Cloning an Activated Windows XP in Virtual Box

[nancym1002]

I am cloning an entire HD (ubuntu 9.10) over to another machine with the same configurations. My current Ubuntu 9.10 also has Virtual Box running Windows XP (activated).

The cloning software i use is G4l.

My question is if I transfer the clone to another machine with the same exact configuration, will my Windows XP in Virtual Box stay activated/ work?

thanks!
Nancy.

[Rubberman]

It should provided the directories the VM resides in are the same path, such as /home/mydir/.VirtualBox/... or you have exported the VM and imported it back in the new system. Given that is the case, then you can run the VM as normal and Windows should not care a bit, or even know that it has been moved. Remember, Windows looks at the "machine" and its configuration. The VM should look just the same, no matter which system it is running on.

[coopstah13]

technically that is a violation of the eula if you don't have an enterprise copy though

edit:
unless you are moving this to another machine, and not cloning it to run multiple instances

[Rubberman]

technically that is a violation of the eula if you don't have an enterprise copy though

edit:
unless you are moving this to another machine, and not cloning it to run multiple instances

Good point coopstah. Indeed, to clone/move it simply to move it is currently allowed by MS, but to clone it in order to get another concurrently running instance requires the appropriate licenses.

[nancym1002]

Thanks for the input! I will go ahead and give this single clone move a try.

-Nancy.

[nujinini]

...but to clone it in order to get another concurrently running instance requires the appropriate licenses.

Pardon my ignorance but if I run XP on a partition and also installed the same on VirtualBox in another partition hosted by linux but on the same computer? Would it count as "concurrently running instances"?

[Rubberman]

Perhaps "concurrently running" was the wrong terminology. AFAIK, each Windows installation requires a separate license. If you have multiple installations on the same hardware, then you need multiple licenses. If you move an installation and wipe/remove the original, then I don't think you need a new license. However, if XP detects that the hardware has changed significantly enough, then it will re-authenticate itself. If you move a VM, then the hardware will not have changed at all since the VM is the same "hardware", effectively.

So, in your case, having XP that is runnable from a partition on the system drive, and having XP that is runnable in a VM in Linux, you likely do need two licenses, even if you cannot run them simultaneously. In my case, I run the same XP license on multiple VM's and hardware because it is allowed by the terms of the MSDN (Microsoft Developer's Network) Universal license that the image came from that I own - I can install XP on up to 12 systems/VM's for my personal use and testing purposes. I think that Microsoft's authentication servers keep track of the number of installations associated with that license key, and would probably refuse to authenticate if I try to install that key on more than 12 systems. If I want to change hardware and exceed the 12 installation limit, then I think I have to call Microsoft's tech support to allow the move since they have no real way to tell if the old system has been wiped or not.

So, all of this is another good reason why we run Linux. No such bother there!

[nujinini]

Why do they have to make life sooooo complicated

The more I get to appreciate linux.

EDIT: It took me quite a while to decipher AFAIK Rubberman, I thought it was another windows term like EULA or MSDN... hahaha

[Rubberman]

As far as I know, AFAIK is just another FLA (Five Letter Acronym)...