An activated Windows-10-guest changes through running the Hardware UUID and looses the activation

[Ransom]

Hello guys,

I know how to install, activate and save a Windows-10-guest in VirtualBox:

1. Install a “raw version” of the corresponding Windows version, but do not activate it yet (skip key input during installation).
2. Export this raw version as ova file and delete it afterwards.
3. import the not yet activated (but already installed) raw version.
4. Start this Windows version in VirtualBox and activate it.
5. now export this version as ova file.
6. Now read out the Hardware UUID as described below and remove the VirtualBox again.

"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" showvminfo "C:\Users\Admin\VirtualBox VMs\Win10x64_Home_UEFI\Win10x64_Home_UEFI.vbox" > "F:\readout.txt"

7. import the last saved (and activated) Windows version or ova file. (Do not check “Assign new MAC addresses for all network cards”.)
8. do not start this Windows version yet!
9) Now transfer the Hardware UUID as described below.

"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" modifyvm "C:\Users\Admin\VirtualBox VMs\Win10x64_Home_UEFI\Win10x64_Home_UEFI.vbox" --hardwareuuid 354401c4-d30a-461e-87b6-62a0b5f65f27

With all my Windows-guests (WinXP, Vista, Win8.1, Win10) this manual worked well.

With my last Win10x64_Home_UEFI installation everything works as usual. Windows is activated, the transfer of the Hardware UUID also worked. I start Windows and the first minute it is also activated. Suddenly the activation is gone and I get the error message:

Windows cannot be activated on this device because the product key has already been used on another device. If you don’t think it was used on another device, select “Troubleshooting” below. Error Code 0xC004C008

If I shut down the Windows Guest and read out the Hardware UUID, it no longer matches the previously transferred UUID resp. the UUID and Hardware UUID are identical again.

Does anyone understand this phenomenon or does anyone know any advice?

Greetings
Ransom

[Ransom]

Hello guys,

Doesn’t anyone have an idea?

I uploaded the ova-file here once, if someone wants to experience the phenomenon I described:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/35uc8ywp41e8ii3

Greetings
Ransom

[mpack]

We don't claim to be experts on how Windows calculates a device signature. I'll only say that, clearly, your procedures are not enough to prevent Win10 from detecting a change in hardware. Also that I'd expect Win10 to look at a great deal more than the motherboard hardware ID when calculating a signature.

Also, it isn't clear to me that you understand how activation works. Win10 will calculate a hardware signature. On activation it will tell the server to store the association between a product key and that hardware signature. Future instances of Win10 can detect that a product key has already been used for activation, and whether the new machine signature is the same as last time that key was used. From your description it seems to me that everything worked as expected?

[Ransom]

Hello mpack,

Thank you very much for your (quick) answer.

Also, it isn’t clear to me that you understand how activation works.

You are right, not really.

I’ll only say that, clearly, your procedures are not enough to prevent Win10 from detecting a change in hardware.

Okay, I can’t remember where I got this tutorial from, but asked another question: Is there a “waterproof” tutorial somewhere to activate Windows 10 in a VirtualBox and save it permanently? Then I would try the new method again or save the new method as a manual.

Greetings,
Ransom

[mpack]

Is there a “waterproof” tutorial somewhere to activate Windows 10 in a VirtualBox and save it permanently?

No, there is no such tutorial. It may be illegal to provide one, as it's purpose could be seen as attempting to defeat IP protection measures. We do have an old discussion "Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest?", but that discussion dates from the Win7 era so is probably horribly out of date. In any case that discussion was about avoiding accidental deactivation, not about defeating it.

My own procedure is to create and activate one VM. I then assume that I'll be able to create disposable clones of that VM (*), running them on the same host PC, and I won't have activation problems. I assume that Microsoft would love me to license each clone individually, but that aint gonna happen - any more than I'm going to buy a Windows license for each backup of a physical PC disk image. I only use one instance of the clone at a time, so I see those scenarios as equivalent, plus I believe Microsoft would prefer to leave that argument as a gray area rather than lose to me in court and set a certain precedent.

(*) VirtualBox 6.0.8 has an explicit cloning option to retain hardware UUIDs in the clone, so this involves less juggling than it used it to bypass the old default of changing all hardware UUIDs and thereby guaranteeing activation failures.

[Ransom]

Hello mpack,

Thank you very much for your answer, which helps me a lot in any case.

The link to the old discussion from the Win 7 era is very informative. Especially at the end there are problems, which I had as well. Also the hint that it is better to save *.vbox and *.vdi together instead of exporting *.ova might be the solution for me.

Also the hint with VirtualBox 6.0.8 sounds promising, although I don’t understand how to create a clone of your Windows host installation for a Windows Guest VirtualBox.

By the way, it’s not my intention to trick, but to use an actually remaining license for a Win10 VirtualBox or to save the legally activated Win10 VirtualBox permanently and to be able to update it again etc.

Regards,
Ransom

[mpack]

although I don’t understand how to create a clone of your Windows host installation for a Windows Guest VirtualBox.

Where did you see mention of that? P2V is very separate discussion, and it certainly wouldn't make activation problems easier. A P2V image of Windows will immediately detect that the hardware has changed, and deactivate.

