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P2V Move WinXP OEM Thinkpad to VHD based VM on Hypvervisor & maintain XP Activation?

xp oem hypervisor vhd p2v physcal virtual virtualization activation license

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#1 crashnburn

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Posted 16 December 2012 - 12:30 AM

Not sure if I should ask this here.. or if there is a better place to ask then please do let me know. Thanks. 
 
P2V Move WinXP OEM Thinkpad to VHD based VM on Hypvervisor & maintain XP Activation? 
 
XP OEM - License & Activation Issues:
 
I have an old Thinkpad T series that came with OEM XP Pro pre-install. I've used it for many years and want to maintain it but as a VM. 
 
(Thinkpad BIOS now has Middleton Modified Whitelist Fixed SLIC 2.1 BIOS so that I can could install Win 7 on it, maybe after migration)
 
Now, I haven't done any SLIC 2.1 or related Licensing activities or hacks on this particular T61 + WinXP OEM Preinstall. 
 
I looked around and read that when migrating to a VM, XP could bring up LICENSING/ ACTIVATION ISSUES. Is there some way to prevent the VHD/VM from doing that? 
 
I'd love for the licensing/activation to be stuck to the VM as it will be like having a LEGACY system around for when I want to play with it. 
 
Anyway to preserve the OEM licensing? Or some hack/ convert into another type of license - before or after doing P2V? 
 
PS: I'd prefer to avoid Loaders etc, if possible. 
 
HYPERVISOR ISSUES?
 
- I'd prefer to have this on a baremetal type 1 Hypervisor that has LOW overhead and allows my VMs to be as close as possible to the hardware
- Also, a Hypervisor which has decent support & power savings for use on a Laptop/ Thinkpad T61 would be great. 
 
Now, once the P2V VHD is ready I intend to use one of the following Hypervisors (in order of preference) on the same T61:  
 
1) Citrix XenClient Enterprise (Supposedly has one of the best Laptop HW/ Power support among Type 1 Hypervisors
T61 is part of Citrix Xen supported HCList)
I'd like to see this work well as I think it's amazing to run low ovehead Hypervisors on a laptop. 
 
2) MS Hyper-V or VMWare ESX - This is a less preferred option as I seem to be reading that they are not that "laptop hardware" friendly
3) Maybe MS Hyper-V might have decent laptop support (since Win8) but I also read something about not being able to play and work in the VMs directly on the Local Machine. Apparently, it will only allow access from another machine 
 
Is there TRUTH to the points 2) & 3) ? I seem to reading this at various places across the web. 
 
I'd like to have a self-contained Laptop/Battery friendly Hypervisor with various Demo/ Product VMs executed locally as & when needed. (Not planning on running MANY VMs at the same time). 
 
What are my options here if you have any thoughts on this? 
 
Side Note:
I've noticed a bunch of threads talking about VMWare ESX SLIC BIOS etc. Is there some kind of Virtual/ SLIC BIOS emulation  service by VMWare tools? Can the same be done with other Hypervisors?


#2 Sha0

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Posted 16 December 2012 - 08:55 AM

If your Microsoft Windows XP license is only for the original hardware and is not transferable nor applicable to a virtual machine, then transferring the OS installation to a VM would be acting against such a license.

Else, Windows can readily accept new hardware. "P2V" is a "buzz" term for "ensuring that an OS installation boots and operates within a virtual machine environment," as far as my understanding goes. I have used the same OS installation across nearly 10 different computers over the years, but never on more than one computer at a time. These included QEmu and VMware versions. It was always a matter of installing storage devices and drivers for the target system, as well as switching HAL and kernel, as needed. I'm sure you could do the same, but... If there's a licensing/activation issue, what would be the reason for that? Are you asking for someone here to help you to circumvent licensing/activation?

#3 Brito

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Posted 16 December 2012 - 10:08 AM

I might understand what CrashnBurn means. The licensing terms on the Microsoft XP EULA are not really taking into account this "modern" context.

 

I've done once what you intend. Moved the Windows XP from my Fujitsu-Siemens laptop to a virtual machine running on QEmu and this way moved my old/stable environment to run on top of new hardware inside a virtual machine. At the time, I saw no problems related to activation, it was an OEM edition and worked exactly as intended for my purposes. I discontinued using the old laptop, so I have a clear conscience that MS will not be chasing me to court because of this type of action.

 

The laptop is long since gone, I keep the image to run if/when necessary. So I would say it depends on your intentions and geographical location.

 

Across Europe you are entitled to preserve a backup copy for your own use. What I did applies as a personal user. On a corporate environment, I've once done this with Windows server running on top of a Ubuntu box but it was a fresh install of Windows server.  On a professional (not personal) context, you should get a waiver from the upper management where they assume responsability for this kind transference just so that the company itself assumes the risk of licensing infringement.

 

I'm yet to see a Microsoft representative that chases an enterprise company for this type of matter. Their best interest is to keep people addicted to Windows, preferably with licensed versions of course.

 

:cheers:



#4 Wonko the Sane

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Posted 16 December 2012 - 11:10 AM

And - AGAIN - you are mixing license terms with consequences of breaking them (and how likely it could be the enforcement of these consequences).

 

The License terms are clear enough.

 

Are they valid legally ? <- Ask a lawyer in your country.

 

Are you actually bound by them? <- Ask a lawyer in your country.

 

Are you going to ignore them, hoping that noone will ever come after you for this? <- Most probably you are correct in foreseeing this. But still an OEM license is "tied" to a given hardware, according to the EULA.

