SVCTAG.EXE

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                      Dell Internal Use Only
                   NOT FOR EXTERNAL DISTRIBUTION
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What does this utility do?
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This utility is used to re-program the system service tag on certain
Dell Portable systems. The utility may only work on systems which
already have a service tag programmed. If no service tag currently
exists, the utility may return an error message and fail.

To program the service tag on a system that does not already have one:

- For Value-line systems:
  Run EE-Value.exe /S=XXXXXXX, where XXXXXXX is alphanumeric and all
  letters are capitalized.

- For SmartStep/Smart PC 200N/250N:
  Run STAG_W1.EXE /W XXXXXXX, where XXXXXXX is alphanumeric and all
  letters are capitalized.

- For Molokai:
  Run SERTAG.exe /W XXXXXX, where XXXXXX is alphanumeric and all 
  letters are capitalized.

- For all other systems:
  Run ASSET.COM /S XXXXXXX, where XXXXXXX is the new service tag.


USAGE:
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Boot from the diskette and follow the on-screen prompts to erase and
program a new service tag.

See the comments in AUTOEXEC.BAT on how to automate the process.


General Information:
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This diskette contains 6 main programs or program types:
1. SVCTAG.EXE
2. 6 varieties of EE-ERASE
   - EE-CP.EXE
   - EE-CPA.EXE
   - EE-CPB.EXE
   - EE-LS.EXE
   - EE-LS2.EXE
   - EE-VALUE.EXE
   - STAG.EXE
   - STAG_W1.EXE
3. 3 varieties of ASSET
   - ASSET.COM
   - EE-VALUE.EXE
   - STAG_W1.EXE
4. NICSET.EXE
5. FDD_RCL.EXE
6. SVCTAG.INF

1. SVCTAG.EXE is called from autoexec.bat. It is a utility that
   determines if the system on which it is being executed is supported
   by the disk. If so, it determines which type of system it is, using
   the system ID byte. This information is gathered from either SMBOIS
   calls or XBIOS calls, if SMBIOS fails. The utility also uses these
   calls to determine if a service tag is currently programmed on the
   system. If one isn't programmed, there is no need to run EE-ERASE
   so the utility goes directly to the ASSET program.

2. Based on the information gathered, SVCTAG.EXE launches the
   appropriate version of EE-Erase.

   Each of these utilities can be run stand-alone. For EE-CPA.EXE, the
   -forcetype command line switch may be required.

3. The appropriate version of ASSET program is then launched.
   SVCTAG.EXE first asks the user the enter the new service tag (twice
   for verification) then passes that value to ASSET when it is
   launched.

   The ASSET programs can be run as a stand-alone utilities as noted
   above.

4. NICSET.EXE is launched by SVCTAG.EXE after EE_ERASE if the system
   is a Latitude C610 or Inspiron 4100. NICSET is needed in order to
   unhide and enable the onboard NIC, which is disabled by EE-ERASE.

5. FDD_RCL.EXE is the launched from AUTOEXEC.BAT after SVCTAG.EXE. It
   performs a Recalibrate operation on the floppy diskette drive.
   The purpose of this utility is to ensure the FDD head is moved to
   track 0 in preperation for transport.
   It is important to power off the system immediately after this
   utility is run in order to guarantee the head remains at track 0.

6. SVCTAG.INF is the text file contains vendor name, system id, ee-erase, 
   erase options, asset and asset options.  This file is processed 
   by svctag.exe.  The program goes through this file line by line 
   and searches for system id and BIOS vendor string which match the 
   system ID and BIOS vendor string read from the system on which
   the utility is being run. If a match is found, the corresponding 
   line will be parsed and the executables and command line options 
   from that line will be used to erase and program the service tag.


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Supported Systems

All Dell Portable Systems

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readme.txt
updated 07/10/03