[Ransom]

Hello mpack,

Where did you see mention of that? P2V is very separate discussion…

I probably misunderstood something and asked the wrong question. For me P2V are Bohemian villages, before you spoke of P2V I had never heard of it – and it probably has nothing to do with my case.

I now have VirtualBox 6.0.8 installed. I like the 6er version. Just the fact that you can now select “Import hard disks as VDI” when importing is very pleasing.

I’ve never used the cloning function before (always just export resp. import), but I could well imagine that the new function – with the option to “keep hardware UUIDs” – is ideal for my problem. But first I have to do a new installation and experiment with the new function.

Greetings,
Ransom

[BillG]

You are right about one thing. Methods that worked before do not work with Windows 10 guests, but it has nothing to do with VirtualBox. The same is true of Hyper-V guests (and probably other virtualisation solutions).

I often move my activated vms from one host to another.The safe way to move an activated Windows 10 guest to a different host is to copy the entire folder, not create a new vm. This may still fail if the CPU in the host is very different (such as Intel to AMD). I have had no problems moving between different hosts, but all my hosts are Intel 17s, just different generations.

[Ransom]

Hello guys,

I’ve been through some really weird things.

Remember: My problem was that an activated Win10x64_Home_UEFI hard disk only remained activated for a short time after export/import and then required a new activation again.

Now I cloned that Win10x64_Home_UEFI hard disk immediately after the import with the new 6er version of VirtualBox and set the check mark for “keep hardware UUIDs”. After I started the cloned disk, the activation remained stable. Also an exported and re-imported disk was still activated.

May understand that, who wants, I don’t understand it, but now my request is “solved”.

By the way, Extension Pack 6.0.8 seems to have a bug: Shared folders, which normally have the names C:\, E:\, F:\, G:\ etc., have the names ... W:\, X:\, Y:\, Z:\ for Extension Pack 6.0.8. I downgraded the extension pack to version 5.2.30, and the partitions or “Shared folders” had the correct name again.

Greetings,
Ransom

[socratis]

Extension Pack 6.0.8 seems to have a bug: Shared folders

That's an impossibility, because the ExtPack has absolutely nothing to do with the Shared Folders. The Guest Additions are responsible for this. And with 6.0.0 things changed and now you can actually select which share will map to which letter in a guest (if available of course), and you're witnessing that change in behavior.

Do *NOT* have a mismatched ExtPack and main program. All sorts of BadThings™ can happen...

[Ransom]

Hello socratis,

That’s an impossibility, because the ExtPack has absolutely nothing to do with the Shared Folders.

You’re absolutely right, it’s the GuestAdditions who are causing this strange phenomenon.

Here a picture of a Vbox-Win7 with VirtualBox Manager 6.0.8, ExtPack 6.0.8 and GuestAdditions 5.2.30 with “normal” order of Shared Folders:

GuestAdditions 5.2.30.jpg (126.82 KiB) Viewed 14164 times

Here is a picture of a Vbox-Win7 with VirtualBox Manager 6.0.8, ExtPack 6.0.8 and GuestAdditions 6.0.8 with reverse order of Shared Folders:

GuestAdditions 6.0.8.jpg (127 KiB) Viewed 14165 times

Here is a picture of the setting of the Shared Folders in VirtualBox Manager:

VBox Manager.jpg (119.07 KiB) Viewed 14165 times

This phenomenon occurs in all my Virtual Boxes, regardless of which version of Windows is installed in the Guests.

Why has the cursor become so huge in the 6er version in the Guests? Can this be switched off somewhere? (I don’t have a 4k but only a 2k screen. In the 5er version the cursor was always “normal” big.)

Greetings,
Ransom

[socratis]

Here is a picture of a Vbox-Win7 with VirtualBox Manager 6.0.8, ExtPack 6.0.8 and GuestAdditions 6.0.8 with reverse order of Shared Folders:

I already told you what's going on:

with 6.0.0 things changed and now you can actually select which share will map to which letter in a guest

So, edit your shares and fix this. You see that "Nach" column? That's what you're supposed to fix. No need to go to 5.2.30. It's actually strongly advised to NOT do that.

Why has the cursor become so huge in the 6er version in the Guests?

Oh no, no, no. I already allowed you to raise a second issue (share letter order) in a thread that's titled "An activated Windows-10-guest changes through running the Hardware UUID and looses the activation", something that had nothing to do with the title. I won't allow another issue to come in, not all your issues in one thread. We like to observe the "One issue, one thread" rule...

[Ransom]

Hello socratis,

Thanks for your quick answer.

So, edit your shares and fix this.

Due to your note in your previous post, I had already tried to change something in the VBox Manager so that the “correct” resp. intended drive letters appear in the Guest, but found no setting or could not do anything with the setting “Mount point”. By your current hint with the column “At”/“Nach”, I have now tried to enter the desired drive letters in “Mount point” – et voilà, it worked wonderfully. Thanks a lot! (I will now also adjust the GuestAdditions in all my VBoxes to version 6.0.8 again.)

Oh no, no, no…

Excuse my second question with the arrow. I could have thought on my own (if not should) that’s just not done. The stupid thing is that I already had a feeling with my first, deviating question that something like this is out of place. Your friendliness to answer me a different question then (unfortunately) soothed my doubts in the wrong way, so that I then asked this further question. I have read “One issue, one thread” and will stick to it in the future.

Best greetings,
Ransom