[GUIDE] Clean install of Windows 7 on Acer

that remove WAT 'windows activation technology' is not very reliable as the latest ones such as the WAT 2.1 looks like it has removed it but the count down is still going on your 30 day activation on several pc's best one is a LOADER its windows 7 loader 1.7.7r

 

??
I asked if this new WAT measure will affect only loaders and not also the installation of this thread....

 

Thing is, the method explained in this thread is similar to the OEM pre-installed system with the difference being it is crapware free. In fact, if you were to get a manufacturer specific Windows reinstall disk (clean, not system restore) it would automatically enter the OEM-SLP key and load certificate as described in this thread. In fact, this method was used since Vista came out and, as far as I know, has not caused any troubles with M$.

I don't have exact details, but logic tells me that WAT update is targeted to shut down the SLIC loaders and RemoveActivation hacks, which have nothing to do with the method described in this thread.
Also, WAT update is optional, so if you are REALLY paranoid, you can just disable and hide it (there is that option) from Windows Update.

$30 for a Ultimate key? I find that hard to believe. Manufacturers themselves pay about $65-80 for each Home Premium license ( Acer refunds $65 for HP).

 

You can get authentic Ultimate keys for 20 bucks on Ebay that validate fine.

Question though???? Just got emailed a heads up fm Microsoft Technet that in March RC builds are going to be shutting down every 2 hours and to upgrade....But my system came with this legal version. Is that email from my original RC build when i registered with them and just a general mailing?

 

Nope, internal informations tell me that it's directed only to illegal users....















Just kidding....
I got it as well.

 

Good one...spent half the night locating the download to verify it...yu...its good.

 

delete, delete, I eat meat!

 

ms at it once again is punishing legitimate customers w/ false positive genuine validations. and I gotta feeling that's all WAT will end up doing... that shouldn't have made their signed oem cert private key so easy to get. now they're just going to disgruntle a whole bunch of customers.

 

There is a solution! Ditch M$ and get Ubuntu Linux No WATs, activation, malware, spyware, viruses, paperclip advisers, search dogs... Installs in <20mins from pretty much anything with all the drivers and apps (OpenOffice, GIMP, Firefox, etc). The only downside being is that it is not as user friendly

 

i've run ubuntu in the past and it always has caveats a mile long. so i end up trading one problem for a set of others. plus, i prefer win 7. i don't even like snow lep as much. if i were running ubuntu i'd almost always be in wine, so defeats the point...

btw, i've never had a problem w/ malware, spyware, paperclip advisers, search dogs, nothing meaningful anyway. win 7 kicks butt... wat not so much. i don't know what caused that recent hiccup but u better believe I won't be accepting that update when it hits windows update

 

i have a fan base, lalalalaal!

 

+1

I have a dual-boot setup with Ubuntu 9.10 Remix and Windows 7. The thing is, I never boot Windows. If I absolutely need Windows, I run VMware. Ubuntu has been really good for me. So good that I never use Windows 7 even though I liked it a lot when I played around with it.

 

does intel even provide an adequate dxva x4500 graphics driver for Linux? if not, that's a bit of a deal killer for me besides finding drivers for my printer/wifi etc. ; dealing with quirks; and not finding gimp an adequate replacement for PS nor open office and adequate replacement for office 2007. then the lack of direct show... nevermind all the biz et. al. apps that run only on pc which require I use virtual environment, which imo defeats purpose of running linux.

last time i ran ubuntu (GG 7.10) i had to pull teeth just to get my atheros wifi working properly (had to drill through forums and ultimately madwifi got it working); blank screen on boot at gfx that needed to be remedied w/ changing usplash.conf, some other misc. problems.

trials and tribulations.

 

I don't want to get too far off topic, but generally speaking, Intel is good to linux and hardware support for linux is much better than it was with Ubuntu 7.xx. After a few years with Ubuntu, I've found that I really don't need Windows anymore. I'm not against using Windows, but I like having other options. No OS is perfect in every way. You can pay to deal with a little Microsoft BS or deal with a little Linux BS at no cost.

