https://edoceo.com/howto/kvm-windows-p2v
This guide was the first thing in a google search but I don't feel comfortable putting things into my windows registry from a site I'm not familiar with.

Can anyone confirm this being a safe way to migrate P2V for a fresh install on my current machine?

The reg scripts look pretty innocent. They point Windows to use other hard disk drivers etc. Don't take my word for it, I might have overlooked something. Although the scripts intentions seems to be genuine someone might have distributed a malign version.

A few things to keep in mind. Windows installations spread out over a few hundreds Gigs of space. With immutable space at the end and in the middle. Totally unnecessary but it does. You might not want to create a 400 GB VM image. There are articles on internet on how to delete those immutable space. If I knew which one was the correct one (which I used once) I would tell you. I am not able to find it back. But depending on installed applications, you might be able to shrink a 400 GB partition to 40 GB. Which is better to handle.

For virtualization I have used VMWare P2V. It is free and easy to use. Works flawlessly. It creates a vmx file. Which can be converted to KVM format.

If you have a OEM Windows version (which came instlled on you PC) forget the migration. Windows will loose its activation. Re-activation by phone is extremely cumbersome. And I believe it cannot be done for W10. Tied to the hardware forever. Retail versions can be re-activated AFAIK. If I ever have to make a Windows VM installation I will buy a new retail version. It gives a bad feeling to purchase what you already have but it is a lot less headache.

jlinkels

Thank you for the assurance. I wish I knew how to read the file myself; what is it written in?

I'll do the research on that and return with what I find for others.

Thanks for the heads-up. I honestly only need it for the adobe products (my last tie to the windows OS). Either I only want this VM for offline productivity, nothing more.

Ok turns out you can cut them out using the VMware converter (standalone in my case) by going to the "Data to Copy" section and changing that data size from "Maintain size" to "Minimum size".

Thanks for the help! Converting now, can't wait to install Arch on my main machine once more. This time with more Linux knowledge.

You can open the .reg file with any text editor. They contain registry keys and values. The registry key is exactly how you find it in the Windows registry editor. Quite self explaining really. The key and the value are parameters to the reg command which do nothing else than writing them in the registry.

For some reason M$ has carried the text based reg tool from the very beginning of the existence of the registry. Actually it is quite useful for system administrators. And for malware of course. Usually M$ tries to make the life of system administrators as complicated as possible. That is why my amazement.

jlinkels

Yey. I can't wait to learn about the idiocy of Windows. I'm trying to become a system admin within a year.

Now, is Windows Activation different than simply the serial number you need to punch in? For OEM Windows versions that came with your hardware, and you're now running GNU/Linux on that hardware, you can learn the Windows serial number. Source: https://bgstack15.wordpress.com/2017...ware-in-linux/

Yes, it is different from punching in the serial number. One is punching in the serial number, the other is activation. (Sorry I could not help that)

Been there, done that. You can enter the serial number and activation fails. I tried this on a W10 installation from my DELL Inspiron. Converted W10 to a VM, installed Linux, run W10 in VirtualBox. When run initially W10 tells it is still activated. After some time (hours, days?) it tells activation is expired.

On EBay you can purchase Windows licenses for a few dollars. I have not tried it yet, but a colleague of me who does a lot more with Windows assures me it is genuine. At least in the sense that Windows will activate. There is no risk of malware because you have to download the Windows image from Microsoft. Soon I will try it as well, that few dollars cannot harm me.

Furthermore there are dozens of "Windows Activation Tools" out on the internet which simulate the Windows Activation server. Some are quite common and highly recommended. I do not dare to use one of those. You never know what else is installed.

jlinkels