Hi all....New boy here...Hope this is in right spot .. Been reading about making custom OEM Vista install discs to match modded mobo BIOS. I have two boards i play with.. Abit AW9D Max Asrock 775 Dual VSTA I have downloaded for my Abit,the modded BIOS and the OEM discs files. I have flashed my BIOS and made a new install disc adding the OEM files. I do get a NONE activated Vista though. The problem i think is down to me making my install disc with Vlite.I did not alter any files or slipstreem SP1 but i did make it unatended by adding the KEY to be installed automaticly. I gather this is wrong so i have just made a fresh install disc via magic ISO. Off to test in a mo. What i would like to ask for is the Asrock 775 Dual VSTA oem files. I have searched these forums and not come accross it. I do have the modded BIOS file downloaded from a link off these forums. Yet to flash the BIOS on that board. Is it possible to make my own OEM files for the asrock board ? Hope somebody can point me in the right direction. just like to point out,running XP. untill i can fathem out an activated Vista without a bootloader type app. Are these modded BIOS's detectable by M.Soft ? phew...My fingers are aching. Not typed this much since i learnt how to copy xbox games.ahh the good old days....
befour you try to think about flashing your asrock mobo please check if the file is up to date if not tell me and i will mod to you
ohhhhhhh....I must be confusing my self.Sorry,but which file has to be up to date ? An original Asrock BIOS ? I have downloaded the latest one from their site. Also i read somewhere that there are not Asrock OEM files but to use Asus ones.This confuses me even more ! You say you can mod me one...That sounds great and very interesting. can you share the secrets of this ? I love learning new things and all this has been going through my head all last night while at work...Love it ! I need to get out more..LOL..
Well falling at the first hurdle. I have formatted a floppy. Coppied the modded bios files over reboot PC Default = first boot > floppy With floppy inside A drive it just tells me to "Remove Diskett" and press any button.... ????????????? I have gone through the settings and all seems OK. Serached the web for help but found nowt. Why cant i boot from floppy ? After booting into SAFE MODE WITH COMMAND then trying to boot from A drive i get this message " Error 18 chipset/flash part is unavailable.the function will be invalid. After some searching it seems i need to boot from a Windows 98 start up disk. then copy the bios flash files onto this and boot. Off to try...
Well dug up my old Windows floppy start up disc and decided to use the MS DOS floppy. Just coppied the Asrock ASRflash.exe plus the modded bios file. Booted up to A drive and eventually i got bios update completed ! Hurrah.... Stage one done... Stage two....Get windows to install from a usb pen.. This bit i have not been able to do.. I formatted my 4gig pen drive in FAT (fat16) i believe. I used magic iso to extact all the Vista files to my USB pen. I added the OEM folder. Tried to boot from USB with NO joy.. Some more reading needed...LOL any tips on stage two ?
@ tnx, sorry can't help you there don't even know if that is possible i just install from dvd it is bootable or from iso when testing in vmware or virtual pc with modded bios.
DONE IT !!!!!!! DONE IT !!!!!! Firstly i found out how to make a USB drive properly prepared to install Vista off.. Secondly..... VISTA ACTIVATED on my Asrock PC... Wow what a feeling.....This is fantastic....I have a activated Vista without any cracks or bootloaders... Brilliant....I never did like using those types of activators.You never know what is really going on. a MASIVE thanks to all who have helped me with my Asrock PC. Now i will apply this knowledge to doing the same for my main Abit PC. Want to test if this will work after slipstreeming SP1 into Vista using Vlite.