virtualbox.org

I have a number of licenses for Windows 7 that I use to setup test virtual machines. I want to be able to reuse the licenses when I need to rebuild a test virtual machine. Ideally, I would like to build a single base machine with all of Windows updates applied and a couple of user accounts that I could clone instead of rebuilding a virtual machine.

I need to reset the base machine so the first time a copy is booted it asks for the Windows 7 license. If I run SysPrep and then use CloneVDI to create a clone with the UUID of the test machine the clone will replace will I still have a problem with Windows activation thinking I am using the same license on multiple machines?

If you mean, can you transfer the activation data from one Win7 VM to another, then no, there is no VirtualBox feature which allows you to do that. In this case VirtualBox is just another PC, and you should ask MS about moving activations between PCs.

Note that activation is a separate issue from licensing. Activation is indeed an attempt by Microsoft to enforce licensing, and discourage piracy, but activation has no legal authority by itself. I.e. you are under no legal or moral obligation to reactivate each new clone. Your only legal/moral obligation is to ensure that you aren't using your Windows installation outwith the scope of your license.

My personal belief is that a clone is no different from the backup drive images that lots of people use, indeed that many businesses mandate. As long as the clones are all for your personal use and you use them in rough accordance with the original license then I doubt that MS would be bothered.

The problem is that Microsoft has instituted a requirement that you run Microsoft Essentials if you want to update your system using Windows Update. Microsoft Essentials does a local check to see if the system is "valid" and I suspect it also calls home to check to see if the system is on the same machine that the original activation was done. That is the check I am concerned about if I just clone the base machine using CloneVDI to give the clone the same UUID as the base machine.

saberman wrote:That is the check I am concerned about if I just clone the base machine using CloneVDI to give the clone the same UUID as the base machine.

If you haven't already done so then I suggest you also read the thread Which changes trigger reactivation in a Windows guest? (in "Windows Guests"). There you''ll see that the VM UUID (not the hard disk UUID) has a large effect. That's because VirtualBox defaults to reflecting the VM UUID into the guest as part of the BIOS DMI data - you would have to use ExtraData tags (VBoxManage setextradata) to override the defaults. I have not delved into the details to work out which string to set, but if you set the right string to match the VBox default of the original VM, then you should be able to clone that VM easily on the same host without triggering reactivation. When moving between hosts the only change visible to the guest should be CPU type (if different). Whether that causes reactivation I don't know - I don't use Win7 guests, as XP 32bit is perfect for my needs.