From what i've read in other topics with posts from oem machines' owners, my impression is following: If you use Retail or Volume disc, then you have to type in either dummy key (which is also OEMM-type) or just your machine's key (stored in MSDM table). If you use OEM disc (with proper info in ei.cfg) then it will pull the key on it's own during setup. Note you have to use proper edition (8Pro or 8ProN or one of four Core editions). . No. No official "back to desktop for free".
Hey guys, dunno if that is the right place to ask. But is there another file beside sppsvc.exe that actually reads the data.dat file?
I totally approve this message ! AFAIK, this THE way to reinstall a clean OEM-DM "Factory settings" W8 machine I had to do it after i completely broke OEM-DM W8 on an Asus Ultrabook while fighting against Secure Boot, UEFI, GPT & dual boot Linux... My defeat... Reinstalling a clean W8 Core and retrieving the MSDM key worked flawlessly ! (asciitohex.com is our friend ) It's a shame Microsoft nor OEMs don't communicate about this way, and/or write the MSDM key sticked on the chassis ! One more thing. i was online when i ipk'ed the MSDM key : W8 accepted it in a blink of an eye, but license status displayed a "notification" error as a result A few seconds later, slmgr -dlv showed OEM-DM licensed. I wonder if there is some magic inside... Is this process totally offline ? Or does it need some traffic against Microsoft/OEMs validation servers ? Anyway, now we need some scripting to output the correct MSDM key from oa3tool.exe /validate straight into a human reading format ! edit : BTW and to answer some questions... In my case, it was *NOT* possible to cleanly OEM-SLP downgrade to previous Windows versions on this machine, since Asus chose to hide their "_Asus_Notebook" SLIC 2.1 code... (don't have the machine anymore to dig inside more and deal with DMI/flash mod SLIC rebirth...) Good to know before buying such kind of machines (or live with DavidXXW's Slic ToolKit when going to the store if you can )
Hi, I bought a Sony Vaio SVT13125 ultrabook with Windows 8 Core preinstalled. What happens if Windows 8 gets trashed and I cannot recover it with the provided tools? Can I? - Install Windows 8 Core again with the key provided in this forum for installation - Activate it later on with the current Windows 8 Core key that I have been able to retrieve from the ultrabook with the tool "Windows 8 Product Key Viewer" provided also in this forum? Just curious. Moonrak
We know exactly how to make the loader work for SLIC 2.2, but the change isn't an easy one. I've been gathering info most of the week and myself and BobSheep will see if we can get it done this weekend. You can BIOS mod systems with SLIC 2.2 and it'd work for Windows Server.
First of all, please retrieve your personal MSDM key, the method you like (haven't tested woot332's W8 key viewer yet...) I used Microsoft's own oa3tool.exe from the W8 ADK and hex to ascii converter... Get the full package here : microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30652 or just grab the twin exe (32 & 64bits oa3tool.exe) i extracted from the ADK and execute the simple .cmd file i provide to get your own MSDM ACPI informations inside a notepad window rghost.net/42061184 Please make sure that key retrieved matches MSDM key returned by slmgr and/or oa3tool : in your case ***-D9H33 Then comes disaster ! Say you've just bought a new SSD and could not/forgot to "copy clone" your Sony OEM_DM Channel Windows 8 disk. Install from scratch from a clean W8 ISO (warning : use correct SKU -W8 version- or your MSDM key won't work !) just as i did with the Asus Ultrabook above. During install, use a generic key : i just found something interesting here (probably retail keys for install only, no activation, not tested yet) (sorry MS french page ) microsoft.com/oem/fr/installation/downloads/Pages/windows-8-adk.aspx Once on the desktop, just input from an elevated command line slmgr -ipk "your MSDM key" and Voilà ! Check again with -dlv to ensure that everything is allright : fresh & clean "Genuine W8 OEM_DM Channel" OK pal ! Time to reinstall all your drivers & softwares ! (have a beer & cigarettes !) edit : Just tested W8 Pro key provided by MS, link above : slmgr says : OEM_COA_NSLP channel
Manolo, Si eres español, gracias por parte de un argentino! Thanks for all your tips. I will keep this information in a safe place. I retrieved my legit windows 8 key using "Windows 8 product key viewer", extracted from these forums. Okay with the beer, though I'd better drink some excellent argentinean wine. I will pass on the smoke. Regards, saludos, Moonrak
Well, its CoreSingleLanguage SKU. You can't get the installation source (yet), its not possible to activate it using your key.
Yes ! You are 100% right ! Since MSDM ipk reinjection is SKU sensitive, without any official/leaked CoreSingleLanguage Windows 8 media, this key is pretty useless I wonder what the difference between Original Core/Normal W8 version and CoreSingleLanguage is... Some sort of limitations or what ?
Not sure about that... may be we can frankenbuild Core SKU to CoreSingleLanguage SKU by exchanging license data.