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Csb94
Contributor
Contributor

Swapping ISO in VMWare

Hi All,

I've got VMware Fusion installed on my iMac and MacBook Pro however only have the 1 Windows 10 ISO ATM.  I'm wanting to stick the ISO onto my MBP for when Im travelling soon however I'm wondering, how would the product key work for that?

Will I have to remove the product key from within the Windows 10 ISO currently on my imac so I can use it for when the ISO is put Into the MBP? Also, i presume I'd use any data/programs on that ISO on the iMac if I moved it?

Or, if I had another Windows 10 ISO so I didn't need to swap them around between the iMac and MBP, how would the product key work then? Would I need to deactivate it on the iMac in order to use it in the MBP?

Thanks

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vmxmr
Expert
Expert

Here is what I think you are asking:

* You have Windows 10 installed in a virtual machine that runs in VMware on your iMac. You activated it with the Windows 10 Product Key.

* You also want to run Windows 10 in VMware on your MacBook Pro. You have not installed Windows 10 there yet.

Your Question: Can you create a new virtual machine on your MacBook Pro, install Windows 10 on it, and use the same Product Key again?

This is a Microsoft Windows licensing issue. Microsoft licensing is very complex. See Microsoft's website for licensing help. It will not be easy for you to figure out. It varies from country to country, too. This is the best that I could find: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Useterms/Retail/Windows/10/UseTerms_Retail_Windows_10_English.htm

I am not a lawyer, but I believe that it says that you may run Windows 10 in one virtual machine on one computer. It means that you should buy another license (Product Key) to run separate Windows 10 in a separate virtual machine on your Mac.


Not everybody follows the licensing so strictly.


Another way to look at it is that the Windows 10 virtual machine is a file on your iMac. You could move or copy the virtual machine file to your MacBook Pro and run the same virtual machine on the MacBook Pro. I do not know whether this is legal according to Microsoft's license, but I can say that many people do it.


In general, if you move or copy a virtual machine from one computer to another, it won't know that it has been moved, although it may have issues if it sees a different network, etc.


Hints:


* If you copy a virtual machine, you should not run both copies at the same time. Even if the virtual machine runs a free operating system such as Linux, the virtual systems will have the same name on the network, and possibly conflicting IP addresses, conflicting file shares, etc.

* If you move a Windows virtual machine to a new computer, the virtual machine may have issues - the new host computer (say, the MacBook Pro) may not have sufficient RAM or processor cores to allow the copied virtual machine to run as well. If you change the Settings on the virtual machine, then Windows may ask you to reactivate the Windows license on the virtual machine copy.

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