Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Discussions about using Windows guests in VirtualBox.
mpack
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by mpack »

Ty for that info! Well spotted.
hank
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by hank »

Just got an activation requirement for Office 2007, on a VM that hasn't been changed for a year or more other than routinely updating it.
It was the first time I used Excel, which may be coincidental.

Oddly, there's no place on the phone menu nor anywhere else to enter a product key. Nor does /File/Help bring up the place the Help says it will, to enter a new product key.
mpack
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by mpack »

MS Office installations do checks over and above the activation checks of the host OS. E.g. my host copy of Office 2003 notices when I image and restore the drive, which is how I often bracket big software updates. I suspect that it keeps marker data hidden in parts of the disk considered unused, so cloning, defragging or compacting a disk might produce a similar effect. Being a VM shouldn't have any bearing.

Difficulties reactivating the software after one of these should be reported to Microsoft, as should mysterious deactivations.
jh001
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by jh001 »

I want to use a Windows 7 Pro VM as my home/work "PC". I have the VDI on a portable HDD and have VirtualBox installed on my home & work PC's. Will there be an issue with activation if I copy all the settings (UUIDs) from one host to the other, given that:

1. Different CPUs
2. Work VirtualBox is older (4.3.6 vs 4.3.2)

Anything in particular that I have to watch out for? Thx.
mpack
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by mpack »

You don't copy the VDI, you move the entire VM folder. That will minimize the chance that VirtualBox settings changes will contribute, but I won't guarantee that Win7 won't want to be activated for other reasons. That's in Microsoft's camp.
jh001
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by jh001 »

I don't want to move the VM, but keep it on the portable HDD so that I can transition seamlessly between work & home. But I get what you're saying, it should contain the whole VM including .VBOX file. So there is no way to "spoof" the CPU?
mpack
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by mpack »

Perhaps. I've never needed it, but have a look at "VBoxManage modifyvm --cpuid". Bear in mind that this identifies the cpu to the guest as a whole, not just the activation mechanism. That could have unfortunate consequences if you don't know what you're doing.
mingle
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by mingle »

A bit of an old thread, but one which I stumbled across while looking for solution to a recent problem I ran into with Windows 10...

Here's a summary of the issue I have:

I successfully upgraded my WIndows Guest from 8.1 to 10, I then created a 'backup' of the newly upgraded using the "Export Appliance..." option - all good.

Once I had a safe copy of my Windows 10 Upgrade, I then ran a clean install of Windows 10 onto of the Windows 10 Upgrade I just performed - all went well.

Both the Windows 10 Upgrade and Windows 10 clean-install activated successfully.

I then created another 'backup' of the clean Windows 10 Guest (I am a bit fussy when it comes to backing up after major changes to the system!) also using "Export Appliance...".

Then I completely removed the Windows 10 Guest from VirtualBox (Machine>Remove>Delete all files) so I could import the Windows 10 Upgrade Guest again (using "Import Appliance..."

It imported successfully.

However, once I booted into the Windows 10 Upgrade Guest, Windows 10 was no longer activated.

The questions I have are:

1: Is the "Export/Import Appliance" option the best way to create a 'backup' of a guest?
2: Is there any way to prevent the 'de-activation' of Windows after the "Appliance Import?""
3: Would it be better to use the "Clone" option, or to use an image backup program like Acronis True Image, from within the Guest, to create a safe backup?

Any suggestions or comments greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Mike.
loukingjr
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by loukingjr »

The best way is to copy the entire VM Folder for the guest to somewhere safe. Exporting or Cloning a guest are not meant to be used for backups.
OSX, Linux and Windows Hosts & Guests
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mpack
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by mpack »

Export does not create a backup copy, it creates a clone. A clone has all UUIDs changed. As far as Win7 and later is concerned, it's a different PC. The rest follows.

To copy/move a VM without changing it, see How to move a VM.
mingle
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by mingle »

Thanks for the replies...

I've managed to copy the entire folder to make a 'backup'. Not the most elegant solution, but at least Windows remains activated!

