HotCarl, 911medic and FuzzyMaster, thank you for all that info, I think I got the general idea. It seems that I went wrong thinking that you get a bootable OEM disk with the machine. My only excuse is that I've never had an OEM system before. domme2812, thank you for making that clear. I'll double-check the situation before flashing (perhaps PM you). Just one more question if I may: Naturally, I am planning on going the legitimate way once I managed to buy a copy of Windows 7. What is the correct procedure turning the OEM installation into a non-OEM legitimate installation with my own key? Is it even possible? Judging from the installation procedure of the OEM activation, I am assuming that I have to revert the whole thing all the way back (remove key and certificate, reboot, re-flash the original BIOS), and then enter the new key when Windows starts. Am I on the right track? PS. Before you ask "Why do you go through the hassle when you are planning on going legitimate?": the laptop is for my wife's birthday, which is well before the Windows 7 release and it is more convenient to replace the OEM BIOS/certificate/key in 30mins than backing up everything, installing Win7 and restoring the previous state (which is nearly impossible)...
I think you'll need just to execute these two commands in command prompt launched with administrator privileges: Code: slmgr -upk slmgr -ipk YOUR-LEGITIMATE-CDKEY-HERE And then do official online/phone activation. Reflashing BIOS is not necessary, but if you want to hide your traces, you can do it.
there's a big advantage to use the OEM way to activate your OS as the system will be activated permanently, u'll never get a desactivated OS cause u changed some hardware or installed new driver, what happened a lot for me with vista. made me feel like the OS i bought was not really mine. so i stopped using my personal licence and modded my bios to get my OS permanently activated and never get any online-check to see if i changed some hardware or installed a new driver. the OEM activation way just care about the slic table bios, the right certificat for the right slic table bios and the right key. i never had my OS desactivated anymore since i use the OEM way to activate the OS.
NC10 bios mod Hi domme2812, now that we have available Samsung certificate+bin+keys, would it be a big problem for you to make 11CA bios with them included? (not HP anymore) Also for some people an 04CA would be also nice as it has the hidden menu for advanced settings in bios. BIG thank you for your mod, I am really enjoying it.
Just wanted to point out that the Intel Atom N270 used in the Samsung NC10 and many other netbooks is NOT 64-bit capable.
Maybe your PC could also be a SAMSUNG... but the flashed BIOS... has it a SAMSUNG SLIC in it ?? You can read it from the SLIC DUMP Toolkit. It's not so strange that the guy who modded the BIOS could have used a different SLIC. Sometimes the mod is old, so there was no SAMSUNG SLIC available. Anyway, it's not a problem... check in the Toolkit what's your SLIC and use a Certs for THAT SLIC... The Brand of your PC is not important, only the SLIC that is into the BIOS rules. On the contrary, if your SLIC is SAMSUNG (Looking in the Toolkit), maybe you need a Certificate 2.1 (just like 911medic pointed out), cause an old Cert (2.0) is for Vista and not for Win 7. Finally, the key is not so important... every Ultimate key is good for an Ultimate install. P.S. Yep... i was still writing while you answered... you only need the 2.1 Certs as 911medic told you.
Done. Works, thank you. Shall I send a PM to OPA to have the link to the certificates updated in the guide?
Just a quick note about a previous post where you said you were only waiting to go legit - by all means buy a legit copy if it makes you feel better but just put it into your cupboard and continue to use the OEM installation - as someone said back when you posted - the OEM install allows for you to change things around to suit yourself including re-installling if need be without the online activation hassle which will ultimately require you to phone in and beg to use your OS if you use up the meagre number of online activations M$ allow. This is why I went the OEM route in the first place - hardware upgrades plus a few BSODs trying out exotic software. Ran out of XP online activations - 5 I think - years ago (2003 I think) so used activation hacks since then but have had legit software in the cupboard.
911medic, I prefer the manual way - thank you for the offer though. Rosco, done that, it's sitting right here (paid 277€ for it). But. I did not even open it because I have the same feeling as you do.