Dell OptiPlex 755 N
Series – Activate Windows 7 Professional Dell OEM Image by
Enabling SLIC Table
Support in BIOS and Inserting SLIC 2.1 Table
The Dell n Series computers hide the SLIC table that is needed for
activating OEM Windows automatically. Additionally, the Dell OptiPlex 755
series BIOS (up to the latest A22 version) includes only a SLIC 2.0 table.
You will need the following items to proceed:
1.
Dell OptiPlex 755 running Windows (32-bit or
64-bit should be fine).
a.
You must remove any BIOS passwords that you have
set on the system.
2.
7-Zip File Manager.
3.
USB Drive (2 GB is enough).
a.
Note: All data on it will be erased by this
procedure. Back up your data first!
4.
HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool: Required to
create MS-DOS bootable USB.
5.
Windows 98 SE Boot Disk (courtesy of
AllBootDisks).
a.
If you do not have a computer with a floppy disk
drive, I have extracted the floppy image contained in the above executable,
which you may download below.
7.
Dell OptiPlex 755 A22 BIOS with SLIC 2.1 Table
Inserted: Tested on a Dell OptiPlex 755 Small Form Factor PC running Windows 7
Professional 64-bit (Dell OEM version).
a.
If you have a different model computer or you
wish to create your own custom BIOS with SLIC 2.1 inserted, please follow the
steps in the Extra Steps section below. Otherwise, you can download the
following BIOS flasher and run it in Windows (make sure you close ALL
applications and wait until the computer
restarts itself to complete the BIOS upgrade – no progress screens are shown).
8.
[OPTIONAL] AndyP’s PhoenixTool for inserting
SLIC 2.1 table into a Dell BIOS ROM.
a.
This tool is only needed if you wish to follow
the steps in the Extra Steps section. You must install Microsoft .NET Framework
4.7 or newer beforehand.
b.
If you wish to integrate the SLIC 2.1 table for
activating Windows 7 yourself, or want to try integrating a newer SLIC table
version for activating Windows 8 or newer OS, you can download PhoenixTool from
the link below.
i. SHA1:
203FDE92728B501BDAFA19D26EDBED57E3ED7B4C.
Enabling the SLIC Table in the BIOS:
STEP 1: Follow either Method
A or Method B below.
Method A: Your OptiPlex 755 does not
have a floppy drive or you don’t have a floppy disk:
1.
Insert a USB drive. Ensure you have backed up all data on this USB first.
4.
Download the Windows 98 Boot Disk from http://bit.ly/Win98SEBootDisk. Right-click the .img file, point to
7-Zip, then click the “Extract to “Windows98_SE\”” option to unzip the contents
to a folder.
5.
Open the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. This
tool requires you to be logged in as an Administrator. For Windows Vista and
newer, right-click the downloaded file (HPUSBDisk.exe) and click “Run as
administrator”. Click Run, Yes or Allow on the User Account Control dialog to
continue.
6.
Your USB drive should automatically be populated
under Device.
a. IMPORTANT:
Make sure you select the correct USB
device. Otherwise, you will accidentally format another drive!
7.
Select “FAT32” under File system if it is not
already selected. This should enable the “Create a DOS startup disk using
system files located at:” option.
8.
Click this option to create a DOS startup disk,
then click the “…” button. Browse to and select the folder to which you
extracted the Windows 98 Boot Disk contents. Then, click “OK”.
9.
Click Start to format the target USB drive to a
bootable MS-DOS bootable USB. All data
on the target USB drive will be erased. Accept the warning message to
format the USB.
10.
Download the Dell BIOS Reset Tools: Download the
extracted tools from one of the three links given (Google Drive, Mega.nz, or
Microsoft OneDrive).
11.
Copy the extracted tools to the root of your USB
drive. Overwrite any files with the same name (if such warnings occur).
12.
Proceed to STEP
2.
Method B: Your OptiPlex 755 has a floppy drive and you have a floppy
disk:
1.
Insert a floppy disk into the computer’s floppy
drive.
2.
Download the Dell BIOS Reset Tools: Download the
tools from the original URL at dell.com. Then, run the executable and follow
the instructions onscreen to extract the files to create a bootable floppy
disk.
3.
Proceed to STEP
2.