The Export of an entire machine to an OVA file is a very neat way of moving things around, it's just a pity it doesn't retain and exact copy of the source 'machine'

Would it be possible (in a future VB release) to include an option in the Export process to retain the UUID/Machine ID to avoid these problems?

Cheers,

Mike.
loukingjr
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by loukingjr »

Not to quibble but a VM Folder is one item. An .ova file is one item. I'm not sure how moving one item with one method is more elegant than the other. My guests are on my host and I use a incremental backup program so the guests are always backed up.
OSX, Linux and Windows Hosts & Guests
There are three groups of people. Those that can count and those that can't.
scottgus1
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by scottgus1 »

Mingle, the Export process to make an OVA is a standard for exchanging virtual machines, so a guest in one hypervisor type can be moved over to another hypervisor type. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Virt ... ion_Format. If Virtualbox tried to change how they export a machine, then the format wouldn't be followed, and then Virtualbox's OVA exports might not be importable on other hypervisor platforms.
If you don't intend to move your guests to VMware or Hyper-v or Xen, and they're going to be restored to Virtualbox for sure, then a good copy of the complete VM folder is a perfect backup, as recommended.
HeadScratcher
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by HeadScratcher »

I'd better start with an apology: I'm confident that I'm about to ask a question that's been addressed before, but I haven't been able to find the answer I seek, although I've searched this forum and read through this thread. I'm sorry, forum regulars! I'm new.

I installed and activated a legal OEM edition of Win 7 Home under VirtualBox 5.0.2 in Linux Mint 17.2. The VirtualBox program files are on an SSD; the 50+ gig VB directory is on a HDD.

I have copied the 50+ gig VB directory to backup media, and could copy it back over to a new HDD if my current HDD were to fail.

Would this trigger a call for a Windows reactivation?

A related question: let's say the SSD fails instead, and I install a slightly newer version of VirtualBox -- 5.0.12, say, instead of my current 5.0.2 -- on the new SSD, then try to point it to the VB directory on the HDD.

Would that trigger reactivation? Would I be safer by instead installing my current version of VirtualBox 5.0.2 on the new SSD?

Finally:

I found a post elsewhere suggesting that I first fire up VBoxManage on the command line, then add a new hardware ID to my current installation through the command:

VBoxManage modifyvm --hardwareuuid


This new hardware ID will supposedly allow me to copy the VB folder without triggering activation calls. Sounds like an interesting experiment, but I'm worried that I'll trigger an activation call by adding a hardware ID that wasn't there before.

Any feedback will be appreciated.
mpack
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Re: Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?

Post by mpack »

HeadScratcher wrote: I have copied the 50+ gig VB directory to backup media, and could copy it back over to a new HDD if my current HDD were to fail.

Would this trigger a call for a Windows reactivation?
No, it wouldn't. Win7 would only want reactivation if the machine UUID changes, which won't happen as long as you keep the .vbox and .vdi files together. If you clone the VM (not the same as copying) or use the export/import feature then the VM UUID changes, and the machine UUID along with it... unless you have overridden the default machine UUID with an explicit UUID.
HeadScratcher wrote: A related question: let's say the SSD fails instead, and I install a slightly newer version of VirtualBox -- 5.0.12, say, instead of my current 5.0.2 -- on the new SSD, then try to point it to the VB directory on the HDD.

Would that trigger reactivation?
No. Updating software never affects data. In this case the VM UUID stored in the data file is not affected.
HeadScratcher wrote: I found a post elsewhere suggesting that I first fire up VBoxManage on the command line, then add a new hardware ID to my current installation through the command:

VBoxManage modifyvm --hardwareuuid


This new hardware ID will supposedly allow me to copy the VB folder without triggering activation calls. Sounds like an interesting experiment, but I'm worried that I'll trigger an activation call by adding a hardware ID that wasn't there before.
The whole point is to add an ID that was there before, so that it becomes explicit, not a variable default. The explicit setting is hopefully retained by cloning (I've never actually tested it, otherwise you'd have to correct the .vbox file manually).

If I was you I'd pick a VM where activation isn't an issue, say a Linux VM. Then I'd experiment with how to set an explicit hardware UUID such that it appears how I want when read by a DMI tool inside the guest. If you can do that you can do it for a Windows VM too.
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