You are DA man, too bad I got screwed by the seller I think, but again nothing makes sence. Dell says it came w/ XP and Vista which is on the build sheet. Now if sombody bought a retail version of Win7 they still could not install it on a machine that was running either of those systems?
Not nitpicking but I just do not understand (newbee sort of with this stuff)
Again many thanks to all of you folks!
The OEM_SLP Key installed on this machine is of a type which is only valid when used on a machine with the proper SLIC table in the BIOS, and the proper Recovery disks which contain certificates which match the SLIC table. When all three are correct, the machine self-activates at every boot.
Each OS version and manufacturer use a different set of certificates.
The BIOS SLIC table is installed at manufacture by the OEM, and cannot normally be changed outside of re-writing the BIOS using specialised tools.
A retail Full or Upgrade version would quite happily install on this machine, and activate, because they do not rely on the SLIC table and certificates for activation, and the Product Key is what tells the OS where to looks for t=which type of activation.
The fact that your machine shows as having a Win7 SLIC table in the BIOS is due to the presence of a hacker's activation exploit (commonly called a Loader) which simulates a proper SLIC table and fools the system.
The problem comes with what else may have been installed with or at the same time as the Exploit - such things as backdoors and Trojans, and keyloggers and password stealers have been found in such hacks.
It's therefore always best to completely reformat and reinstall with legitimate media and Key when they are discovered.
Thanks, Noel.
jjr, may I suggest you try the licensed version of Vista since it has been improved greatly from the early resource hog it was. Two SP's have added many performance improvements, including ones developed for Win7. It will be nearly similar in performance and you'll be getting the full value of the license and rig you bought which comes with it.
To do this download the Vista ISO download and burn to DVD using ImgBurn at 4x speed, then reinstall following the same Best Practices in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 to get a perfect install.
Because of what you've been through and your honesty in dealing with it, I will gladly connect to optimize Vista to its most perfect state possible if you'd like. Simply install TeamViewer Download at all defaults and PM me the ID and password and time you'll be there, leave TV open on the desktop.
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