Paragon Go Virtual

[wdhpr]

Originally Posted by Sope

As I understand it, when Windows is activated on a PC it keeps a record of the hardware it's running on. Then, if any major components are changed it can recognise this and de-activate. Designed to prevent people installing a single copy of Windows on multiple PC's (as per licence agreement).
So, if you try to run an activated OS on different "hardware", as is the case with a virtual PC, you'll run into problems.
Of course Linux OS's have no such limitations.

Thanks Sope
I remember running into this issue once before after my computer fried its motherboard. I was going to try and rebuild it and install my WinXP image I had previously made. I was told I would need to purchase WinXP because of the hardware issues you mentioned.

I've posted this question of using Paragon's Go Virtual on another computer on VirtualBox's forum and will post any relevant replies.

[Sope]

Originally Posted by wdhpr

I've posted this question of using Paragon's Go Virtual on another computer on VirtualBox's forum and will post any relevant replies.

Great, I'm interested in finding out the answer to this one too.

[Remah]

Originally Posted by wdhpr

Thanks Sope
I remember running into this issue once before after my computer fried its motherboard. I was going to try and rebuild it and install my WinXP image I had previously made. I was told I would need to purchase WinXP because of the hardware issues you mentioned.

Did Microsoft tell you that couldn't do it and had to buy a new license?

I've always been able to reactivate Windows XP even on completely different hardware as in the situation you describe. That's why I keep all my old XP licenses when I decommission one of our PCs, just in case I might need them for testing. My current test PC with XP Pro is one of those.

I've never had a reactivation problem and I've reactivated most of 100 stand-alone XP installs for myself, friends and acquaintances. With one license I've got up to about 8 installs with 5 different PCs/configurations as we've upgraded our home PCs. About 2/3 were OEM versions with 1/3 stand-alone packages. Mostly XP Home, less XP Pro. About one quarter of the installs are downgrades from Vista. Interestingly enough it has never been a problem with the OEM versions to transfer licenses to a PC from a different hardware vendor.

So as long as I have honored Microsoft's T&C, using a legitimate license for use on one computer, they have kept their side of the contract. I'm not suggesting that is an issue for you, but some people have problems because they have installed XP on more than one PC. That is what the Windows Product Activation was primarily intended to prevent. So if I find a PC like that I can give them one of my spare licenses.

The only difference has been that most times I have to re-activate it over the phone rather on the Internet. That is because you get, from memory, two installs over the Internet before you are forced to use the phone. I've often expected some sort of query about why I'm now running on new hardware but I was only ever asked once.

[wdhpr]

Originally Posted by Remah

Did Microsoft tell you that couldn't do it and had to buy a new license?

I've always been able to reactivate Windows XP even on completely different hardware as in the situation you describe. That's why I keep all my old XP licenses when I decommission one of our PCs, just in case I might need them for testing. My current test PC with XP Pro is one of those.

The reason I wanted to use my saved image is because I only had a restore disk that came with the computer I was told that wouldn't work because of the different hardware. Could I have used the restore disk to reinstall WinXP on my rebuilt computer? The guy at the computer shop said I couldn't be cause of multiple changes to the hardware, but again he may have wanted to make money by selling XP to me.

[Remah]

Originally Posted by wdhpr

The reason I wanted to use my saved image is because I only had a restore disk that came with the computer I was told that wouldn't work because of the different hardware. Could I have used the restore disk to reinstall WinXP on my rebuilt computer? The guy at the computer shop said I couldn't be cause of multiple changes to the hardware, but again he may have wanted to make money by selling XP to me.

Although you had nothing to lose by trying it I'm sure that you still probably needed an XP install disk to repair it.

I've had to copy images to different PCs when the original is kaput. It usually works and seems to be more dependable each new version of Windows. I've had to do it less than 10 times and it's only failed once on Windows 95.

The stability of the kernel/microkernel (Windows 9x/ Windows NT onwards) seems to be the key to getting Windows to run long enough to correct the hardware compatibility. My take on it is that Microsoft have improved the architecture particularly hardware abstraction and error trapping in the kernel. These improvements reduce the impact of the sort of hardware compatibility issues that used to bring Windows to a grinding halt.

If anyone else knows better, I'm interested to hear what actually happens.

[wdhpr]

Originally Posted by Remah

I've had to copy images to different PCs when the original is kaput. It usually works and seems to be more dependable each new version of Windows. I've had to do it less than 10 times and it's only failed once on Windows 95.

This is what I originally thought. I figured I would just transfer the image on the new computer or just try to boot from the original hard drive and because most things are plug and play it would just install the correct drivers. I decided against it after I was told it would be useless to try. It seems the guys at the computer shop may not have been looking out for my best interest.

My inquiry on Virtualbox's forum received a reply:

Forget Paragon Go Virtual. Just use google to search these forums, using terms "P2V" and "site:forums.virtualbox.org".

The search led me to Microsoft Technet There is allot of information to absorb but from what I've read so far it appears the P2V option seems more reliable. More to follow.....

[Sope]

Originally Posted by wdhpr

My inquiry on Virtualbox's forum received a reply:
The search led me to Microsoft Technet There is allot of information to absorb but from what I've read so far it appears the P2V option seems more reliable. More to follow.....

Interesting but may take some time to digest!

[Remah]

Originally Posted by wdhpr

Not sure if this belongs on Hot Finds. I couldn't find a category dedicated to virtualization software.

wdhpr, I read your last post then realized that I'd got distracted by the XP problem and I'd forgotten to tell you that there is a category for virtualization software:

http://www.techsupportalert.com/cont...-solutions.htm

The author is very knowledgeable and his his own site which you can link to from the bottom of the article.