> -----Original Message----- > From: Mark Cranness [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2012 5:18 PM > To: Community mailing list of VirtualBox users > Subject: Re: [VBox-users] cloning and Windows activation > > On 27 October 2012 16:41, John A. Wallace <[email protected]> wrote: > > I had assumed that cloning an instance of Windows in a VM would clone > > all of the system configurations and settings including the one > > indicating that Windows had been activated. However, when I created a > > clone of a Windows Vista Ultimate, the cloned version showed that it > > was not yet activated even though the original indicates that it had > > been activated already (and I double checked that setting too in the > original). > > The clone is not 100% identical to the original. > > The VirtualBox VM has a new GUID assigned. > The copied virtual hard disks have new GUIDs assigned. > The cloned network cards have new MAC addresses assigned. > > All of the above are (by default) surfaced into the VM as motherboard > serial numbers, HDD serial numbers, network card MAC addresses, etc., > and Windows can see that they have changed : => new hardware, and > Windows becomes deactivated. > > Some or all of the above can be 'fixed' (made constant) by using > VBoxManage to set various VM config settings. >
Well crud already! That means every clone of Windows would need to be scrubbed into submission using these additional procedures unless I want to contact Microsoft each time to reactivate the OS. No major hurdle, I suppose, but now I have to scour the manual's section on VBoxManage to find the applicable procedures. I do hope the information is clear enough and not too painful. What I have seen of it so far has been unusually well presented, so I am hopeful at least. Thanks for the pointers, Mark. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WINDOWS 8 is here. Millions of people. Your app in 30 days. Visit The Windows 8 Center at Sourceforge for all your go to resources. http://windows8center.sourceforge.net/ join-generation-app-and-make-money-coding-fast/ _______________________________________________ VBox-users-community mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/vbox-users-community _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe: mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe
