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PeaceFreak
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Network Status Not Connected, but Ethernet is working!

Have just managed to update to the Creators Edition.

In Network & Internet, the status is listed as Not Connected, yet clicking on Ethernet, it says Connected.  Very strange.

In Update & Security, if I try to run Software Update, I get this error message:

We couldn't check for updates, because you aren't connected to the Internet. Make sure you have a cellular data or Wi-Fi connection and try again.

With Firefox I can connect to the internet without a problem. From the error message, it seems I need a Wi-Fi connection...

If anyone has any ideas on how I might resolve this, I'd appreciate them.

Thank you!

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PeaceFreak
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I was unable to resolve the problem and ended up contacting VM Fusion support for help.

The technician spent about three hours online (screen sharing) trying to resolve the problem! In the end, he couldn't fix it, so I backed everything up and did a fresh install.

My biggest worry prior to doing the reinstall was I was not sure I had the correct Windows key.

I used a program called ShowKeyPlus to find the key on my virtual machine. It found three important bits of information:

Product ID:

Installed Key (This is for Windows 10)

Original Key (This is for Windows 8 that I bought and used prior to upgrading to 10)

I had to use the original key (Win 😎 when re-installing Windows 10.

Make sure you have a record of your Windows keys. Otherwise you might have to purchase Windows again.

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nancyz
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Hi PeaceFreak ,

Welcome to Fusion community.

Which network are you in , NAT or bridged? Could you restart you VM and see if this problem still exists?

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PeaceFreak
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Thank you very much for your reply.

When the network adapter is set on Bridged (Autodetect) mode, the internet works fine with the the Edge browser, but in the Network & Internet panel, the network status shows as Not Connected!! In Update & security, if I try to check for updates, I get this message:

We couldn't check for updates, because you aren't connected to the Internet. Make sure you have a cellular data or Wi-Fi connection and try again.

In that error message, there is no mention of Ethernet, which is how my Mac is connected to the net. I don't use Wi-Fi... Perhaps there is something I need to set up for the virtual machine to 'see' my Ethernet connection?

If I switch to NAT, and restart the Virtual Machine, I still can get the internet with Edge, and I get the same "you aren't connected to the Internet...' in Update & security.

I using VM Fusion version 8.5.6. I haven't purchased it yet. It is in trial mode.

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PeaceFreak
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I still have not been able to resolve this problem!!

Within Network & Settings under Ethernet, it says connected, however, under Status/Network Status it says "Not Connected".

If I click on "Change Adapter Options" I can see Ethernet is enabled. If I click on that icon I see that iPv4 Connectivity has the word "Internet" written next to it but iPv6 says "No internet access". Media State is "Enabled" and Duration and Speed are both working.

Perhaps iPv6 is the problem? Can someone check theirs and see if they have the word "Internet" next to iPv6?

I have attached a screen shot.

Thanks!

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PeaceFreak
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I was unable to resolve the problem and ended up contacting VM Fusion support for help.

The technician spent about three hours online (screen sharing) trying to resolve the problem! In the end, he couldn't fix it, so I backed everything up and did a fresh install.

My biggest worry prior to doing the reinstall was I was not sure I had the correct Windows key.

I used a program called ShowKeyPlus to find the key on my virtual machine. It found three important bits of information:

Product ID:

Installed Key (This is for Windows 10)

Original Key (This is for Windows 8 that I bought and used prior to upgrading to 10)

I had to use the original key (Win 😎 when re-installing Windows 10.

Make sure you have a record of your Windows keys. Otherwise you might have to purchase Windows again.

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wila
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Hi,

Good to hear you solved your issue by a re-install using the original install keys. It is probably a good thing to have access to those keys.

Note that you could also have opted to do a clean install to the same virtual hardware and have windows wipe it before install. The windows key is stored at Microsoft's servers and they will automatically re-activate when seeing the same hardware. Taking a backup of a VM before having windows wipe it, would of course still be recommended.

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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PeaceFreak
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I didn't know that the install keys are kept on Microsoft's servers. Thanks.

I don't think what you said regarding Microsoft's servers being able to see the same hardware is correct.

We are running virtual machines on Macs, without actual Windows PC hardware. I don't think Microsoft's servers can recognise our "hardware".

I know this because a few months ago I deleted a virtual machine as there was a problem. I wanted to start from scratch so I deleted that virtual machine and I made a new one. The new one, however, was not recognised by Microsoft. The option I was given was to purchase a new copy of Windows, which of course, I didn't want to do.

Luckily I had a backup of my virtual machine (prior to the problem), and I used that to recover my system.

Does anyone have definitive info on Microsoft servers being able to recognise Mac hardware?

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wila
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Hello,

The way it works is that each virtual machine has virtual hardware with unique (virtual) hardware ID's.

The physical hardware is never seen by the guest OS (Windows in this case) it doesn't matter that the host OS is macOS and that the hardware is apple based hardware.

That is all shielded off for the virtual machine, it is not allowed to get direct access to any physical hardware.

The guest OS sees the virtual hardware as if it is real hardware with all the required unique ID's.

Once you delete a virtual machine those unique virtual hardware ID's are gone too.

That's why I said to have Windows wipe out your existing windows install, _not_ to delete the virtual machine.

I'm sure it works that way as I've used it myself to start a VM from scratch instead of using the "Windows 7 updated to Windows 10" VM.

There's also plenty of other reports in the forum here of people who have done the same thing and it is pretty well known down here that it works that way.

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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PeaceFreak
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Thank you for that excellent explanation!

To summarise, (for my future reference and for anyone reading this), if there are major problems with with Windows, wipe your Windows installation, not your Virtual Machine.

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