Discuss: HOWTO: Windows 7: In both VM and native

[mpack]

Sorry, the tutorial is contributed by another user. I have no use for it personally and can't tell you if it works.

[rjbailey]

I can't tell you why but now I'm able to boot Windows 7 via both BootCamp on my Mac and in VBox without having to reauthenticate.

What did NOT work: Pedro's method in the Howtos and Tutorials section (https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic ... 28&t=33356)

"[Network] Enable one adapter and set its MAC address to that of your real network card." Well this won't work if you run VBox in bridged network mode, which I need. So I made sure they are NOT the same.
"sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=myMBR.mbr bs=512 count=1" I could not get this to work.

Instead I used the tips from this site: http://codingbyhand.com/blog/using-boot ... ualbox.htm

What threw me was that when I switched from BootCamp to VBox I got the "Must Authenticate" message so I assumed I had failed, and I had to reenter the product key. Then I got the "Must Authenticate By Phone" message so I thought I was really lost. But once I reauthenticated by phone it stayed authenticated between boots. I have no idea how Windows authentication works, so I can't explain it, but now I'm happy.

[diggy]

Just bumping the thread to be able to post another thread for booting Windows 7 in VM from an EFI/GPT system with linux as host. Stay tuned and search for it.

[1337qwerty]

Working Windows 7, SLIC 2.1 self activation

Here's a way to get SLIC 2.1 activation to work for a Windows 7 guest in a Linux host.
In my case, I'm using Ubuntu 12.04 and a current version of VirtBox [4.3.10, currently - I *think* it will work with any 4.2+ version - but not certain- if in doubt use 4.3+.]

Create your Win7 VM using the OEM media.
I'm using a DELL OEM install disk and my host box has an Dell OEM COA. [The method I describe works with a DELL bin file, because I'm using Dell media - thus the SLIC table matches the Certificate on the install media. If you're able to find different SLIC tables to match different install media, this should work too.]

I've had a difficult time grabbing the SLIC table - in one box I tried this with, there was no SLIC table. [Perhaps on others there is. But there wasn't in this case, and I didn't want to burn 20 hours trying to figure out how to do so.]
So, it's easiest for me to find a SLIC table I can grab elsewhere, instead of trying to generate my own.

So, I did some google searches with the terms "virtualbox slic 2.1"
[Since I'm not sure what I can or can not post, I'll let you find your way a bit.]

There's a post on "my digital life" that talks about a W7 guest on a W7 host - but clearly this isn't what I'm trying to do. [And I think wouldn't be technically "legal" using a single COA/Windows License. But using a Linux host with a (single) W7 guest with a valid COA should be.]

Anyway, in that thread, there's a linked zip file with the SLIC table included. Get it. It's called Table_Dell_SLIC.BIN or something similar. You can dump all the other files - you won't need them.

Use the BIN file - and move it to your Linux host box. [I generally put it in the same directory as the W7 VM files.]
Once you have it there, you'll need to do the following.

VBoxManage setextradata "SomeVirtualBoxVM-Name" "VBoxInternal/Devices/acpi/0/Config/CustomTable" "/some/path/which/has/your/bin/file/DELL_SLIC.BIN"

Where
A) you'll replace "SomeVirtualBoxVM-Name" with the name of the W7 VM you created above.
and
B) [/some/path/which/has/your/bin/file/DELL_SLIC.BIN] will be replaced with the path and file name of the "bin" file you'll be using.

[Obviously you'll want to make sure the case is correct for the path+file-name for the "bin" file.]

Now boot the W7 VM.
You should find it's activated now.

If it's not, check, again, that the media you used matches the SLIC table you used. If you use an SLIC table from HP, but your install media is from Dell, that's going to bomb. I'm sure there are a million other reasons it could fail too, and I'm not going to spend a bunch of time trying to "grok" it for you. I know the above method works because I've personally tried it and have verified it works.

Since there seems to be a real dearth of information regarding this, I thought I'd post so I can help someone else replicate this in the W7 guest where they have a valid COA, and don't need to shell out more bucks for a license, since they can use the COA license as their guest.

HTH
-Greg

[1337qwerty]

Someone asked me to post the links I reference above.

This is a follow-up to my post on how to get Windows 7 Self Activation working on VirtualBox - which I have successfully done.
Working, Windows 7 SLIC 2.1 Self Activation See: https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic ... 55#p284055
[It's just the post above this one, but it's easy to not see it and wonder what post this one is referencing.]

Try these:

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/thread ... %28Dell%29
[Get the file at the bottom of the first post: VIRTUALBOX_SLIC_ACTIVATION_AIO__V1.0.zip. You'll have to register at MDL, I think.]

While I haven't tested the SLIC BIOS files in this next link, I'm quite sure if you match the BIOS to the OEM install media you're using, that using one of the *many* BIN files in this link should work too.
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/thread ... #post68075
[Get the file at the bottom of the first post: SLIC 2.1 BINS 1-31-2011.7z. You'll have to register at MDL, I think.]

This would allow you to use pretty much any OEM install media, not just Dell. [Though that largely seems pointless - you can use the Dell BIOS and Dell media on *any* machine as long as your doing so in VirtualBox - but having the ability to use whatever media you have in hand is easier and if you have an HP machine, it probably looks better to use an HP OEM install and the HP SLIC self activation etc.]

