On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 10:45 AM, David Lum <david....@nwea.org> wrote:
> I don’t know that the key is embedded in the BIOS so much that the OS
> install looks for some specific BIOS properties, I’ve been able to
> re-install via CD across various Dell models (I can install XPSP3 on a
> machine that came with XPSP2, for example).
XP is not Win 8.
From my investigations:
XP's OEM pre-activation involved a few files on the OEM CD
("OEMBIOS.*"). Typically all CDs from a given OEM were identical (or
maybe within a major product line), all containing the same OEM SLP
PK (which did *not* match the COA PK for any given unit). There was
nothing unit-specific in the BIOS that was checked. The XP activation
routines just checked to make sure the OEM hardware generically
matched the OEM software. If it did, the system was considered
pre-activated; the user did not need to enter a PK. If that failed,
there was still a PK printed on the COA which the user could enter.
Win 8 is completely different. There is no COA. There is no PK
provided to the customer. The unit-specific activation data is
installed in the ACPI BIOS. Specifically, two tables are mentioned
SLIC ("software license") and MSDM ("Microsoft Data Management"). The
OEM loads the data during manufacturing. The Win 8 activation
routines verify the integrity of the BIOS info vs the rest of the
hardware signature, and against the overmind at Microsoft, to
activate.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/hh673514.aspx
OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer (MSFT uses this to mean "PC vendor")
SLP = System Locked Pre-Activation
PK = Product Key
COA = Certificate of Authenticity
-- Ben
~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~
~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
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