I am interested in seeing the examples of code to query and match asset tag/mac with a key source. I believe it might also be possible to get the asset tag programmatically from the bios (at least on dell machines).
Cheers, Scott -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Patrick J. LoPresti Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 4:06 PM To: Michael Kahle Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Unattended] OT: winxpoem bad serial number!?! Michael Kahle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Today I was testing out the XP install on VMWare when I was greeted > with an error during the unattended install of Windows XP. It read, > "Error: The Product ID you entered is not valid."! *groan* So my > question is this, am I to assume that IBM has different oem "versions" > (for lack of a better word) of Windows XP for the different machines > that they use? There are rumors that some OEM versions of XP are "BIOS locked" to a particular vendor's hardware. I have been skeptical of these rumors, but perhaps that is the problem. Can you clarify a bit? Are you saying that the same installation media and serial number work on one machine but not on VMware? (This would favor the "BIOS locked" theory.) Or are you saying you have two different installation media and the serial numbers are not compatible between them? (This would be more what I would expect, and it can be dealt with.) Take a look at the i386\setupp.ini on one of your CDs. In theory, the "Pid" string uniquely identifies the kind of product keys which that media needs. > The idea here is that we purchased copies of XP pre loaded (as if we > had a choice!) on these machines and I thought we could get away with > using unattended as long as I used the serial number on the machine. > So where do I go from here? That should work fine. You just might have to pick the precise media and product key based on the machine you are installing. I have code to use a spreadsheet for this... I prompt for our corporate "asset tag" of the system, and use it as an index into the spreadsheet. Shad has code which uses the MAC address similarly. I am working on turning these into real examples, but we can surely share the code with you in advance of that. > If this doesn't work I am thinking of just upgrading our company to > some sort of site license for Windows XP Pro. Any suggestions as to > what flavor of license I should go for? To go this route, you want an "Open License". You need to buy five or more copies of XP to qualify. An Open License is a volume license; the machines you install will require no activation. Now, is it strictly legal to buy 5 open licenses and then use the volume key and media to install your 100 machines, given that those machines already shipped with an OEM version of XP? I don't see why not... But if it bothers you, you can do as I mention above and select both the media and the product key based on the particular machine you are installing. - Pat ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: SF.net Giveback Program. Does SourceForge.net help you be more productive? Does it help you create better code? SHARE THE LOVE, and help us help YOU! Click Here: http://sourceforge.net/donate/ _______________________________________________ unattended-info mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/unattended-info