That second link also has a bunch of SLIC 2.2/2.3 BIOS files - which may allow for self-activation for Windows 8 etc - but since I don't give a rip about Windows 8 and such, I've not invested any time in figuring any of that stuff out.

Again, remember all you need is the .BIN file - it's just the BIOS you'll feed to VirtualBox. Go back and read my original post if you are confused.

Good luck

[RushPL]

This tutorial worked perfectly on my Thinkpad T420.

Now I have installed both Windows and openSUSE in UEFI mode on 3TB disk. How to boot Windows that was installed with UEFI? Any clues how to modify the tutorial?

[ComputingFroggy]

Hi,

On my netbook, EeePC 1215B, I managed to get Windows 7 booting in VirtualBox (from the original install) on Ubuntu.
However, at startup I get 2 dialog boxes with error messages :
- Asus ACPI Service / Can't get WMI ASUSManagement Object
- SHE / BIOS Version Error

And there's a message in the bottom right corner stating that I am running a Windows copy not authentic.

And of course, every so often a window message pops up stating that I am running a copy not authentic.

I did run dmidecode to get the information and I created a script with all the values ... but it seems something is not working.

Any ideas anyone ?

[ComputingFroggy]

So ... nobody can help me to solve my problem (cf. previous message) ?

[ComputingFroggy]

Hi,

This tutorial worked perfectly on my Thinkpad T420.

which SLIC file did you use for a Thinkpad T420 ?
I am now doing this on my Thinkpad T420, and I get a message about the Windows licence !

Cheers,
L@u

[rengui]

Just for your reference, in case you installed Guest Additions in the Windows 7, and then when booting it in native and meet the issue that cannot power off/restart by press start menu button.

==> please refer this thread to resolve it:
https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=75735
--------------- quote ---------------------
Work around.
In Windows, change registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\VBoxGuest, "Start" value from 0 to 3 (3 means manually start according to MSDN).
-- with this change, the Guest additions (service VBoxGuest) still can be loaded automatically when the Windows 7 is booting as guest inside my Ubuntu host); and while when physically booting the Windows 7, it will not loaded. and thus no the cannot-power-off issue.
--------------- quote ---------------------

[DKroot]

I'm trying to setup both VM and native (BootCamp) execution for Windows 10 on my Mac. I'm running VirtualBox 5.0.26. (I have a different issue with 5.1.x).

Let's say I just do one liner for setting extra data:

Code: Select all   Expand viewCollapse view

>VBoxManage setextradata "Boot Camp" "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSVendor" "Apple Inc."

The line gets successfully into Boot Camp.vbox file.

However, when I start the VM it crashes on start:

Code: Select all   Expand viewCollapse view

Configuration error: Querying "RamSize" as integer failed (VERR_CFGM_VALUE_NOT_FOUND).


Result Code:
NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component:
ConsoleWrap
Interface:
IConsole {872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105b9eed}


If I revert the line, VM runs fine.

What could be the issue and how I can resolve it?

[socratis]

1) Why would you want to change the BIOS Vendor? Just out of curiosity...

2) Macs don't have a BIOS, so the line should not be

"VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSVendor"

but

"VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiBIOSVendor"

Chapter 9.12 Configuring the BIOS DMI information has the following excerpt which you might have missed:

In case your VM is configured to use EFI firmware you need to replace pcbios by efi in the keys.

It shouldn't fail, but you never know. Try it out...

[DKroot]

1) Why would you want to change the BIOS Vendor? Just out of curiosity...

I'm trying to set up VirtualBox VM so that Windows 10 does not require re-activation. Windows 10 (upgraded from Windows 8.1 retail license) is activated and runs fine in Boot Camp.

2) Macs don't have a BIOS, so the line should not be

"VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiBIOSVendor"

but

"VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiBIOSVendor"

Chapter 9.12 Configuring the BIOS DMI information has the following excerpt which you might have missed:

In case your VM is configured to use EFI firmware you need to replace pcbios by efi in the keys.

It shouldn't fail, but you never know. Try it out...

Thank you very much! I was able to resolve my issue by replacing pcbios with efi. RTFM, I guess.

I'm following this guide: http://codingbyhand.com/blog/using-boot ... ualbox.htm, but without success yet on re-activation front.
Now I am getting BSOD while starting Windows if I change DmiSystemUuid, but I'm not positive I got all info correctly from dmidecode yet. I've filed an issue with dmidecode folks: https://savannah.nongnu.org/support/?109118

[jkane13]

I was never able to get Windows 10 to accept the license both ways. I originally installed it on a single SSD card. I could boot from that card anytime and the license was OK. If I booted from that SSD into a VM, it would not like the license key. I tried every setextradata value that I could think of. Nothing seemed to work.

Look here for more details. https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=84375

I use Windows as a VM most of the time. I just ignored the licensing message since I don't use windows that much. Every now and then I would try to get it to activate.

Then after about 8-9 months since I first did the Windows 10 install, I happened to unlock the screen and didn't see the notice in the bottom corner. I checked, and now it is activated as the guest!

I booted directly into Windows. The license is no longer activated that way. This is OK since I will not boot directly into it very often. It is staying activated as a guest O/S.

It seems that if you wait long enough, it will activate itself. I had read that time is one part of the equation. It sound like 8-9 months it that time frame.