What I have done is save as text. since the link to page has been removed per request of M$.
Educational Information only. but should be the same for every OEM Manufacture.
[GUIDE] Clean install of Windows 7 on Acer (passes offlne OEM
activation)
Welcome, Snuffy1942.
Acer Discuss the Aspire, Ferrari and TravelMate line of notebooks
from Acer here.
Guide: Clean installation of Windows 7 on Acer (passes offline OEM
activation)
This guide explains how to do a clean installation of Windows 7 on
Acer computer without the need of having a proper OEM key or Acer
Upgrade Kit.
The described method will work for ANY edition
(Starter/Home/Pro/Ultimate) and for ANY architecture (32/64-bit) and
ANY language.
NOTE: The activation of Windows 7 described in this guide will only
work on Acer computer that is eligible for Windows 7 and thus
contains SLIC (Software Licensing Description Table) 2.1 in the
BIOS. THIS GUIDE AS A WHOLE OR PARTS OF IT DO NOT DESCRIBE HOW TO
PIRATE OR ILLEGALLY BYPASS ACTIVATION OF WINDOWS. EVERYTHING YOU DO
IS AT YOUR OWN RISK!
If you have already installed a clean version of Windows 7 that
either fails to activate or in a trial period, then please proceed
directly to Step 6.
Step 1: Verify eligibility for Windows 7.
If your computer came with Windows 7 when you purchased it, then you
can skip this step.
Download a tool called SLIC Dump Toolkit. Save it somewhere and then
right click on SLIC_Dump_ToolKit.EXE and select Run as
Administrator. Click on the Advanced tab located at the bottom.
Check if in SLIC Diagnostics for Version it says 2.1. Highlighted
yellow in the screenshot:
If it says 2.1, then you are eligible for Windows 7 and if it is
something else then you should try upgrading to the latest BIOS
version (can be found on Acer Support website) and checking it
again, and if it still isn't 2.1 then this guide is not for you,
sorry!
Step 2: Back-up factory images and personal files.
Since we will be reinstalling Windows you will lose all your files
and ability to restore to factory condition, so it would be a wise
thing to make back-ups.
A. Back-up factory images.
If you want to have restore DVDs then it should be a good time to
create them now. You can do it via Acer eRecovery program. If you
have a built-in or external DVD drive then simply burn them and if
you do not then you can save DVD image to your hard drive. Follow
these instructions.
B. Back-up personal files.
If you have files you would like to keep now it is time to save them
to either a flash drive or an external hard drive.
Step 3: Preparing Windows 7 installation image.
A. Downloading Windows 7 image
We will download Windows 7 Ultimate ISO image file. We will then use
it to install ANY Windows edition. (There is no point in downloading
specific ISO for your edition (Home/Pro/etc) as they are the same
size as Ultimate.)
The fastest way to download Windows 7 is using BitTorrent, which is
a P2P protocol that allows file sharing. To download files using
BitTorrent you need an application that supports BitTorrent
protocol. You might use uTorrent(direct download) or any other
BitTorrent client will do.
Once you have BitTorrent client download the tiny ".torrent" file
bellow that belong to the version that you want (32 bits or 64
bits). This file will be opened with your BitTorrent application and
the download will start.
UPDATE: I cannot post Torrent links so you will have to find them
yourself. Use google. You need an untouched Windows 7 Ultimate
Retail RTM x86 or x64 (depending on whether you want to install
32-bit or 64-bit version).
B. Unlocking other editions
To be able to select the edition you want during the installation,
you just need to delete the file "ei.cfg" that is in the "sources"
folder on Windows ISO image. Use this Removal Utility (direct
download) to remove the file from the ISO you downloaded, it takes
only 2 seconds!
Step 4: Setting up Windows 7 installation media.
A. If you are installing via DVD drive.
Simply burn the .ISO image we obtained in Step 3.
B. If you are installing via USB flash drive.
You need a USB flash drive 4GB or more. There are two methods
available and both of them were tested and working. Check both of
them out to see which one works best for you. I found the 1st method
to be the easiest.
