Do License allow to use OEM Windows in virtual box on Linux host?
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Do License allow to use OEM Windows in virtual box on Linux host?
Hello, dear admins and Linux users!
I have a refurbished notebook HP 640 G1 with Licensed Windows 10 OEM and licensed Office 2019.
Could I install Linux on the hardware, and move my Windows with Office to Virtual Box? (Does EULA allow me to do this?).
For Windows 7 people say "yes" and link to the Windows EULA:
Hello, dear admins and Linux users!
I have a refurbished notebook HP 640 G1 with Licensed Windows 10 OEM and licensed Office 2019. Could I install Linux on the hardware, and move my Windows with Office to Virtual Box? (Does EULA allow me to do this?). For Windows 7 people say "yes" and link to the Windows EULA:
I'd also suggest checking with the microsoft site. You can also read the EULA for your own specific version of windows as they vary. Check your EULA, open a powershell or command prompt and type: license.rtf. In general, I'd agree with the link you posted. The EULA on my computer is specific about that. You cannot have a hardware install and a virtual install on the same machine and use both if you have only one license but you can have either. This forum is definitely not the best place to ask the question.
From License.rtf, translated from Dutch to English by Google Translate:
(iv)*** Use in a virtualized environment. This license allows you to install only one instance of the software for use on one device, whether that device is physical or virtual. If you wish to use the software on more than one device, you must obtain a separate license for each instance.
Nothing about can I reinstall OEM Windows from real device to virtual.
This license allows you to install only one instance of the software for use on one device
I am not a lawyer, but I interpret this to mean that, as long as you are running only one instance of that Windows package, it's up to you whether it's on bare metal or in a VM. In other words, you can remove it from bare metal and put in a VM, but you cannot run it on bare metal and also put it in a VM.
I am not a lawyer, but I interpret this to mean that, as long as you are running only one instance of that Windows package, it's up to you whether it's on bare metal or in a VM. In other words, you can remove it from bare metal and put in a VM, but you cannot run it on bare metal and also put it in a VM.
True, but your OEM Windows license is not portable, and you will almost certainly find that it will revert to "Not activated" if ported to the VM environment. Can't hurt to try, though, but I advise saving a disk image backup so that you can recover your old installation if things do not go well.
It seems, that OEM License is linked to motherboard, and motherboard in virtual box will be emulated different from that is in hardware. So OEM will not activated in another motherboard, virtual or real, I think.
Well, I'd agree the OEM license is the problem and according to the link you posted, you would need another license to use it in a virtual environment.
True, but your OEM Windows license is not portable, and you will almost certainly find that it will revert to "Not activated" if ported to the VM environment. Can't hurt to try, though, but I advise saving a disk image backup so that you can recover your old installation if things do not go well.
It's been a while since I setup my windows 10 VM, but I used my windows 7 OEM license (from sticker on the laptop) and works fine after clean install in virtualbox.
My experience is like enigma9o7's. Microsoft has been pretty lenient about allowing you to install OEM versions to a VM as long as you don't install to more than one VM. Now, they may decide to no longer tolerate that in the future but they've not given me any problems and I've been doing this since WinXP.
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