Running Windows 7 in a virtual machine: validation

From Google search:

https://www.google.com/search?q=windows+oem+license+virtual+machine

cite: <<You can install OEM software in a virtual environment as long as you have a separate license for each instance of the software. It is fine to use the OEM version as long as it is properly licensed. To be clear, a separate version of the software must be installed for both the “standard” and “virtual” installations.>>

Also:

https://www.google.com/search?q=windows+oem+license+virtual+machine+site:community.spiceworks.com

See the posts on that forum (spiceworks.com) from "Chris (Microsoft)" -- apparently, he is a Microsoft employee.

And:

https://superuser.com/questions/1236545/can-i-run-virtual-windows-with-my-oem-license

cite: <<Like other answers have mentioned, it is allowed by the license as long as you only use one instance.>>

Anyway, I'm not going to phone Microsoft.  If they want people to get "genuine", they should make it easy to do so.

-A.

Someone wrote that the licence agreement reads as follows:

Section 3d of both the OEM and Retail licenses of the ones I checked (Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Home Premium) state:

d. Use with Virtualization Technologies. Instead of using the software directly on the licensed computer, you may install and use the software within only one virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system on the licensed computer.

I don't have the agreement at hand.

Anyway, I'm running it on the computer it came pre-installed on.  It is the exact same install, on the same disk and same partition.  Of course, the simulated hardware environment does appear to Windows as different from the actual physical hardware.

I'm getting the not genuine notices more often than 4 hours, so I guess I'm past the grace period.

-A.

As far as licensing is concerned, Microsoft considers virtual machines to be the same as "real" machines.

That means that an instance of Windows installed in a virtual machine must be authenticated with a valid Microsoft product key.

If your original installation of Windows 7 Pro came preinstalled on your computer -- i.e., it was an "OEM" installation -- the license you have is limited to that original hardware and can't be transferred to any other machine, including any virtual machine.

If, however, you had purchased a retail copy of Windows 7, uninstalled that from your computer when you switched to Linux, and now installed the same edition of Windows in a virtual machine, then the product key from that original retail purchase would be valid to authenticate your virtual installation.

As you've seen, with Windows 7, the "not genuine" notice does not disable Windows, it just causes increasingly frequent messages and other annoyances:

Unlike Windows XP and Vista, failure to activate Windows 7 leaves you with an annoying, but somewhat usable system. According to a Microsoft developer blog post on "Microsoft Developer Network," if you don't choose to activate Windows 7 during installation, you will see an "Activate Windows Online Now" message in the system tray. If you don't activate then, you will see an "Activate Now" message every day from day four through day 27. Until day 30, you will get the "Activate Now" message every four hours until day 30. After day 30, you will get the "Activate Now" message every hour, along with a notice that your Windows version is not genuine whenever you launch the Control Panel. In addition, Windows 7 does not perform any system updates after the grace period. Finally, Windows will automatically turn your screen background image to black every hour – even after you change it back to your preference. This behavior continues until you successfully activate Windows 7.

-- https://smallbusiness.chron.com/register-vista-product-key-45567.html

This seems to be the licence agreement for Windows 7 Professional OEM edition:

https://download.microsoft.com/Documents/UseTerms/Windows%207\_Professional\_English\_b7a7153f-1a6c-498c-9350-c86926bb1aa9.pdf

It includes the text I cited.

In other words, as I understand this, a single instance of the software may be used on the licenced computer, whether it is run directly on the hardware or under virtualisation.

But how do I get this instance of Windows to think it is genuine?

-A.

Microsoft licensing is never simple.

I don't know what you're looking at, and I can't find a copy of a Windows 7 OEM EULA online at the moment, but as far as I know, the rule for OEM-licensed Microsoft software is that it is not transferrable.  See, for example:  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/mssmallbiz/no-oem-microsoft-windows-licenses-cannot-be-transferred-to-another-pc and http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/a/1/6a1647ee-3fc7-47f2-9afe-470ad5e5d856/oemsoftwarelicensingrulesandrestrictions.pdf

And one thing that is clear:  Microsoft considers a virtual computer to be a different computer than the hardware that is hosting it.