Christoph said:
Hello,
I have with vmware converter a physical machine convert to a virtual one.
But now comes the windows with the activation and says the key are wrong. but
this is a legal volume license from our company (eds)...
You have any ideas, whats wrong?
Best regards
Christoph
Hi Christoph,
I went through the identical problem 2 months ago. Basically the problem
stems from how Microsoft defines a 'machine'. Even though you are using
your 'native' install, because it is being accessed through a VM,
Microsoft says that you are using the install twice.
Basically since the VM is recognized by windows as a different machine
with a different hardware configuration from Microsoft's point of view
they are correct.
Since I needed to run a native WinXP from inside of Ubuntu, I installed
a retail version of Windows and activated it. Then I made a copy of the
wpa file. I then went into VMPlayer under Ubuntu and set up the a VM to
run the native WindowsXP. I had to call Microsoft, and they gave me a
new key for Windows. I activated and made a copy of that 'wpa' file. I
was lucky and the Support person who gave me my new key failed to ask
the right questions and I was able to answer truthfully and get the new
key. So I have one 'wpa' that I use when running natively and a separate
one that I run when using the VM.
You'll note that when you setup the WinXP that you were told to set up a
second hardware profile. One for the VM and then the one you use for the
native install. This important since VMWare has certain limitations that
you don't want carried over to your 'native' install.
If you have any questions, you can send me an e-mail (the address here
is a real address).
One last thing if your Windows disk is a branded OEM disk it will not
work. The problem is when you call the OEM brander they will know that
the machine you are installing on is not one of their hardware
configurations and will not give you the new key. I don't have an
unbranded OEM disk, so I don't know if that will work or not.
Ciao . . . C.Joseph
"A promise is nothing more than an attempt
to respond to an unreasonable demand."
http://blog.tlerma.com/
A Windows professional's view of entering the World of Linux
