Preserving OEM Activation in Windows Vista and Windows 7



Preserving OEM Activation in Windows Vista and Windows 7

Microsoft Corporation

October 2009

Applies to:

• Windows® 7 Starter

• Windows 7 Home Premium

• Windows 7 Professional

• Windows 7 Ultimate

• Windows Vista® Starter

• Windows Vista Home Basic

• Windows Vista Home Premium

• Windows Vista Business

• Windows Vista Ultimate

Abstract

An updated version of the description of how to add or remove software from an existing OEM-preinstalled Windows Vista or Windows 7 images, while preserving the pre-activation state applied in the OEM factory.

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© 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft, Windows, Windows Server, and Windows Vista are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

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Contents

Preserving OEM Activation 5

Customizing Windows in audit mode 5

Updating by using audit mode 6

Preparing the computer for delivery 6

Prepare an image for ongoing maintenance 6

Customizing Windows by using offline-servicing tools 8

Adding Customizations in Windows 7 by using DISM 8

Adding Packages in Windows Vista (Package Manager) 8

Preserving OEM Activation

A common scenario for businesses buying original equipment manufacturer (OEM) systems with Windows Vista® or Windows® 7 preinstalled is that the business has line-of-business (LOB) applications, device drivers, and other software that they wish to add before they deploy these computers into their IT environment.

OEMs frequently pre-activate Windows Vista or Windows 7 when it is installed on computers that they manufacture. This paper explains how to update and customize existing OEM-preinstalled Windows Vista or Windows 7 images, while preserving the preactivation state that was applied in the OEM factory.

Businesses can preserve the preactivated status of Windows Vista or Windows 7, by using one of the following approved methods to modify an OEM-preinstalled Windows Vista or Windows 7 image:

• In an online environment, use audit mode.

• In an offline environment, use offline-servicing tools such as the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool or Package Manager.

We recommend that businesses take advantage of the work done by their OEM and add to the factory image or subtract from it, to create the desired image, by using the audit mode process. This will ensure that OEM activation remains intact.

The following alternatives to OEM activation are available as well:

1. Clean Installations. OEM activation will not be preserved and activation will be required manually on a per-machine basis,

2. Volume License Installations. OEM activation is bypassed and activation is provided by Key Management Services (KMS) or Microsoft® Activation Keys (MAK). For more information about KMS or MAK, see this Microsoft Web site.

Customizing Windows in audit mode

Audit mode enables you to customize a Windows installation without having to configure the user interface pages of Windows Welcome. Audit mode is ideal for making changes to a Windows image before shipping a computer to an end user or capturing the image for reuse in your organization. For more information about audit mode, see the topic: "Understanding Audit Mode" in the Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit (Windows OPK) or Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK).

[pic]Important

If you use the sysprep /audit command to boot to audit mode, the computer will be removed from a domain. You must rejoin the computer to a domain in audit mode.

Updating by using audit mode

Use the following steps to update an image by using audit mode.

1. Boot Windows into audit mode. If your system is configured to boot to Windows Welcome, power on the computer, then at the Windows Welcome screen, press CTRL+SHIFT+F3.

For more information about audit mode, see the following topics in the Windows OPK or the Windows AIK documentation: "Customize Windows in Audit Mode," and "How Configuration Passes Work."

2. Install software, drivers, or LOB applications.

3. Prepare the computer for shipping, image capturing, or ongoing maintenance.

• If you plan to ship the computer to the end user, or to capture an image of the computer for deployment, see the section "Prepare the computer for delivery" later in this topic.

- or -

• If you plan to perform future maintenance on this image, see the section "Prepare the image for ongoing maintenance" later in this topic.

Preparing the computer for delivery

If you plan to ship the computer to the end user, or to capture an image of the computer for deployment, you must first:

• Remove the computer-specific information from the image. This is called generalizing the image.

• Reset the Windows activation clock. This maintains the 30-day grace period during which Windows activation is not required. This is called rearming the activation clock.

[pic]Important

End users may see an error if the activation clock has been rearmed more than three times. For more information, see this Microsoft Web site.

To generalize the image and rearm the activation clock:

• In audit mode, in the System Preparation Tool window, select Generalize and Shutdown, and then click OK. The computer generalizes the image, rearms the activation clock, and shuts down.

At this point, the computer is now ready for shipping to the end user.

You can also use image capturing tools, such as Windows PE and ImageX, to capture your image and deploy to other computers. For more information, see the topic: "Capture and Apply Images" in the Windows OPK or the Windows AIK documentation.