 

Is the EULA either "intelligent" or "practical"? <- IMHO, no, and additionally (particularly IMHO) it misses a number of legal requirements to be valid, but still, if you had forked at the time from a more relevant amount of bucks and bought a "full" License, there would have been no doubts about the re-usability of the OS on different hardware or in a VM, nor with possible "activation issues".

 

In other words, do whatever you see fit in whatever way you see fit (this is freedom :)) but don't whine.

 

The good MS guys (and particularly their Commercial and Legal departments) often do senseless things, and very often they use their substantial monopoly with arrogance and give you no choices, but on the particular case of the "OEM" licensing model, they gave you an alternative.

 

 

:cheers:

Wonko



#5 Brito

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Posted 16 December 2012 - 11:28 AM

And - AGAIN - you are mixing license terms with consequences of breaking them (and how likely it could be the enforcement of these consequences).

 

Wonko is mean..

 

I mix the terms and consequences because they are intentionally connected. Otherwise following the EULA terms just becomes an academical effort with no real-world implementation while even the good MS guys are quite known for their business flexibility when it comes suited to their side.

 

So, I provide two real case scenarios from my own experience and that is my view on the matter. :)



#6 Wonko the Sane

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Posted 16 December 2012 - 12:50 PM

If you want I can provide you with a real work scenario, direct experience, not hearsay, a few years ago, where a firm was found having a DBASE III or IV forgotten on an old  server (and most probably lost it's license, and as well as the actual documentation about having actually buyed it, dating to several years before, having been destroyed).

In that case the firm was acquitted by the prosecution before getting to an actual trial, as the infringement (if any) was considered not proved adequately.

The firm had anyway to bear the costs of software consultants and lawyers till then.

 

Please note how the BSA tends to use widely extra-court settlements, as when it actually goes to court their theories are often debunked. 

 

Italian (JFYI):

http://www.thedailyb...n=zoom&id=11575

http://www.fulviosar...twares-senza-l/

http://www.ilsole24o...ne-183637.shtml

http://www.penale.it...is/meri_059.htm

 

English (UK):

http://www.pcpro.co....-piracy-tactics

 

:cheers:

Wonko



#7 crashnburn

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Posted 24 July 2014 - 08:14 AM

I dont have any legal issues or limitations at my geographic location. Now, can we focus on HOW TO DO this and keep it functional instead of writing a thesis on piracy and copyright and gray areas around it. 

 

The laptop is long since gone, I keep the image to run if/when necessary. So I would say it depends on your intentions and geographical location.

 

This is why I need it for historical purposes to find old stuff sometimes. 



#8 Wonko the Sane

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Posted 24 July 2014 - 09:13 AM

I dont have any legal issues or limitations at my geographic location. Now, can we focus on HOW TO DO this and keep it functional instead of writing a thesis on piracy and copyright and gray areas around it.

This is why I need it for historical purposes to find old stuff sometimes.

Sure :), but we are not into this. (really, you are asking us to tell you how to "crack" an XP installation to be used outside it's license scope/limitations).

There are tens, hundreds and thousands of sites on the internet where people will be happy to provide you with the info needed to do what you want, with no questions asked and no thesis on copyrights, simply go ask there instead of here, or - since you have no limitations at your geographic location - just procure yourself a WAREZ release that won't need activation or that is already cracked.

The "Site Policies" (the ones that everyone, including the Owner/Admins, completely ignore, but that I personally do try respecting) prevent me from providing this kind of assistance/help:
http://reboot.pro/to...-site-policies/

:duff:
Wonko

#9 crashnburn

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Posted 24 July 2014 - 09:10 PM

I am not asking you to 'crack' the license etc. I'll figure out licensing issues myself. 

I need help with the OTHER STEPS that are part of the PROCESS to go from Physical to Virtual.

Tools, steps, ideas, best practices to do the above. 



#10 crashnburn

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Posted 24 July 2014 - 09:14 PM

 

P2V Move WinXP to VHD based VM on Hypvervisors / Images supporting Win licensing/ activation? 
 
HYPERVISOR ISSUES?
 
- I'd prefer to have this on a baremetal type 1 Hypervisor that has LOW overhead and allows my VMs to be as close as possible to the hardware
- Also, a Hypervisor which has decent support & power savings for use on a Laptop/ Thinkpad T61 would be great. 
 
Now, once the P2V VHD is ready I intend to use one of the following Hypervisors (in order of preference) on the same T61:  
 
1) Citrix XenClient Enterprise (Supposedly has one of the best Laptop HW/ Power support among Type 1 Hypervisors
T61 is part of Citrix Xen supported HCList)
I'd like to see this work well as I think it's amazing to run low ovehead Hypervisors on a laptop. 
 
2) MS Hyper-V or VMWare ESX - This is a less preferred option as I seem to be reading that they are not that "laptop hardware" friendly
 
3) Maybe MS Hyper-V might have decent laptop support (since Win8) but I also read something about not being able to play and work in the VMs directly on the Local Machine. Apparently, it will only allow access from another machine 
 
Is there TRUTH to the points 2) & 3) ? I seem to reading this at various places across the web. 
 
I'd like to have a self-contained Laptop/Battery friendly Hypervisor with various Demo/ Product VMs executed locally as & when needed. (Not planning on running MANY VMs at the same time). 
 
What are my options here if you have any thoughts on this? 
 
Side Note:
I've noticed a bunch of threads talking about VMWare ESX SLIC BIOS etc. Is there some kind of Virtual/ SLIC BIOS emulation  service by VMWare tools? Can the same be done with other Hypervisors?

 

Thoughts on the Bare metal Booting and Hypervisors and VM alternatives? 







Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: xp, oem, hypervisor, vhd, p2v, physcal, virtual, virtualization, activation, license

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