[ale] Semi-OT, Windows as VM guest

[JD]

On 11/28/2014 06:20 PM, Jim Kinney wrote:
> Moving a fully licensed win VM from host a to host b is not an issue if the two
> host are running the same type of virtualization, I.e., KVM, VMware, xen. Moving
> between host types is far trickier and may cause license issues.
> 

IME, the issue with Windows licensing hick-ups when moved to a different VM host
has more to do with the OS noticing a change in the chipset, disk controller, or
other major hardware.  For retain copies, running the 'sysprep' command just
before moving the VM storage to the new hardware will remove the pre-configured
drivers and disable any dependent services (like time/ntp sync). There is a
limit to the number of times sysprep can be used - I think 3 is the number then
you/we have to call MSFT and beg for a new 45 character (???!) activation key.

Don't know anything about OEM licenses - moving those to different hardware is
not allowed in the license, so I've never attempted it.


You know - keeping track of license limitations is enough to just throw them
away and stick with Linux stuff.