Vista Unattend Installation not excepting Product Key

[ghines]

Hi all,

I have a Dell PC that I want to image as we will be purchasing
several more of the same model. The PC comes with Vista Business
preinstalled and activated, all ready to go.

I've installed our applications, done all the necessary configurations
and then sysprep'd it using my unattend file using the command:-

sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:sysprep.xml

I've then taken an image using imagex and restored it to another PC
(same make and model). All worked fine except I'm not prompted for a
Product Key and Vista says it's activated.

I did a bit of searching and found I should be deleting the
DigitalProductId registry value under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software
\Microsoft\windows NT\CurrentVersion. I did this, before I sysprep'd,
and now I'm prompted to enter the Product Key. So I enter the key
that's on the side of the Dell PC and the installation completes
without any problems or errors.

However, when you try and activate you get the error message:-

"The Windows Vista Business product key you typed is invalid for
activation"

with several options for you to choose. One is to enter a different
product key. If you select that option and enter the same product key
Vista gets activated without errors.

How can I change my installation so it accepts the Product Key during
the installs and then automatically activates without having to enter
the same key again?

TIA

Greg

 

[Anthony [MVP]]

Greg,
You can run slmgr -upk from the command line before sysprep to remove the
product key.
Anthony,
http://www.airdesk.co.uk

 

[Dave R.]

Hi all,

I have a Dell PC that I want to image as we will be purchasing
several more of the same model. The PC comes with Vista Business
preinstalled and activated, all ready to go.

I've installed our applications, done all the necessary configurations
and then sysprep'd it using my unattend file using the command:-

sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:sysprep.xml

I've then taken an image using imagex and restored it to another PC
(same make and model). All worked fine except I'm not prompted for a
Product Key and Vista says it's activated.

I did a bit of searching and found I should be deleting the
DigitalProductId registry value under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software
\Microsoft\windows NT\CurrentVersion. I did this, before I sysprep'd,
and now I'm prompted to enter the Product Key. So I enter the key
that's on the side of the Dell PC and the installation completes
without any problems or errors.

However, when you try and activate you get the error message:-

"The Windows Vista Business product key you typed is invalid for
activation"

with several options for you to choose. One is to enter a different
product key. If you select that option and enter the same product key
Vista gets activated without errors.

How can I change my installation so it accepts the Product Key during
the installs and then automatically activates without having to enter
the same key again?

Preserving the OEM pre-activation like you had in your initial image is
a good thing. The reason you are having the problem activating with the
key from the sticker (per
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457078(TechNet.10).aspx )
is that "In order to reduce a significant source of piracy, Microsoft
has disabled online activation for COA Keys that are attached to PCs
that have been pre-activated by OEMs."

Regards,

Dave

 

[ghines]

Preserving the OEM pre-activation like you had in your initial image is
a good thing.  The reason you are having the problem activating with the
key from the sticker (perhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457078(TechNet.10).aspx)
is that "In order to reduce a significant source of piracy, Microsoft
has disabled online activation for COA Keys that are attached to PCs
that have been pre-activated by OEMs."

Regards,

Dave- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks Dave, that explains a lot.

Greg