Windows 7 Installation multiple times/machines

I have 32-bit OEM (Dell) Windows 7, as well as 64-bit/32-bit Professional (from MSDNAA).

I was wondering if I can install these multiple times or multiple machines and activate? I have installed Vista several times and was able to activate though had to go through the offline/manual activation using MS activation line.

Will I be able to install several Windows 7 VMs or on physical computers? I would like to install 64-bit and it seems 64-bit installation would take 32-bit keys.

Anyone have any experience doing this?

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it_consultant

If you have a dell server this MIGHT be ok because Dell and HP OEM disks check the processor ID to make sure they are correct before they will license themselves. In other words if the server is HP and you had dell disks, even in a virtual environment this is almost surely not going to work.

You might have to bite the bullet and buy a full copy of Windows 7. MS is fairly flexible with its licensing in virtual environments.

certhelp

it_consultant wrote: »

If you have a dell server this MIGHT be ok because Dell and HP OEM disks check the processor ID to make sure they are correct before they will license themselves.

You might have to bite the bullet and buy a full copy of Windows 7. MS is fairly flexible with its licensing in virtual environments.

But, can't I use a Win 7 Professional (non Dell OEM) on my Dell laptop and workstations (either as VM or directly)?

it_consultant

Yes. MS has no idea how many times you activate it in a virtual environment, so have at it. The only hiccup comes from when you use manufacturers disks.

certhelp

Thanks, I can also buy Win 7 Professional Upgrade for $30 from DreamSpark.

I installed Windows Server 2008 R2 (obtained from MSDNAA) on a Dell Server and activate it. But, when tried to do it later in a VM environment, it complained.

jibbajabba

certhelp wrote: »

Thanks, I can also buy Win 7 Professional Upgrade for $30 from DreamSpark.

I installed Windows Server 2008 R2 (obtained from MSDNAA) on a Dell Server and activate it. But, when tried to do it later in a VM environment, it complained.

I BELIEVE MSDNAA are single license only, are they not ? In that case you can always follow the manual activation procedure, i.e. calling, and talk to some monkey who gives you a new activation key .. but he will ask you on how many server / PCs you have this installed and you are allowed to have only one copy running at a time.

certhelp

Gomjaba wrote: »

I BELIEVE MSDNAA are single license only, are they not ? In that case you can always follow the manual activation procedure, i.e. calling, and talk to some monkey who gives you a new activation key .. but he will ask you on how many server / PCs you have this installed and you are allowed to have only one copy running at a time.

I thought you can activate up to 4 instances of Server 2008 VMs or 5 if running under Server 2008's Hyper-V role (+1 for physical machine). No? I wonder if the virtual machine server 2008s have to be using the same key as that of the host/management 2008 server if VMs are running on Server 2008.

So manual activation gives you several activation keys (calling several times) and can be used to activate multiple times as long as only one copy is running?

Is there similar (lenient) windows 7 licensing in virtualization scenario?

it_consultant

If you already activated it on a physical, that license is gone. But in a virtual environment MS has no idea how many times you have activated it on that physical hardware, which means you can activate it as many times as you want provided you are on the same ESX server.

Its like this, when you activate with MS they get a proc ID, when you go to activate it again with a different proc ID, it will complain. In a virtual environment, it will be the same proc ID every time. MS is unable to determine how many Windows 7 installations are running on one VMWARE server unless they actually audit you.

Does this make any sense?

JDMurray

Isn't Windows 7 aware that it is running in a VM? If so, I assume it would take appropriate actions to indicate that the activation was being performed from a virtualized installation.

it_consultant

No, its not aware or doesn't care that it is virtual. MS licenses by processor ID. Thats why they are so flexible with virtual licensing because they know they have no way of tracking it.

JDMurray

Still, it's possible for the Windows installation and activation programs to detect if they are running in a VM, so Microsoft can at least know that multiple activations from the same IP, and using the same processor ID, are originating from VMs.

Why not just snapshot and clone a VM with a new, activated installation of W7 and save yourself all that installation/activation activity?

(Not that I'm condoning such an obvious violation of Microsoft's EULA...)

certhelp

JDMurray wrote: »

Still, it's possible for the Windows installation and activation programs to detect if they are running in a VM, so Microsoft can at least know that multiple activations from the same IP, and using the same processor ID, are originating from VMs.

A new copy of VM results in a new MAC address and VM ID. This seem to automatically require re-activation. See below.

JDMurray wrote: »

Why not just snapshot and clone a VM with a new, activated installation of W7 and save yourself all that installation/activation activity?

That's what I do.

Apparently cloning or even copying a VM and moving to a different machine trips up MS WGA (Windows Genuine Activation).

JDMurray wrote: »

(Not that I'm condoning such an obvious violation of Microsoft's EULA...)

No, there isn't a violation unless you are running more than 4 VM instances of original VM.

it_consultant

The MAC addy does not matter, it is by processor ID. What happens when you change your network card in your computer? Do you need to re activate, no, of course not. You do when you change your mobo or processor though. MS has no clue that you are activating a virtual system, as far as they are concerned you hay have just reinstalled on original hardware. When they send the activation keys they get the proc ID and product key and nothing else.

This is only for new installations - a clone will cause Win 7 to detect a serious change in its architecture and force a re-activation. Similar to what happens when you P2V a server. New installs on the SAME virtual machine should be fine. You can't go to another ESX server though, since they have different proc IDs. Just think to yourself 1 of 2 things "does this computer have a different processor" and "will my Win 7 computer think something serious has changed".

I am not saying to go rip off MS at every turn - what I am saying is that if you have a virtual setup that you want to train on, MS is not going to send their goons to come get you for activating too many times.

JDMurray

certhelp wrote: »

No, there isn't a violation unless you are running more than 4 VM instances of original VM.

That link is rather old (2006). Has Microsoft changed anything in their licensing with the release of Server 2008, Vista, or Windows 7?

it_consultant

Look under additional resources:

Microsoft Volume Licensing - Microsoft Licensing for Virtualization