STEP 2: Unhide the hidden
SLIC table in the BIOS using ASSET.COM.
1.
Insert the bootable USB drive or floppy disk
into the target computer.
2.
For the USB drive, press F12 upon turning on the
computer to show the Boot Menu. Select the USB drive to boot to MS-DOS.
3.
Once MS-DOS has loaded, type: “asset PASS:12/31”
(without the quotation marks). Then, type “y” to confirm.
4.
Once the operation returns successfully, press
CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart the computer.
5.
Immediately remove the floppy disk or USB drive
from the computer.
6.
Wait as the computer enters manufacturing mode
and re-enumerates the attached internal devices. This process resets all of the
BIOS settings and all of the flags that hid the SLIC table. After the first
automatic restart, the computer will attempt a network boot (which will fail)
and/or report that all of your drives are missing. This is expected.
7.
Once initialization completes, you are prompted
to press ALT + F to complete the reset.
8.
The computer may restart once more or start
loading the operating system.
By the end of this step, the hidden SLIC table will now be available to
the OS. However, the Dell OptiPlex 755 series BIOS ships with only a SLIC 2.0
table, which will only allow for the activation of Windows Vista (Dell OEM
version).
Now, we will flash the BIOS with our own modified version, which
incorporates a SLIC 2.1 table that will allow for the activation of Windows 7
(Dell OEM version). Note that you must remove all BIOS passwords set on the
target system.
STEP 3: Upgrade the BIOS to
a custom version incorporating a SLIC 2.1 table to activate OEM Windows 7.
1.
Download the BIOS image referenced at the start
of this page (above), or follow the Optional Steps below to create your own
custom BIOS image.
2.
Close all programs and remove all removable
disks (recommended).
3.
Double-click the downloaded executable and click
Run, Yes or Allow in the User Account Control dialog to start the BIOS upgrade.
Multiple files and folders will be extracted to the same directory as the
executable while the BIOS upgrade is running.
4.
The BIOS upgrade starts immediately. There are no prompts or windows to indicate
BIOS flash progress. Do not touch the computer while the upgrade is running.
5.
Once the BIOS upgrade completes (after about 2-5
minutes), the computer will restart automatically.
6.
After the computer restarts, you can open the
TaskResult.xml file that was created in the same folder as the BIOS flasher
executable to see whether the BIOS upgrade was successful.
Congratulations! The computer can now activate Dell OEM versions of
Windows 7.
Optional Steps:
Creating your own custom BIOS flasher executable:
1.
Download and install Dell Client Configuration
Utility (DCCU). This will allow us to create the custom BIOS flasher
executable.
2.
Download the latest BIOS for your Dell system
(go to support.dell.com).
3.
Download AndyP’s PhoenixTool (see the link
referenced at the start of this page).
4.
Run PhoenixTool. Under Original BIOS, browse for
and select the downloaded BIOS for the Dell system.
5.
Wait as the tool processes the BIOS executable
and extracts the embedded HDR file. Click OK on the dialog that appears at the
end of the extraction process.
6.
Under SLIC File, browse for and select the
DELL.BIN file that appears in the File Browse dialog.
7.
Click Go. Wait as the SLIC 2.1 certificate is
integrated into the BIOS file.
8.
Once the process completes, click OK. Note that the generated HDR file with the SLIC
2.1 table integrated
has “_SLIC” appended.
9.
You may now close PhoenixTool.
10.
Copy the generated HDR file e.g.
“O755-A22_SLIC.HDR” to a new folder.
11.
Open Dell Client Configuration Utility. This
will automatically open the internet browser on your computer. Note: If the
webpage does not work, copy the website address and open it in Internet
Explorer.
12.
Under BIOS Update, click “Browse…” and select
the HDR file generated above that contains the SLIC 2.1 table.
13.
Select “Allow version downgrades”.
14.
If your computer has a BIOS password set, enter
it in “BIOS password”.
15.
Then, click “Create BIOS Update Package”.
Download the package that is generated and save it to a designated folder.
16.
Use this generated executable in place of the
one offered for download in STEP 3.
Sources:
1. https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/how-do-oems-like-dell-license-their-machinesall-about-asset-tags.3486/.
2. https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/tool-to-insert-replace-slic-in-phoenix-insyde-dellefi-bioses.13194/.
Originally written on November 29, 2019.
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