 

im another dual boot fan windows 7 and ubuntu 9.10. ubuntu is a great o.s. but its still good to have windows to fall back on for things such as Ipod 5th generaton support with itunes. other then that ubuntu handles everything else i need.

 

Just to know something... when I try to install an ultimate over HP from usb stick, does it overwrite the previous w7 or does it install together the old installation??
I mean: I wanna have only one w7, no other partitions.. what should I do? Install the second w7 resizing the old one, and after merging the 2 partitions? or how?

 

No...in this method it is a clean install and deletes all....

 

Ok, I ran the w7 installation from usb... Selecting custom installation I see 3 partitions:
1: PQSERVICE - OEM (Reserved)
2: SYSTEM RESERVED - System
3: Acer - Primary

What am I supposed to do, deleting 2 and 3 only? Or 1 as well?

 

ooops sorry.... Forgot to tell you. When I install on a fresh drive, at the point where you select the partition to install to, I delete all partitions and then create one for the whole drive. This way it gets rid of everything else.

I dont even know if you can now still use the Acer recovery partition. I know with Dells you couldn't.

When you delete all and create the new partitions, there are two created if you go maximum, a 50mb one for system fiiles and the other for the OS and and files you want to add.

You can also create other logical drives during that inintial period if you wish. In fact, with my new ssd, I will be creating a 50gb separate drive and encrypting it with Bootlocker in WinUltimate. I can then leave it locked until I need my confidential work files within and they are rock solid secure.

EDIT... You can use administrative tools to delete the extra Acer partition and use that space. You can also delete it and then increase the size of your main drive if you wish.

 

But I can leave the recovery partition just in case... I can use it.. or will it conflict with W7 ultimate?? Bohh

 

It won't conflict and I dont know if you can use it.

 

Ok, I'll try to install it leaving the recovery partition...
I thought to set partitions like this:
primary1 for w7
logical1 for programs
logical2 for storage
primary2 for swap file
what do you think?

 

Always your own choice......you can expand or reduce as you please but it takes some time in administrative options.

 

I tought to do that directly inside W7 installation...

 

The SLIC_Dump_ToolKit.EXE linked file is detected as a virus: Win32/Packed.FlyStudio by NOD32

 

Is there any reason to remove the ei.cfg if the iso matches the product key on my computer? My Timeline 5810 came with windows 7 home premium 64bit and I am burning a 7 home premium 64bit dvd to reinstall from the link on page 5 of this thread..

 

No.....none at all.

 

Heads up!!

WAT info

 

I used the key under my laptop to reinstall W7 Home Premium (mine came preinstalled with W7 Home Premium). It wouldn't activate online so I installed the certificate. It still doesn't activate. Am I doing something wrong?

 

It should activate without a problem...

 

hi, I just want to ask if it is necessary to update the BIOS first to ver. 2.0 or 2.1 before doing a clean install of W7 on my Timeline 5810T? my system came with Vista Home Premium 32-Bit BIOS = ver. 1.10 but now updated to ver. 1.20. if it's necessary, what are the main reasons? if I do not update the BIOS, what problems would I encounter before, during and after installation of W7 on my system? thanks!

 

There is an old adage of "If its not broke why fix it?" which doesn't hurt here. Read the bios updae file to see what it offers and then make the decision. It doesnt format your whole system and u lose nothing to upgrade.

 

Hi Les thanks for your reply, where would I be able to see the BIOS description files? I downloaded all the BIOS in Acer Support site but none of each has a description included in it, the readme files are just for simple click--and-go instructions on how to update the BIOS for each version you download. In your own opinion, is it okay to clean install W7 on my system with my current BIOS without updating?

What version is your system BIOS?, by the way, you have a nice W7 & Vista tips and tweaks on your signature, I am actually reading thru it now.

 

You can either google acer bios version info or check search on their site. Myself...I just always update. without even considering otherwise.

 

With no luck, I couldn't find any site for Acer BIOS descriptions, do you have any links Les?

 

Nope sorry...as I said I just always have the latest installed.

 

Hey guys, good morning and goodday.

using your guide I made myself a Win 7 boot cd and now have ultimate installed on one computer using the acer certficate download method and paste into cmd.exe as administrator method. The certficate sucsessfully installed popped up and after reboot I had full version.

