Creating standard Win 7 Image but no COA's with new laptops

[taysr]

Hey everyone,

I'm trying to wrap my head around this scenario.

We have about 20 new HP Elitebook 8470P laptops sitting downstairs, they have come with Win 7 Pro already on them, and i'm guessing the cd key is loaded in the bios just like Win 8 because underneath the laptop it has Win 8 sticker but no COA (nothing in battery compartment either)

My question is, how can I create a standard image and then load it onto all the other pc's if i'm unable to load each individual license key on the laptops?

Or is windows smart enough to activate with each laptops key that's stored in the bios?

Hope this makes sense!

 

[gikstar]

You could boot each laptop up and run keyfinder to get the key and maybe there is a different key for each one or a master key.

I wasn't aware that you could store a key in the Bios I thought it was installed in the O/S.

 

[BillMoney]

windows 8 checks the bios and then auto activates pretty much getting rid of keys on oem machines

 

[taysr]

windows 8 checks the bios and then auto activates pretty much getting rid of keys on oem machines

Yes I understand that, but it appears as though the laptops have come already downgraded to Win 7, but there is no COA keys... so does this mean the Win 7 keys are stored in the Bios also?

And if a image is created from a laptop, and then put on another laptop how would I get it to take the new cd key instead of using the same cd key for all subsequent laptops with the image.

 

[gikstar]

Can you tell if these systems had Windows 8 Pro, which have downgrade rights to Windows 7 Pro?

 

[JustInspired]

I'm guessing they want you to use the HP Recovery Manager from within Windows to create the recovery disc/s. The preinstalled product key is pretty much useless for activation purposes if you wish to wipe and install a vanilla Windows 7.

 

[Porthos]

I use the beta of this to back up win 7 and vista activation.

On booting systems I use it to back up OEM and restore activation.

I have collected most brands and os versions. I have not had to type in a coa in along time.

http://directedge.us/content/abr-activation-backup-and-restore

http://directedge.us/files/abr/ABRbeta.exe

From the readme file


Activation Backup & Restore for OEM Windows Vista and Windows 7
===============================================================

Brian Mathis <bmathis-abr at
============ directedge.us>

About:
------
This package provides utilities to backup and restore the activation
files in OEM versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7 that are
pre-activated at the factory. It probably won't work on activation
that was performed online or over the phone.


Support & Documentation:
------------------------
For problems or questions, please see this forum on notebookreview.com:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=120228


Instructions:
-------------
1. Unzip/copy this folder to an external USB/flash drive
2. Run "activation_backup.exe"
3. Reinstall Windows
4. Run "activation_restore.exe"

The new install should now be activated.


Description:
------------
"activation_backup" will create 2 files on your USB drive:
backup-key.txt: Backup license key
backup-cert.xrm-ms: Backup activation certificate

"activation_restore" will use those 2 files to restore your
activation once you have done a clean install.


Command-Line Options:
---------------------
activation_restore:
--silent
Restores the activation without prompting or producing
any output. This is useful for automatically activating
when doing unattended installations.


Revision History:
-----------------
24-Jun-2007:
Beta release

28-Jun-2007: ABRbeta1
Public Beta

17-Jul-2007: ABRbeta2
Fixed 64-bit backup. activation_backup should now
work on both 32bit and 64bit Vista

11-Oct-2007: ABRbeta3
Check that created files are not empty to give better warning
if there's a failure, and changed "Activation Successful" to
"Please check the activation", because it's not reallt checking
if it was successful or not.

20-May-2008: ABR 1.0
Added the "--silent" command line option to activation_restore

Bug Fix:
Some backup-cert.xrm-ms files were corrupted during backup, causing
the restore to fail. This fix resolves the corruption and allows
previously corrupted files to successfully restore activation.

31-Oct-2009: ABR 1.7 beta 1
Added support for Windows 7 OEM Installations

 

[BillMoney]

Yes I understand that, but it appears as though the laptops have come already downgraded to Win 7, but there is no COA keys... so does this mean the Win 7 keys are stored in the Bios also?

And if a image is created from a laptop, and then put on another laptop how would I get it to take the new cd key instead of using the same cd key for all subsequent laptops with the image.

When you downgrade you use the win 8 key supposedly from what I have read but it could of been wrong

 

[glricht]

We have about 20 new HP Elitebook 8470P laptops sitting downstairs, they have come with Win 7 Pro already on them ...

Go talk with whoever ordered the laptops and ask to see the paperwork from the order so you know exactly what you have. If they were ordered as Win 7 PCs, each should have a COA. If they were ordered as Win 8 and the OEM did a downgrade to Win 7, I'm not sure you're going to be able to create an image.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Most likely what you have is this. You bought systems with Windows 8 Pro installed. They have Windows 8 Pro keys in the bios. Windows 7 does not use bios keys.

