Hi
We have the SLP (System Locked Pre-installation) activation agreement with dell computers. The below article explains the SLP license agreement further.
Successfully implemented, SLP uses information stored in an OEM PC’s BIOS to protect the installation from casual piracy. No communication by the end customer to Microsoft is required and no hardware hash is created or necessary. At boot, Windows XP compares the PC’s BIOS to the SLP information. If it matches, no activation is required.
Every single piece of hardware could be changed on a PC with SLP and no reactivation would be required – even the motherboard could be replaced as long as the replacement motherboard was original equipment manufactured by the OEM and retained the proper BIOS. In the unlikely scenario that the BIOS information does not match, the PC would need to be activated within 30 days by contacting the Microsoft activation center via the Internet or telephone call – just as in a retail scenario.
With the agreement we have with Dell we have found that we are unable to use Sysprep without having to activate the OP with Microsoft after restoring a image on a Computer.
So we would create an image then run sysprep on the image. The act of running sysprep appears to wipe out the activation. So if the computer was activated before running sysprep, after running sysprep the PC will have to be activated again. Is there a way around this, (a step we need to do, a reg hack etc….) so we don’t have to activate after using sysprep.
Thank you,