[WIP][HELP] Making a simple guide to make the "best" Windows 7 ISO

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by kebabstorm, Mar 31, 2022.

  1. Enthousiast

    Enthousiast MDL Tester

    Oct 30, 2009
    47,274
    94,766
    450
    I asked the "dev" of this "tool".

    N versions are not a feature they are crippled by design enforced by EU law, never advised to use them (and it will be at the same build as non N);
     
  2. KaptanJackSparr0w

    KaptanJackSparr0w MDL Novice

    Feb 17, 2023
    11
    0
    0
    Speed reading :doh:, I missed the N, Yeah I don't really want a feature crippled EU version, since from what I understand they are compatibility issues with those even if you don't use those features. the Full Blown version seems to be down at the links provided.
     
  3. Enthousiast

    Enthousiast MDL Tester

    Oct 30, 2009
    47,274
    94,766
    450
    ?
     
  4. ORZpasserAtw

    ORZpasserAtw MDL Novice

    Sep 8, 2020
    18
    4
    0
    I prefer Enterprise because you can active with KMS_VL_ALL_AIO, not old ass DAZ which is only work in MBR mode
     
  5. It is not true. As I have answered here.
     
  6. shhnedo

    shhnedo MDL Expert

    Mar 20, 2011
    1,676
    2,225
    60
    Interesting how you say "old" like it's outdated to the point where it doesn't work and there's a need for something newer.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  7. kebabstorm

    kebabstorm MDL Junior Member

    Aug 3, 2016
    94
    121
    0
    Yeah nothing really wrong with DAZ loader, it's just that injecting a SLIC into your BIOS (and thus modifying your system at the very lowest level, motherboard flash memory) is a pretty invasive method in my opinion as it stays behind even when you uninstall the OS (and even if you remove the hard drive altogether).

    Modifying the kernel to emulate a SLIC compatible BIOS isn't what I'd call "clean" either. Also in non-standard environments like virtualization it might or might not work at all. I am not saying the tool is bad nor useless, it's just that there are better methods so there isn't really any reason to use it.

    The KMS method was always preferred for being the cleaner option even when you needed a server emulator but for the latest method, avrf hooking, if you understood how it worked (you can check it out yourself, it's open source) you'd know that it's the superior option to everything else. Only reason to not use it would be if you happen to have one of the small handful of motherboards which can't work with it since they are blacklisted to not be used for KMS activation (error 0xC004F035). I haven't stumbled to one of these ever and haven't even found any information on any motherboard models that wouldn't work but supposedly they do exist.
     
  8. Carlos Detweiller

    Carlos Detweiller Emperor of Ice-Cream

    Dec 21, 2012
    6,358
    7,077
    210
    Nope, it doesn't touch the BIOS. The Loader uses a hidden file and a hook in the first MBR (by default, boot sector is also possible) to inject a SLIC table into the BIOS shadow (a copy of the BIOS tables in RAM as the original BIOS ROM/flash RAM is slow). The system reads the table from the BIOS shadow and not the original one (or the missing original one) from the true BIOS. The patching-on-the-fly process is repeated on every boot.
     
  9. kebabstorm

    kebabstorm MDL Junior Member

    Aug 3, 2016
    94
    121
    0
    Thank you for the enlightenment as my information on this was wrong/outdated, I must have mixed the daz loader's method with some other one. Those are the two methods though, either write the SLIC directly to the flash or use a hook to emulate it, right?
     
  10. Carlos Detweiller

    Carlos Detweiller Emperor of Ice-Cream

    Dec 21, 2012
    6,358
    7,077
    210
    Yes, hard-modifying the BIOS is done by hand, we have a complete forum section dedicated to that. Modified BIOS usually works in every situation, and the Loader only has to install the matching certificate and an OEM:SLP key. It's somewhat more risky to modify such a vital system component, however, not even remotely as risky as it was in the early times when flash BIOS just emerged. Back then, you truly sweated and prayed though the whole process.
    Emulation is done in software (BIOS shadow) and much safer. However, it might not work everywhere, anymore, some Server OS require certain tables to be in ROM, for example. Daz Loader uses Grub4DOS and thus cannot install the Loader to GPT-partitioned media. There is also a Loader for UEFI, called EZWindSLIC, aiming to fill the gap.