Windows Vista OEM Activation Crack by Patching SLIC into Motherboard BIOS

Posted: February 17, 2007/Under: Operating Systems/By: MDL Editorial Team

A new way to crack or bypass Windows Vista activation is by installing OEM version of Vista on your PC. However, Windows Vista OEM activation needs a new table named SLIC in ACPI module of computer BIOS, and new values in RSTD table, as part of SLP 2.0 (System-Locked Preinstallation). If your motherboard or BIOS ACPI module does not contains the SLIC table, you will need to modify or patch the BIOS to add in the table , plus set a correct OEM ID and OEM Table ID that match the corresponding OEM digital certificate. After modification, you can install Windows Vista with OEM product key and has Windows Vista activated instantly without the need to activate online, as if your Vista system is OEM version that comes preinstalled in branded computer such as HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer and etc.

Almost all motherboard BIOS can be modified to add in the necessary value needed in SLP2.0. The following guide is based on popular Award BIOS, which is commonly used in DIY or self-build PC or system builder motherboard. For a successful Windows Vista activation, four aspects have to be present:

OEMID and OEMTableID inside BIOS’s ACPI RSDT table.
SLP Public Key (PubKey) and SLP Marker inside BIOS’s ACPI SLIC table.
OEM product key – listed below in the instructions.
Microsoft’s signed OEM digital certificate.

The utilities or tools that you need include the following:

CBROM 2.15 or CBROM 2.19 – A tool to add, edit or exchange the components of an Award Modular BIOS. The tool is needed to edit and exchange ACPI digital byte-code table.
MODBIN6 2.01.01 – Used to modify the Award Modular BIOS strings or options. The tool is needed to modify Award core BIOS module, as CBROM is unable to edit the BIOS module.
WinHEX – A popular HEX editor used to modify content in the ACPI table.

As seen above, for successful activation, a modification has to be made to RSDT table and SLIC table has to be added. Following is the step to perform to modify motherboard by using Award BIOS as an example so that Windows Vista can be activated as OEM version:

Create a temporary folder (Vista or BIOS is you like) at root directory (C:\)
Download CBROM 2.19, MODBIN6 2.01.01 and WinHEX with download links above, and place them in the temporary folder.
Extract your motherboard BIOS image with name in the format of XXXXXXXX.bin (if the BIOS image name is not with .bin extension, rename it) to the temporary folder by using tool like WinFlash. The easy way is to download the corresponding BIOS file which intended for flash BIOS upgrade from motherboard manufacturers’ websites.
Run modbin6.exe by double clicking on it.
Select the BIOS image file at the MODBIN6 menu.
Do not close the window of MODBIN6. Now go to the File Explorer for the temporary folder, you will notice that some more files have been created. Among them, ORIGINAL.BIN is the one that needs to be modify.
Launch WinHEX and open ORIGINAL.BIN.
Search for the string of “RSDT” (without quotation marks). You will see ACPI tables in the BIOS. Every 4 characters represents a table in ACPI. Only table name located in this index can be recognized by BIOS and loaded into memory. So in order to load SLIC which is needed by SLP 2.0 for Windows Vista OEM activation, an unimportant table has to be replaced. In this case, you will likely have 2 following options:
1. You see a long string such as “RSDT FACP DSDT APIC SSDT SRAT FACS”. In this case, SRAT can be safely replaced, and won’t affect ACPI functionality.
2. You see a slightly shorter string such as “RSDT FACP DSDT APIC MCFG FACS”. In this case, the choice of table replacement is lesser. First choice of table to be replaced in MCFG, which shouldn’t cause any problem to your system. If MCFG is not available, you can try to replace APIC with SLIC, but you may need to reinstall the operating system.
3. You see a very short string of “RSDT FACP DSDT FACS”. In this case, you’re out of luck, as all is needed for normal functionality of ACPI.
4. You cannot find the “RSDT” or any of the above strings at all. This situation likely to happen in new mobo or new BIOS, may be due to change in the way BIOS lookup ACPI tables. In this case, you can try to downgrade and download older version of BIOS file to see if the ACPI is alterable. Else you’re out of luck too.
Note: Improved hack to add in SLIC table into BIOS ACPI instead of replacing. Able to solve scenario 3 above.
Replace the table name you selected (SRAT, MCFG or ACPI) with SLIC.
Save the modify BIOS file.
Switch to MODBIN6 window, press F2 to save or click on File, then select Save.
Open command prompt by type Cmd in Run. Change directory or folder to the temporary folder if need to.
Type “cbrom219 XXXXXXXX.bin /acpitbl extract” (without quotes) and press Enter.
Press Enter again when prompted for an extract file name to use the default name of acpitbl.bin.
Use WinHEX to open acpitbl.bin.
Search for “RSDT” string (without quotes). The OEMID and OEMTableID is the identifier string for SLP 2.0 that has to match with the product key, and thus has to edit to match according to the OEM product key and certificate that you have.
OEMID has 6 characters, and OEMTableID has 8 characters. Each hardware manufacturer will have their own identifier here. So if you value your desktop or laptop computer brand, you need to figure out the correct value for it. However, if you’re using generic mobo, you can locate the string of “RSDT4…..XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.0BAWRD” (without quotes, your BIOS string may be different), replace with RSDT4….._ASUS_Notebook1.0BAWRD. Here, the OEMID is _ASUS_ and OEMTableID is Notebook. Any empty character should be filled with blank (0x20). This will make your motherboard and BIOS to be recognized by Vista as ASUS mobo.
Save the file.
Download Asus OEM acpislic.bin.
Go back to the command prompt, type “copy acpitbl.bin /b + acpislic.bin /b acpitbl.bin /b” (without quotes) and press Enter to add the SLIC table contents to end of ACPI module. acpislic.bin is digital certificate for SLIC which contains SLP certificate public key and SLP logo. Press Enter to confirm if prompted warning of file overwrite.
Flash the modified ACPI digital module into the BIOS by entering following command in the Command Prompt, and then press Enter:cbrom219 XXXXXXXX.BIN /acpitbl acpitbl.bin
Flash and update your BIOS with the SLIC-included modified version. Check your motherboard guide for how to do it.a
BIOS update is completed. Now verify that the patch on BIOS is correct and accurate by using the following steps:
1. Download latest version of Everest Ultimate (currently Everest Ultimate Edition 2006 version 3.50).
2. Install and then start Everest.
3. Expand the Motherboard component on the left pane.
4. Select ACPI.
5. Check if SLIC is listed on the top right column.
6. If SLIC table is listed, check if OEM ID is _ASUS_ and OEM Table ID is Notebook at the bottom left pane.
7. Next select on RSDT table, check if the OEM ID and OEM Table ID in the bottom pane is exactly the same with the value you see of the same keys on SLP/SLIC table, i.e. _ASUS_ and Notebook.
8. If everything is correct, BIOS modification is correct.
Install Windows Vista with the following ASUS computer OEM product key:
Home Basic: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-H8PHC
Home Basic: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-RJC9V
Home Premium: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-QXQMF
Home Premium: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-RPFFV
Business: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-VVMP9
Ultimate: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-932CCYou can also change your existing Windows Vista product key by using the following command in command prompt with administrator privileges:

slmgr.vbs -ipk <new product key>
Download oemcert.xrm-ms, the Microsoft signed OEM certification for ASUS computer which has the identifier that needs to match the BIOS SLIC identifier, preferably to C:\ root.
Open a command prompt and type the following command, then press Enter:
slmgr.vbs -ilc C:\oemcert.xrm-ms

This will install the digital certificate for OEM activation.
Check your system properties, Windows Vista should be activated.