i used the very nice instructions instructions here from suicide and others to make my own oem and made my own winnt.sif file. Thank you it was a very interesting project to do. sorry to be ignorant but i was wondering why does everybody want to convert a VL to a OEM when the VL version doesn't need no activation and the OEM does. the way i see it, is the VL needs a fix for the serial to make it pass the genuine test and the OEM does not. on the other hand, the OEM needs a fix to pass the validation and the VL does not. So what is the pros and cons of each and like I said at the top, why bother to convert a VL to a OEM? seems like working for nothing (like 4 quarters for a dollar)
OEM needs no fix. VL will become not genuine without fixes, and eventually will always become not genuine. The answers are here also, read some more. I dont see the reason you would want to patch files constantly when you can simply add string to dmi and worry no more about validation. DMI is not a patch or a Bios mod..simply making non-OEM to OEM...
IMHO VL is the preferred method if you have a genuine key. No tricks involved. I've been using the same XP VL key for 8 years with no problems. If you can't get your hands on a genuine key, you have to play the "dodge WGA" game with a VL version. Given that VL copies of XP have been installed at companies and educational institutions across the world for years, I don't know how people haven't found a genuine key by now. OEM is great if you have a compatible BIOS. It requires no special knowledge of a "genuine key", as they are public knowledge. However it may be a bit more involved to get it to run if your BIOS doesn't include the bits. As well, last I checked OEM key + AntiWPA3 without any OEMBIOS still passed WGA. Don't know if that's still the case.
thx guys for the replies. I need to say though that I read in the forums here somewhere that if you want to run a VM with several XPs then M$ will block you from activating an OEM at some point. I made an Asus OEM with their sn and I know that I can activate it no probs, so I do not need to use AntiWPA3 at this point. But I know that if I start doing VMWare images or VirtualBox images then the OEM activation will become a problem. This is why VL is probably a better choice. The only 2 probs I have with the VL is if institutions with VL serials migrate to Win7, they will not renew their VL serials for XP and if I used a VL serial of theirs then it will get blocked by M$ at some point in the future? I don't know if this is right, but that is what I was thinking and I am trying to prevent future screw ups. My other problem with the VL license is the ones I have used in the past have all gotten blocked. So I am out of luck. At this point I can't seem to find a good one. I am using 2 different WinXP CDs My prefered one is a WinXP Pro SP2 CD with volume label : X2PVOL_EN this is a SEL release from FTFiSO Volume label list here: hxxp://w w w.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=342 I can't find a working VL sn for that one. And the other release I am now trying with my conversion to OEM is the one from M$: en_windows_xp_professional_with_service_pack_3_x86_cd_vl_x14-73974.iso Volume Label GRTMPVOL_EN Which comes with a VL sn from M$ that I do not know if it is good or not because I converted this one to OEM. Again I do not have a good VL sn for this SP3 one either, unless the supplied VL sn from M$ is good. So I am out of luck. Any comments or recommendations? Again thx for the feedbacks.
You have just been lucky because VLK keys do get blacklisted OEM is always the way to go lost count of the number of machines i have had to convert to oem slp because of blacklisted vlk keys. Also you don't need to Mod bios just use DMI editor which is safe.
sorry but i used the search and i can't find the MDI Editor also maybe someone can answer my last reply please
These two comments show a bit of mis-information. VL may be easier blocked than OEM serials. I have used the same OEM vendor for some time testing custom builds, and have never had issues validating or downloading from WGA sites/software. You will, for sure, have more problems messing with VLK or the AntiWPA things as compared to OEM:SLP...
ok thx guys for the replies i guess i will go the oem way, but i am just preying that after i try to run and update the 100th vmware image that M$ won't ask me to call in to get another oem sn cuz that is what i had read around here somewhere. and thx for the link for the dmi editor
ok thx sebus I will try to do that i will also try to find the thread where the member was talking about vmware and oem installation when there are too many installs of xp and M$ doesn't allow you to keep using the same sn for oem
@ heyjimidude, don't mix up VLK (Volume License keys) and OEM SLP keys, OEM SLP will NEVER be blacklisted, while you need to take risk using a VLK. VLK will be sent to M$ server to be compared with those blacklisted keys, but OEM SLP keys are limited and there are only maybe a hundred for an OS. But these SLP keys are genuine if your XP is an OEM version (installed by an OEM disk).
@ Sebus, Retail you can install as many time as you like and can transfer to another machine but can't use on two machines. OEM installs only on one machine not transferable and if you do change hardware to many times you do need to call MS to reactivate. OEM SLP unlimited installs as long as you still have OEM string in dmi area or bios.
ok great thx guys great replies only one thing i needed more info on is when sebus says mod VM BIOS does he mean with the slic 2.1 tool? I have an ASUS MOBO with AMI BIOS and I made a ASUS OEM WinXP CD. I will be using VMWare 7 Workstation on WinXP
You mod vmware with tool posted on post 12 in this thread your mother board has absolutly nothing to do with the modding of vmware bios unless you want to use your ASUS OEM WinXP CD you can mod vmware for asus you can add slic 2.1 and slp 1.0 for xp with the tool.
ok thx urie, i am not exactly sure what you are saying but i will give it a try i just thought that if i made a asus oem winxp pro sp3 cd that i would not need to mod my bios for vmware. if this is what you said above urie that i understand, if not then i guess you are saying that i still need to mod it for use with vmware ok thx