KACE Product Support

update on this, I created it and it installed in what I think is Russian.

The install was in English until it rebooted.

I was under the impression that it is best practice not to use the oem cds but to just use the Windows 7 media alone. This way you end up with a pure Windows 7 install without any of the other apps that are added by the company(Dell, HP, Lenovo) check your volume licensing you may already have Windows 7 available if you had software assurance under your XP licenses.

Ron

With Windows 7, you can use the Dell OEM media (this was not the case with XP), however, you will need to set the language manually in configuration to en-US otherwise it picks the first language listed on the CD. This means that you will have to enter in the product key listed on the computer for each installation and activate the computer, if I'm not mistaken.

Best practice says that you should use a Volume License DVD with a MAK product key.

Hey all. You can use the Dell CD, and you don't have to use the Windows Key on the Box. Dell embeds an OEM key in those Disks, which you can harvest from an existing machine to put in your scripted install, or in an unattended file for sysprep imaging. I have done this on XP, Vista and Win 7 with the Dell OEM disks. We only use the key on the box when we retire the machines from service and auction them off.

prenticet -What can be done and what's legal is sometimes different ;)
Legally you are required to enter the key issued to that machine when you reimage. EULA clearly states that. What you decide to do beyond that is your choice.

For MAK/KMS Users:
KMS Keys and MAK keys have different needs, and operate differently than one’s own logic suggests :)
For KMS environments you’ll enter one of the keys on this list, not your own. Your key goes only on your KMS server. K2000 3.3 release has these on a dropdown list for your ease of use.
KMS Keys: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff793409.aspx

For MAK Keys you’ll probably need to leave your key out of the scripted install and select the OS you wish to install (rather than autoselect using key). You’ll need to create post install tasks to handle the key input and activation.
MAK Keys: http://blogs.technet.com/b/deploymentguys/archive/2009/03/30/deploying-windows-7-vl-with-mak-multiple-access-keys-using-mdt-2010.aspx

Postinstall tasks will be BAT script items and will have the following commands (I often separate them into 2 tasks in case I don't want to activate every time):





Task Name:

Configure Client using VL MAK


Command Line:

cscript.exe c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX






Task Name:

Activate the machine using the VL MAK


Command Line:

cscript.exe c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs /ato


On the language thing- there are two entries in the XML configuration for UILanguage- if they say bg-bg, change them to en-US (or your preferred language); as most of us don't speak or read Bulgarian. This is only happening with OEM media, because it's globalized media and windows chooses the alpabetical first language; Volume media is language specific so no problem.