Re: P2V of XP On The Same Host With XP License & VM Server?

pangchen — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 22:53:02 GMT

Windows XP may require a license reactivation because the hardware in a VM is different than your native machine.

However, you can try setting SMBIOS.reflectHost = TRUE in the .vmx configuration of the VM as a workaround, as this will hopefully pass to the Windows Guest that it is the same underlying hardware underneath. This workaround is typically used for OEM distributions vs. volume licenses; however Windows XP may be more particular and you may want to have your Windows XP CD and license key handy.

P2V of XP On The Same Host With XP License & VM Server?

mchagall — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 21:41:41 GMT

Have read through the P2V documentation and am encouraged that this might work. Can anyone confirm this?

Have a new system with an OEM Windows XP loaded. I want to P2V the XP, load Centos 5 as the native OS, install VMware Server then make the XP a guest OS on the same physical machine ( using VMware Server ) on which it was the originally the native OS.

While I believe this can be done technically, the real question is on how Microsoft's activation mechanism will treat the migration from being native to guest.

Would I have any difficulty logging in or using the guest XP afterwards?

Thanks in advance.

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Re: P2V of XP On The Same Host With XP License & VM Server?

P2V of XP On The Same Host With XP License & VM Server?