Your burning the cd as a data disk. You have to burn it differently. What software are you using to burn disks? Also, you dont have to burn it on a DVD as it will fit a CDR, unless thats all you have.
I`m going to bed now cause I`m really tired after the long day. If you have time to leave me further instructions on how to copy and maybe try it out, I`ll be happy to try it and leave my results for you to check when you have time. In Ashampoo, I think I copied files and folders. I think that`s the one I used. Thank you again for your continued assistance. vistagirl.
Ok, you choose the option "Create/Burn Disk Images" then choose "Burn a CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Disk From a Disk Image". The next option will be to browse and select the ISO image. Push Browse button and select the main ISO file and push next. I wont be on here much untill Monday or Tuesday so if you get a hangup after tonight someone else may be able to pick it up untill i get back.
thank you Hello SS. Thank you for the tips. Boy I really wasn`t doing it right at all. I will try it later on today and follow your instructions. If I am successful, I`ll post my results. If not, I`ll let you know. Thank you very much for your continued help. It is people like you who make forums worth visiting. vistagirl Since you mentioned that you will be away for a few days perhaps someone else can jump in and advise me. I`m a novice when it comes to this modding stuff. sorry.
Hi I`m back I burned the ISO image as you requested, rebooted the computer. A whole bunch of stuff started by saying *Windows 98 is starting up* I have Windows XP Pro on this computer and never had 98 to begin with. Then it has 3 steps to chose from, none of which you mentioned in your instructions. The 3rd step tells me that I may have a virus and should run a scan and all sorts of stuff like that. I ran a virus scan and nothing comes up. Then I try to go back to C prompt and it won`t let me. It says that the entry is invalid and goes back to A prompt. My DVD is in E drive. I`m not sure what to do at this point. Will wait till you advise. Thank you again for all your help. vistagir.
Hello my friend Hi again. Thank you for your reply. I did all that and other than the 98 and virus warning, there weren't any 1,2,3 with menu you chose. It only gave me option to reboot now and nothing else. What I did though was take a chance on something else. I was able to acquire a vista home basic (which also had other versions in it, activation and all that other stuff). I was told it was an original version but then after unzipping the files I realized there were other friends in there too. Anyway, I deleted the other friends, installed Windows Vista Home Basic, used my own license and activated it. Of course, it did not activate automatically so they gave me a 1-800 number so I called Microsoft and got the automated thingy and I activated it over the phone. The only thing I hope is that it doesn't bug after the usual standard time is up. When I first installed it, it told me I had 3 days to activate it. I thought that wierd because I thought we had 30 days. Perhaps the guy's version was a version with cracked activation and serial numbers and only had 3 days left. I didn't ask as I knew I was going to put my legal license in there anyway. So far so good and I've done my updates and stuff. In your honest opinion, do you think I will have any problems and it will jam up on me without notice? I didn't install too much stuff in case that happens. The worst thing that can happen is that I would have to install XP Pro from scratch and lose all my installed programs.......pain in the but for sure. I do wish the guy had told me it was a program that provided activation and cracks cause I told him I had my own license and he told me it would work. I don't know how long he's had his as I didn't think it was necessary to ask at the time. I just copied the DVD without the activation and extra serial numbers and went my own way. I'm not sure about the SLIC and all that stuff and whether the fact that I got it to activate with Microsoft is a problem down the road. I'm sure you know more than I do about this. It sure would be a shame if the activation got refused at some point. Well, if it said I had 3 days to activate, I guess I'll know in 3 days if my activation was good or not. I don't trust Microsft anymore that's for sure. Thanks again for your reply. vistagirl.
