Hi All,
I have a laptop that came with XP pro installed. Would I be able to install Ubuntu on the entire hard drive and install XP pro into a virtual machine.
Are there any licencing issues here? Would I be able to activate XP ok?
Im sure Ive read somewhere that XP Pro allows you to install to 1 Virtual Machine. Can anyone confirm?
The licence sticker is OEM.
Many Thanks
Dawlton
The license agreement allows you to install XP onto 1 singular machine. It makes no difference whether it is a virtual image or on the HDD as an OS, you can legally only have one installation with that OEM licencse code running.
That goes for any Microsoft OS, Pro, Home, 98SE, Vista etc.
So long as you can use Virtual Machine on Ubuntu then I see no problems.
why nto dual boot?
Ah right. Will there be any activation issues though because I assume the licence would already be tied to the laptop hardware as it came pre-installed with XP pro.
Dual boot is an option, but having a virtual machine would be much more convenient for me as I wouldnt need to keep rebooting the laptop.
Cheers.
Well if youve had your laptop more than say 6 months it should activate no problem.
If you find it says the code has been activated too many times then you are going to have to ring microsoft. You can either do it the legal route and buy another code or tell them what they want to hear on the automated phone system.
1 The License Code
2 It Came Preinstalled
3 Yes the code has been activated before
4 (most Important) it is installed on one machine
Be honest with the automated system and will authenticate your license with an activation code.
Otherwise it will fail and put you through to some bloke in india who gets frustrated at reading out alphanumeric numbers over and over regarldess of whether you are plastered or not.
Im allways reusing a SBS 2003 server code for hardware/testing purposes. It is allways only being used on one machine and I usually dont have to go through to a customer service chappy.
Thanks for the info Cypher.
Ive moved a copy from a laptop to a normal computer so there isnt a problem. They shouldnt mind using it as a virtual machine either.
The only real issue is if you move a OEM copy of Vista from one machine to another they dont like it as it was sold to be used only with the original hardware. Think they have tried to turn the licence on XP into this form too.