- Mathod 1 - Very Easy (but time consuming): VERY detailed guide on
installing from USB stick
- Method 2 - Hard: Creating bootable USB stick with Windows 7
installation
Step 5. Installing Windows 7.
Now that you have your installation media created in Step 4 we can
start the installation.
A. Booting from installation media
(skip this step if you know how to use boot menu)
A.A. Making sure you have F12 boot menu enabled in BIOS.
To do so turn on the computer and immediately start pressing F2 key
until you get into BIOS setup. Navigating with arrow keys you should
look around for "F12 Boot Menu" setting and make sure it is set to
"Enabled". Once that is done press F10 to save settings and restart
the computer.
A.B. Booting from media via F12 boot menu
After plugging in USB flash drive or inserting installation DVD in
the drive turn on the computer and start pressing F12 immediately
and wait for a menu to appear. Now select what you are booting from
and press Enter. It should start booting into Windows installation.
If for some reason it fails to boot or your device is not listed in
the boot menu, then press Ctl+Alt+Del to restart the computer and
try again.
B. Actually installing Windows
B.A. Selecting edition.
When you are asked what Windows edition to install, select the one
which you are entitled to (the edition your computer ships with).
For example, my laptop came with Vista Home Premium so I'm
installing Windows 7 Home Premium.
B.B. Entering product key.
Once you are asked for product key there are two ways you can go
here. You can either use the OEM key on the bottom/side of your
computer (Vista key wont let you install W7) and install using this
key (will need to activate online) OR do the step below.
You should enter one OEM-SLP key (listed below) depending on the
edition you are installing.
Code:
Starter:
RDJXR-3M32B-FJT32-QMPGB-GCFF6
Home Basic:
MB4HF-2Q8V3-W88WR-K7287-2H4CP
Home premium:
VQB3X-Q3KP8-WJ2H8-R6B6D-7QJB7
Professional:
YKHFT-KW986-GK4PY-FDWYH-7TP9F
Ultimate:
FJGCP-4DFJD-GJY49-VJBQ7-HYRR2
Please note: the keys above are NOT
regular retail keys, but OEM-SLP keys that will activate offline.
They WILL NOT pass activation on a non-Acer computer. You must have
an Acer computer with SLIC 2.1 in the BIOS and must also load a
valid Acer OEM certificate (see steps below).
The rest of the installation should be pretty intuitive. If you
still need some help you can find many guides on the Internet (use
google).
Step 6. Installing OEM certificate.
A. Changing to correct OEM-SLP key
If you have followed the Step 5 please go directly to Part B. Part A
is for those who installed Windows 7 with key other than correct
OEM-SLP.
1. Select OEM-SLP key from Step 5 (B.B) based on the edition you are
entitled to. Even if you have wrong edition installed (Ultimate, for
example) and you are entitled to a different edition (Home Premium,
for example) then simply select the right key (Home Premium in this
example) and use that.
2. Type cmd in Start menu.
3. Right-click on the first result (cmd.exe) and click on Run as
administrator (confirm by clicking Yes if required).
4. Type (Important: Replace the XXXXX with OEM-SLP key from 1.)
Code:
slmgr -ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXXpress Enter.
B. Installing certificate
1. Download the Acer certificate ACRSYS.xrm-ms (Right click "Save
As") and save it to "C:\"
2. Type cmd in Start menu.
3. Right-click on the first result (cmd.exe) and click on Run as
administrator (confirm by clicking Yes if required).
4. Type
Code:
slmgr.vbs -ilc C:\ACRSYS.xrm-msPress ENTER and wait until a message
confirms that the certificate has been correctly installed.
That is it! Now if you go to My Computer -> Properties, it should
say on the bottom that Windows is Activated. If it doesn't, simply
restart the computer and check it again!
Step 7. Installing system drivers
Now that installation is finished and Windows is activated you can
install the correct system drivers. You can get those at Acer
Support website or by downloading them directly from component
manufacturers.
Have fun!
Keys for almost every Manufacture are available on the internet plus slic-dump (Google is your best friend).