The OEM, HP, downgraded the systems for you to Windows 7, using the Windows 7 Preinstall image they have for the system. There is no COA because you didn't buy Win 7. You bought Windows 8 and used your right to downgrade. You will find that all the Windows 7 systems are using the same key an internal key that is used by HP on all of there Windows 7 machines. Even systems with a COA sticker use these internal keys and not the product key on the sticker on the side of the pc.

Just make an image of the system BEFORE you power it on the first time and you will have a master copy that is good on all of those systems.

 

[mikeroq]

You don't have to image it before you set it up, you can customize the install and then sysprep it.

 

[brandonkick]

If it were me in this scenario, I'd like an image of the virgin machine before doing anything to it.

 

[taysr]

Most likely what you have is this. You bought systems with Windows 8 Pro installed. They have Windows 8 Pro keys in the bios. Windows 7 does not use bios keys.

The OEM, HP, downgraded the systems for you to Windows 7, using the Windows 7 Preinstall image they have for the system. There is no COA because you didn't buy Win 7. You bought Windows 8 and used your right to downgrade. You will find that all the Windows 7 systems are using the same key an internal key that is used by HP on all of there Windows 7 machines. Even systems with a COA sticker use these internal keys and not the product key on the sticker on the side of the pc.

Just make an image of the system BEFORE you power it on the first time and you will have a master copy that is good on all of those systems.

Yes what you described is definitely what's happened.

I've installed all the windows updates, office, specialised apps, removed all the bloatware hp installs etc.

I've now created an image and loaded it onto another laptop, therefor skipping all the hp preinstall stuff and everything else listed above, it appears windows is still activated, I had to reactivate office via the online option.

Kept all the recovery partitions etc to return to factory default.

But yes my main concern was having separate license keys but if they all have the same default one I guess it doesn't really matter? (correct me if i'm wrong)

 

[nlinecomputers]

But yes my main concern was having separate license keys but if they all have the same default one I guess it doesn't really matter? (correct me if i'm wrong)

So long as you install this on HP hardware there isn't a problem. This image and it's SLP key can only run on HP machines. SLP stands for System Locked Preinstallation.

 

[katz]

Most likely what you have is this. You bought systems with Windows 8 Pro installed. They have Windows 8 Pro keys in the bios. Windows 7 does not use bios keys.

The OEM, HP, downgraded the systems for you to Windows 7, using the Windows 7 Preinstall image they have for the system. There is no COA because you didn't buy Win 7. You bought Windows 8 and used your right to downgrade. You will find that all the Windows 7 systems are using the same key an internal key that is used by HP on all of there Windows 7 machines. Even systems with a COA sticker use these internal keys and not the product key on the sticker on the side of the pc.

Just make an image of the system BEFORE you power it on the first time and you will have a master copy that is good on all of those systems.

And if, in the future the need arises to install a vanilla version on Win 7, you are SOL? Or, if you run a keyfinder & input that key during a vanilla install (of Win 7) , it will accept it?

 

[Porthos]

And if, in the future the need arises to install a vanilla version on Win 7, you are SOL?

yes

if you run a keyfinder & input that key during a vanilla install (of Win 7) , it will accept it?

No it wont

That's why I back up the OEM activation with the tool from my earlier post.

 

[PCS]

In the past you could retrieve the key using something like jellybean key finder but MS changed it. Now it either displays nothing or xxxxx-xxxxx for volume keys. upgrade, or retail keys display fine.

Windows 8 does not ship with keys on a COA anymore, only a "genuine windows 8" sticker. If your system came with 8 and media to restore to Win7, the media contains an image not standard install files, the image is already setup except for personalized info and does not need activating, hence no COA / Key.

 

[nlinecomputers]

And if, in the future the need arises to install a vanilla version on Win 7, you are SOL? Or, if you run a keyfinder & input that key during a vanilla install (of Win 7) , it will accept it?

Yes you're more or less SOL. Keep in mind you DIDN'T purchase Windows 7. You bought Windows 8 and downgraded it to Windows 7. The OEM as a courtesy did it for you. Normally to downgrade you would Install Windows 7 using one of your own keys, in use by another machine, have it fail to activate and then you call the Microsoft Activation Center explain that you are exercising your right to downgrade to get a one time install code. If for some reason the crap hits the fan then you would have to use that method to install Windows 7. It is not meant to be easy. For you are not supposed to use this method as a means to acquire Windows 7 for your clients.

Keyfinder is never useful on ANY OEM install of Windows. The keys used in OEM installs only work on special versions of Windows that the OEMs have for internal use called SLP disks. These are disks that are bios locked and designed to bypass activation should the proper disk be used on a system with a matching BIOS.

 

[taysr]

The laptops came with a bunch of discs, it included both Windows 8 and Windows 7 so I can always use that to return it back to factory default.