VMWare Common Issues

From Ye Ole Stash

Really Strange Issues

MSDN Key Does Match PID inside Windows (Dell) AKA the SLP/ACPI/Dell issue

This is paraphrased from my friend Peeyotch who ran into this issue and what he did to fix it.

I couldn’t use my MSDN key because the type of the key (MSDN) didn’t match up with the PID inside windows (OEM).

However, activation failed in the first place because the OS is no longer running on Dell hardware.

Dell and the other huge OEMs have their own activation channel with Microsoft called System-Locked Pre-installation.

They use special SLP keys that activate themselves based upon an ACPI table in the BIOS, not the entire hardware setup.

If the table data and the key agree, the OS is activated (See This Link for more).

Moving the install to virtual hardware meant that the special ACPI table disappeared, which generates an instant activation failure.

The solution is a new BIOS, which is quite easy under VMware.

All you have to do is add a line to the vmx file saying where to find the alternate BIOS file.

VMware BIOS files modified with various OEM tables can be found on the web.