virtualbox.org

Hi,

I need to create some virtual machines on my Windows desktop for some Internet Explorer multiple browser testing. I want the VMs to use Windows 7 same as my host. I only have 1 Windows 7 license key that I am using for my current install of Windows on the host machine.
Do the guest OS installs require a fully activated copy of windows? Or can I re-use the Windows 7 license key I already have?
Or is there a way I can share my current Windows 7 between the host and the guests. Basically what Im saying is I dont have enough money to buy lots of copies of Windows as I will need 4 vms so is there a way for them all to share the already installed OS?
Sorry Im a noob, I dont really understand how it works atm and why I cant set up the vm using the operating system install that is there already.
Any help greatly appreciated.

You can't share the host OS with the virtual machines, nor its licence. The virtual machines are separate computers from the host, same as if you had 4 more physical computers sitting in the room. They each have their own separate OS.

However, for browser testing you don't need to activate Windows in the virtual machines. After installing Windows 7, you have 30 days to use it without activation or product key. That is usually enough for this kind of testing.

In fact, Microsoft themselves offer downloads of complete virtual machines for various browser and OS combinations, for this kind of testing. They have VirtualBox VMs as well, including Windows 7. Those downloads contain unactivated Windows, but sufficient for testing. Have a look here:
https://dev.windows.com/en-us/microsoft ... s/windows/