Can anyone guide me on BIOS modding for generic Phoenix BIOS? It will be helpful if general instructions and tips are given. My aim is not so much of coming up with a modded but learning RE.
But can/should I install SP2 on a running (and de-activated) Vista SP1 system? Is it possible that SP2, during install, overwrites some system files, restoring them (some eventually corrupted by Vista loaders and other cracks - although I uninstalled all with several tools I found around...) to an original/genuine version, making then activation work? Yes, I did, China4Ever. When I first installed Vista Ultimate SP0 on my actual HDD (November 2008), I used Vista Developer Activation, which worked perfectly until June 6th 2009. Since it got de-activated, and before reading about bios hardmodding, I tried all the Vista loaders, activators, cracks, softmods, etc, one could imagine. I knew absolutely nothing about Vista activation. (I did my very first bios flash 2 weeks ago! ) At some point, Vista didn't even boot; that's when I read about and did the commands "Bootsect.exe /nt60 C:", "Bootrec.exe /FixMbr", "Bootrec.exe /FixBoot", "Bootrec.exe /ScanOs" and "Bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd" with Vista DVD. So, I suppose my MBR is ok. What if I try to replace "pkeyconfig.xrm-ms" and "tokens.dat" with the original/genuine files? Maybe they are corrupted and a fresh overwriting could have some effect in activation...
@Vampyres In my honest opinion, I would prefer to do a full format and installing vista SP2 from the beginning instead of trying to fix something nobody knows if can be totally fixed or not. If you can save your personal data and do a clean install, I'm sure this way will have an happy ending.