Oh, well. Thanks for you thoughts. I could've sworn I've seen it
done before, but I wasn't in a position, at the time to peek at the
files. Maybe I was imagining it, after 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

 

[Kelly]

No problem. But if you run across it again, take a "big" peek. )