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1 Replies Last post: Aug 18, 2007 3:53 PM by pangchen
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P2V of XP On The Same Host With XP License & VM Server?

Aug 18, 2007 2:41 PM

Click to view mchagall's profile Lurker mchagall 3 posts since
Aug 18, 2007
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.
Reply Re: P2V of XP On The Same Host With XP License & VM Server? Aug 18, 2007 3:53 PM
Click to view pangchen's profile Virtuoso pangchen 2,059 posts since
Nov 15, 2004 VMware
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.
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