If you went ahead and phone activated you are good to go as far as activation. That is the way Microsoft prefers you to do it. The down side is that without SLIC in the bios you would not be able to upgrade to a more expensive Vista without buying that version and phone activating again. If you ever have to reinstall Vista over you will have to call again to get it activated EVERY time. Each time you have to phone in you have to get a little crafty with why you have to activate because they must think twice is enough even though its your valid key they think you must explain to them why you must activate. SLIC added to a bios is needed to clone and test a Royality OEM activation install routine because it makes it a lot easier to test different versions of Vista down the road by just picking out a OEM install key that matches the version you want to install and without the BS hassle mentioned above. SLIC is also used by Royality OEM venders as a way to auto activate Vista without having new customers needing to call when they 1st load up there OS. With SLIC added and the right disk you can reinstall as many times as you want and pick what version you want without needing to phone anyone. Hope that helps explain the differences, but happy you got it done and activated. People new to SLIC can still read this thread and pick up some things so its all good.
Hello again Hello again my friend. Therefore do you still think it's wise to add the SLIC to the bios even if Vista is now installed? Also, if your answer is yes, would it cause problems down the road? Thank you for your reply. vistagirl
If you are activated you are ok for now..its just a hassle having to call them every time. If a problem with activation happens again i would look into SLIC and the OEM method as you can always revert back to the old bios if needed. The only issue "down the road" that may come up is if "they" start to compare a modded bios vs real SLP bios. In my opinion modders should go ahead and at least add in the matching manufactures name in the expected areas. Especially in cases where an OEM board model can also be bought as retail. Some OEM's use there own custom bios so they would be cases where cloning an exact OEM bios would'nt be possible or done easily. If you look at WGA reports of boards that have been modded you can tell because at the bottom of the report is a <Manufacture> Vender Name Here area. The reports on real OEM boards, in most all cases, will have the OEM manufactures name instead of the board manufactures name or just a generic "System Manufacturer" string. Example WGA report result on a real OEM Asus board: <Manufacture> Dell Inc Example WGA report results on a modded retail Asus board: <Manufacturer>System Manufacturer I also think its somewhat important to use OEM keys that match the manufacture SLIC or have been found on the matching manufacture. Its not important now, but if you take the examples above, and they start to look a little closer, mods can be spotted. Lets say if the below info all match correctly and equals an activated system which passes a future WGA scan: Lets say you used any old Ultimate key and a WGA scan expects one of 2 specific keys to be there, plus one didnt included Y & Z info above into a modded bios then you would fail all three results and wont activate. That can be done easily they just dont do it currently.
You do have it the proper way. The only problems in the future is that you must phone in to activate.
Exceuse my interuption, but I've been folowing this thread for several days... I've seen that you made a DOS program with menus to flash the bios with no succes. Why simply not make a autoexec.bat file and write the comands for the flashing procedure inside ??? All @vistagirl has to do after, is to make a boootable disk just a she did beofe, but this time the flashing procedure will be automated with no user input needed.
She said she couldnt see the menu options and testing the ISO within Virtual Pc it works fine, the menu that is. Ive used this method to make DMI editor disks and use them all the time so i dont know why she didnt see anything. The screenshot i gave of the menu is from the exact ISO i sent. As far as automated, it does all run from a autoexec.bat i just used the menu so both modified and non-modified were easily available by just key choices. It also appears that she was dead set on using her COA key, which is perfectly fine, so i didnt push ahead with the menu issue.
I`m interested...what do I do? I`ll post a question after this post pertaining to what I`ve been doing this week.
Your sticker COA key is there as a backup, its the key you paid for, which has to be phone activated and used if you ever have to format off the original master copy which came with it new. The only other way to avoid using the COA key is to re-create a master OEM install disk and use the SLP key and then add the OEM bios info like the OEM's do at the factory. This I would like to have it possible. This way I wouldn`t need to go through all that hasle the next time. These updates, like IE7 always seem to muck up using Windows Update. Its best to search there site for the standalone setup.exe and just download it to the desktop and do a install that way. For SP1 i would advise to disable the anti-virus until its done and the system has been rebooted. Its doing alot of system changes and you don't need the anti-virus slowing it down or causing issues. I do have the stadalone 32 bit Vista SP1 downloaded and when I tried to install, got the same error message. The only thing is that I hadn`t disabled AV. But I will retry. I will try downloading the one in your link in case mine was incorrect. Thank you Vistagirl