I've been desperately trying to fulfill a request to have the x64 version of Server 2003 R2 Standard on an old Poweredge T300, but I only have 32 bit media. I've been reading these forums, and there are a lot of posts that suggest I might be able to make my own Dell OEM disk, but all of my attempts have not accepted my OEM key. I was able to use xdelta3, and CRMSXEVL_EN-2-CRMSXFPP_EN.delta, to turn my 2003 R2 Standard x64 trial iso into an MSDN retail cd, but after this point I get lost. My setupp.ini reads as follows: [Pid] ExtraData=786F687170637175716954806365EF Pid=69712OEM I don't know where to put the oembios files, and I'm not sure what my PID.inf should look like, but, worst of all, I'm not sure if there's still more I need to do. Please, I could really use some help understanding this process, and I promise I've read all of the threads that are commonly pointed to, but they seem to gloss over the specifics of what I'm trying to do, and just provide the files I need. P.S. If there is a way to go from VLK to OEM for 2003 R2 Standard, that would be just as good. The thread that talks about this process suggests that it will only work for Enterprise, so I haven't tried it.
Thank you very much for you reply. Just to be sure that I understand you, I can copy the oembios files from my existing 32bit cds of the same version?
Wow, this is a million times easier than I thought. Thank you very much sebus. For people who are in my situation in the future: Download the Windows 2003 Standard R2 x64 ISO named X13-05825, and CRMSXEVL_EN-2-CRMSXFPP_EN.7z, from the first link in sebus' post. Once you have those, you need to download a copy of xdelta3, which can be picked up from xdelta. org Open up a command prompt, and cd to the directory where you have placed xdelta3 (if you place it in windows\system32, you can invoke the command from any working directory.) Run the following command: xdelta3 decode -s C:\path\to\X13-05825.img C:\path\to\CRMSXEVL_EN-2-CRMSXFPP_EN.delta This provides you with en_win_srv_2003_r2_standard_x64_with_sp2_cd1_X13-05757.iso. I'm told that this is equivalent to an MSDN "retail" disc. Now you need to figure out how you're going to get oembios files. A lot of the links I tried to click on were dead, and I don't know if oembios files change from vendor to vendor. I was able to get MY oembios files because I already had a working 32bit oem disc, and all I wanted was the 64bit version. I recommend using magicISO for this next step, as ultraISO produced non-bootable ISOs when I used it. So, open your newly created en_win_srv_2003_r2_standard_x64_with_sp2_cd1_X13-05757.iso in magicISO, and drag those oembios files into the AMD64 folder. Copy, replace, whatever; just get those files in there. I'm not sure what the significance of setupp.ini is, but this is the second, and final, edit I needed to make to my ISO. Mine ended up reading as follows: [Pid] ExtraData=786F687170637175716954806365EF Pid=69712OEM Now, save the image, and you should be good to go. The last bit of information you'll need is also in sebus' post. The key you were using may work in the 32 bit version, and not for the 64 bit. That was the case with mine, anyway. I got a working key from the last link in sebus' post. I typed the key in manually, during the gui phase of the windows install, and it was accepted. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the info, Tito! If there's one more question I could ask, it would be: Many posts suggest that one should only change the last three characters, inside their existing setupp.ini. What would be the difference between Pid=76869OEM, and Pid=69712OEM? The latter, 69712, was what was in my original dell oem 32bit cd, and the former, 76869, was in my trial iso, after I had converted it using delta.