I followed this same proceedure on the second lappy but even after I get the certificate sucessfuly installed pop up and multiple restarts the trial period will not disapeer?

I had to go back into the dos and insert the key via the slmgr -KEY method
to get it to activate?

 

Hello everyone, I also registered to thank the OP.
Much obliged, as I recently purchased an Acer AS 1410.
Everything worked well until I attempted to install the OEM certificate.
I got a "Windows Script Host" message:
"On a computer running Microsoft Windows non-core edition, run 'sluixexe 0x2a0xC004F015' to display the error text.
Error: 0xC004F015."

Does anyone know why I got this message or how I might fix this?
Thanks again for the posts!

 

I just finished a clean install of W7 Home Premium and it activiated perfectly. I did wait until I had loaded the Asus Certificate before going online. Don't know if this makes a difference. Did you remove the ei.cfg with the utility? Before you extracted the Win 7 files from the CD image, did you run the utility to make sure it was complete and untouched?

Bronsky

 

Hi

I have installed clean RTM version of Windows 7 on my Acer 1410 and I can't activate it with either my key which is under the netbook nor with the one provided on the first page of this thread. I have used a Windows 7 RTM 64-bit installation pack and selected Windows 7 Home Premium during the installation.

When I use my own key (from the bottom of the netbook) the installation completes correctly but when I click on activate windows it says that I have an invalid key. (it gives 3 days for activation) - I would expect this to work without the additional steps slmgr as I am using my own key. Is that not the case?

When I use the Home Premium key from the first page of this thread the installation completes correctly, when I go the activation menu it shows that I have 30 days to activate (as opposed to the 3 days when I use my own key). After that I do:
slmgr -ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX (with the Home Premium key from the first page of this thread)
-the outcome is ok - saying sth like you key was successfully installed
but after this:
slmgr.vbs -ilc C:\ACRSYS.xrm-ms

I get similar error as buzzz321:

On a computer running Microsoft Windows non-core edition, run 'slui.exe 0x2a 0xBBA' to display the error text. Error: 0xBBA

What's wrong?

I also tried doing the two slmgr steps with my own Home Premium key - the outcome is the same.

I called MS to do the telephone activation but after keying the numbers got a message that there is an error and I need to speak to an advisor - I waited some time but did get through to anyone (maybe that too late at night 1am UK time).

I have Acer 1410 Celeron 743 which originally came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. I also confirmed my eligibility for this version of software with the SLIC_Dump_ToolKit.EXE from step 1.

Any ideas guys?

 

Update From me: just managed to talk a chap at MS Activetion helpline and got a new code which allowed to activate my Windows (it was for the Home Premium 64-bit which my netbook was shipped with). Phuuu

 

I have a bit of a crazy question, but here goes anyway.

Can I install ubuntu as my main OS, then install VMware, and finally install a clean copy of win7 inside wmware?
Would it still activate properly if I follow advice here?

I do know that virtualization is required for a 64 bit guest OS in VMware so i would have to use the win 7 32-bit clean install, but no big deal to me there.

Let me know what you guys think of this.

 

That's what I do.

 

Question to anyone....will this pass WAT????

 

Yes because OEMs use this(the same) method to push out their laptops with fixed disk imaging.

 

Am I right to assume that no-one has located a bios later than 1.11 for the Aspire 5536?

 

Any risks flashing new bios 3310? I mean, could it change something in the bios so the trick I've followed in this thread wouldn't be still valid?

 

Flashing BIOS always has 1% failure rate, Take the risk when there is benefit you need . .or failing that just accept the risk

Now I am confused. You are entitled to install and activate again the OS version your system was first supplied with.

Only if you do that the OEM certificate way do you care that the SLIC version matches the certificate. a SLIC 2.0 or 2.1 is required for W7. BUT If you are not licensed to reinstall the original OS forget OEM certificates and SLIC (they will catch you in the end) and just pay for and install and activate a retail version of the new OS

 

I've installed 3310 and Windows is still going strong and validated.

 

Thanks bro