Prepare an image for ongoing maintenance

If you are planning on performing further maintenance on the image, disable the Windows activation clock and generalize the image:

1. On your technician computer, create an unattended-setup answer file, or open an existing answer file. For more information, see the following topic in the Windows OPK or the Windows AIK documentation: "Create a New Answer File".

[pic]Important

Make sure the answer file does not include product-key settings (Microsoft-Windows-Setup\UserData\ProductKey\Key or Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup\ProductKey), to avoid overwriting the product key already present in the OEM image. Inserting a blank entry may also result in an error.

2. Set the Unattend setting: SkipRearm to 1. In Windows Vista, this setting is located in the Microsoft-Windows-Security-Licensing-SLC component. In Windows 7, this setting is located in the Microsoft-Windows-Security-SPP component.

This setting enables you to generalize the image as many times as necessary.

3. Save this file, and copy it to the reference computer.

4. Generalize the reference computer.

• In audit mode, open a Command Prompt window as an administrator.

• Use the sysprep command with the /generalize, /shutdown, /audit, and /unattend:answerfile options:

sysprep /generalize /shutdown /audit /unattend:F:\Unattend.xml

The computer generalizes the image and shuts down. Windows Setup does not rearm the image.

At this point, the image is ready for further maintenance, but is not ready for delivery to an end user.

[pic]Warning

If the Windows activation clock is not re-enabled and the image is not used, the activation timer grace period may expire. The next time the technician boots a computer that uses this image, Windows may display system-activation notifications.

To prepare the computer for delivery, re-enable the Windows activation clock:

1. On your technician computer, set the unattended-setup setting: SkipRearm back to 0. Save the file, and copy it to your reference computer.

2. Turn on your reference computer. The computer will start in audit mode.

3. Open a Command Prompt window as an administrator.

4. Use the sysprep command with the /generalize, /shutdown, /oobe and /unattend:answerfile options:

sysprep /generalize /shutdown /oobe /unattend:F:\Unattend.xml

At this point, the computer is now ready for delivery. All activation-related licensing and registry data is removed or reset, and any grace-period timers are reset.

You can also use image-capturing tools, such as Windows PE and ImageX, to capture your image and deploy to other computers. For more information, see the topic: "Capture and Apply Images" in the Windows OPK or the Windows AIK documentation.

Customizing Windows by using offline-servicing tools

To update your image offline, you can use DISM to customize Windows 7or Package Manager to customize Windows Vista.

Adding Customizations in Windows 7 by using DISM

DISM is a command-line tool used to service Windows images offline before deployment. You can use it to install, uninstall, configure, and update Windows features, packages, drivers, and international settings.

DISM is installed with Windows 7, and it is also distributed in the Windows OPK and the Windows AIK. It can be used to service Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows Server® 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Preinstallation Environment images. DISM replaces several Windows deployment tools, including PEimg, Intlcfg, and Package Manager. For more information about adding customizations with DISM, see the following topics in the Windows OPK or the Windows AIK documentation: "Phase 5: Managing and Servicing Your Windows Image" and "Add or Remove Packages Online".

Adding Packages in Windows Vista (Package Manager)

Package Manager is a tool that is installed as a component of Windows Vista. It is also distributed in the Windows Vista OPK and is installed by default in the \Tools\Servicing folder.

Package Manager can be used to install or remove packages, such as security updates, language packs or service packs. Package Manager can also be used to enable or disable Windows features on an offline Windows image. Drivers are treated as components, so you can also add or remove a driver on an offline Windows image using Package Manager.

Package Manager is called by Windows Setup during a normal installation. It runs transparently during a Windows installation or update. It can also be initiated from the command prompt to install packages on an offline computer using an unattended-installation answer file. For unattended installation of service packs or other updates, it must be run manually at a command prompt.

The following steps provide an outline of the procedure that updates an image by using Package Manager.

1. Prepare the Windows Vista OEM-preinstalled image to be modified with Package Manager.

For information about how to use Package Manager, see the following topics in the Windows OPK or the Windows AIK documentation: "Package Manager Command-Line Options," and "Package Manager Technical Reference."

2. Install software, drivers, or LOB applications.

3. Duplicate and deploy the image.

For a step-by-step walkthrough of how to use Package Manager, see the following topic in the Windows OPK or the Windows AIK documentation: "Windows Vista Deployment Step by Step Guide."

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