Imported Boot Camp partition - Now Windows Reactivation has... FAILED.

[MisterMacBook]

Hello all,

I already had a Boot Camp partition with Windows XP Pro installed, activated, etc.

Then a day later, I decided to buy VMWare Fusion 2. I have now imported my Boot Camp partition with Windows XP Pro into VMWare Fusion 2.

Sure enough, like the VMWare booklet says, Windows will request reactivation. It now says my Product Key has exceeded the number of activations and that I had to call Microsoft to get a new activation code. Why is this? Why couldn't VMWare take care of the importation, where it didn't cause Windows to request a reactivation?

How do I get Windows to accept my activation (that I only did once, under the Boot Camp partition before buying VMWare Fusion).

Thanks in advance, folks.

[WoodyZ]

If you plan to use both Boot Camp and the Boot Camp partition as a Virtual Machine then you need to do WPA (Windows Product Activation) once under Boot Camp and then again while running the Boot Camp partition as a Virtual Machine however you need to have VMware Tools installed before you do WPA in the Boot Camp partition as a Virtual Machine if at all possible otherwise you'll end up doing it again after VMware Tools is installed. Aside from that WPA or any other products activation is not the responsibility of VMware and the only real answer to your situation is for you to talk to Microsoft or whatever manufacturer's product you're having activation issue with.

Once you've activated it in each environment after VMware Tools are installed and if then you're having an issue then it could be an issue with how VMware Tools handles the switch between environments to make sure the correct WPA Data is in play however if you have yet installed VMware Tools and activated it under each environment yet then this is not a Fusion issue at this point and you need to contact Microsoft.

[MisterMacBook]

Thanks, Woody.

Still having issues... strange thing is when I went back to Boot Camp itself, the Windows XP reactivation worked.

When I switched back to VMWare Fusion, it goes back to needing to be reactivated with 29 days left and complains that the Product Key has been used already.

I switch back to Boot Camp... it's ok, activated and all. I do remember when the first time this happened under VMWare Fusion, the dialog box from Windows XP notified me to some extent (can't remember exact words) : "the hardware has significantly changed, reactivation required." But when attempting to reactivate it immediately said that my Product Key exceeded the number of times used and to either use a new key and retry or telephone Microsoft for a new key.

Seems that VMWare Fusion's Virtual Machine has confused Windows XP into thinking it's a different computer than what's on the actual Boot Camp partition; thusly, requiring a new activation? Maybe I accidentally tried to reactivate Windows before VM Tools was installed (the booklet's instructions said it would install on its own, in which nothing happened). After attempting to activate within VMWare Fusion, and the subsequent failure, I then saw the dropdown menu to install VM Tools. This helped stop the Boot Camp from requesting activation, but I am still stuck with VMWare's Virtual Machine's failed activation.

Suggestions?

[WoodyZ]

Seems that VMWare Fusion's Virtual Machine has confused Windows XP into thinking it's a different computer than what's on the actual Boot Camp partition; thusly, requiring a new activation?

When you run Windows under Boot Camp it is running directly on the physical hardware of the Mac however when you run the Boot Camp partition as a Virtual Machine it is indeed running on different hardware, albeit virtual hardware, and this causes Windows to have to be activated again. VMware Tools is supposed to manage the activation database between the two environments however VMware has absolutely nothing whatsoever with WPA from the standpoint of you as the user preforming a function of Windows and as such Windows Product Activation is handled by Microsoft so you will need to call Microsoft to resolve your WPA issue.