Virtualbox clone vm windows 7

I'd appreciate any help I can get. Thank you. Re: Cloning and Windows Reactivation by stefan. Re: Cloning and Windows Reactivation by noteirak » Tue Jan 08, am The reactivation process is part of the Microsoft licensing scheme.

If the hardware - or the IDs to be precise - change too much, reactivation will be required. This is to prevent people to move their Windows installation without getting a new license Windows license is bound to a hardware, not to a person. As for how to bypass it, we cannot help you, as pointed out by stefan.

You will need to sort this out with Microsoft directly. I know that trying to be dishonest with Microsoft is not right and that the license is bound to hardware not a person. That's why I asked this question originally. Because I'm using the same hardware machine on the same computer I assumed I was still in compliance. From my researching I thought there was a way just to copy the machine UUID from the original vbox files and virtualbox.

It also looks like a person would be "out of activation" if their computer died and they wanted to use their VM on a new computer which doesn't seem right either. I do have a valid license but I've had to use the phone activation in the past and MS makes you jump through hoops and it's very frustrating. I'd probably buy a new license than go through that aggravation again. Thanks for your thoughts though. But how do we find the origuuid? Thanks everyone. Actually, since the original machine UUID was used to activate the Windows licence, moving it into the hardware identifyer keeps Bill Gates genuine advantage satisfied.

There are two files to modify. Of course, Bill Gates would prefer that you pay for each and every Windows system you have; virtual or not and single user or not. No ifs, no buts, this is not an acceptable procedure for Microsoft and they feel they have the right to unleash their lawyers after you for this. I only swapped the guids in the vdi file. Instead of adjusting the xml file, I simply removed the vm from virtual box without deleting data and then reopened the vdi file and voila!

Open the new Test. On my vm the Office Suite was installed and became unactivated. This must look at a different part of windows. I have other versions I might install but I wonder if there is something else that MS Office inspects? Any ideas? I am dubious about some of the claims that are being made. Perhaps someone could elaborate and straighten me out. To begin with the MS algorithm that checks whether activation is required looks at the hard drive UUID amongst other things, correct?

So when Win 7 boots in a different but copied vm instance it had better see the original UUID that it squirreled away in order for the activation check to pass successfully. None of these methods work for a full-clone of Windows 7? Thanks for sharing this knowledge, i sucessfully cloned a windows vm for backup purposes using the information Martin shared. So, just so that I am clear. If I follow this process for my Win2k8r2 Test server to clone 2 more VMs, they will all be able to run simultaneously?

Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Home Smart Tech.

March 1, Locate the vbox file of the VM you just created. Pin 1 Share Tweet. Related Posts. Smart Tech. Load More. Comments 33 Luke says:.

Kai says:. Have you noticed any problems running multiple guests on the same host with the same UUID? Quentin Moore says:. The Clone Type option specifies whether to create a clone linked to the source VM or to create a fully independent clone:.

Full Clone: Copies all dependent disk images to the new VM folder. A full clone can operate fully without the source VM. Linked Clone: Creates new differencing disk images based on the source VM disk images.

The Snapshots option specifies whether to create a clone of the current machine state only or of everything. Everything: Clones the current machine state and all its snapshots. Current Machine State and All Children:. Clones a VM snapshot and all its child snapshots.

This is the default setting.