Okay, that seems a little more reasonable, but it still seems a twisted interpretation of "fair use" If I am running exactly the same OS key on exactly the same box on exactly the same NIC it would seem I am entitled do that whether I'm doing it in a VM or on metal. If they want to make sure I can't port that VMS/VHD to another box they can tie it to the NIC or even the HD ...

Anyway, thanks for the explanation - at least now I know why it is doing what it is doing.

>No, I don't think it has to work that way. Let's suppose you do cough up for another retail license of Win7 (upgrading to SA might be cheaper but I haven't looked into that). Then what you do is:
>
>- create a Win7 VM under your favourite VM manager
>- get it set up the way you want, with updates, maybe Office but no beta software
>- this becomes your "baseline" VM (for want of a better term)
>
>- when you want to try out some beta software, you just make a copy of the "baseline" Win7 VM (it's just a file), and run that in the VM manager
>
>- when you're done with the copy VM, just delete it
>
>- even before you delete the first copy VM, you could create another and try out different beta software. As long as you aren't running more than 1 copy of the Win7 VM at any given time you're not violating any licensing
>
>- you would need to periodically run the baseline VM and update it with security updates, service packs etc.
>
>A while back I attended a security presentation. The presenter recommended using separate, throwaway VMs for Web browsing or any other kind of work with potential for attack or infection. He called it "toilet paper computing" - throw out the one you just used, and get another fresh one.
>
>>Well, that completely sucks. that means even if you were so anxious to give MS your money that you spent $300 for another OS to run on the VM, if you blew away the VM after it got hosed by beta software MS tells you to run on a VM, you couldn't use that OS again without going through a song and dance with MS.
>>
>>Methinks those of us who sometimes feel scoflawish about MS's EULA's can get a lot more creative about this ...
>>
>>( oh, don't even bother, Craig - believe me in my life I have met scarier people than Microsoft <bg> )
>>
>>
>>>VMs most definitely are "real" computers. Real is as real does :)
>>>
>>>I'd be interested in hearing the outcome of trying to run your Win7 VM on your Win7 bare-metal host. I've searched the web for about half an hour and can't find anything saying you can use a standard OEM or retail license for anything other than one bare metal installation OR one VM (i.e. not both). As I mentioned below, SA seems to address your use case, if you purchase SA you can run up to 4 concurrent Win7 VMs.
>>>
>>>Or, you can buy 1 more retail Win7 license and use that for VMs (but you couldn't legally run more than 1 of those concurrently).
>>>
>>>Or, uninstall your bare-metal Win7 installation, install a bare-metal hypervisor such as VMWare, and set up a Win7 VM on that.
>>>
>>>>The host is Vista. The VM is Microsoft Virtual Machine. I installed Windows 7 there and it can see the HD, the DVD, the NIC, the network. Granted, it can see the other HD that has Windows 7 as its OS but since I'm currently booted off the HD that has Vista as the OS it has no knowledge of the Windows 7 real install ( the one that has the key registered)
>>>>
>>>>But to make this simple. If I have a Vista box, I run Virtual Machine and install that same Vista as the OS of the VM, should that require an additional license/registration/activation whatever ? I didn't think VM's were "real" computers, just playgrounds for testing.
>>>>
>>>>I'm going to try running my Windows 7 VM on the Windows 7 HD and see if it still feels like it is in a foreign land.
>>>>
>>>>>>I own Windows 7 Ultimate and have installed and activated it. Now I want to run a VM with Window 7. I installed the same on on the VM and now it is trying to activate and tells me i have 21 days left.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I thought VM OS was covered under the EULA for the original OS? ? Does MS expect me to spend $300 for an OS for every VM I crank up, run for a while and then blow away? I am on the same box with the same NIC just testing MS Beta software. I have a backup of the VHD /VMS of course from right after I got it all set up. Do I have to blow away every 29 days and restore or what? Can't they tell I"m running in VM when i go to activate???
>>>>>
>>>>>You may need to upgrade to Software Assurance to get virtual OS rights:
>>>>>
>>>>>http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/springboard/archive/2009/08/06/windows-7-enterprise-edition-understanding-software-assurance-volume-licensing.aspx
>>>>>
>>>>>If that's not what you're talking about, can you elaborate on what you're trying to do:
>>>>>
>>>>>- What is the host? A bare-metal hypervisor, or is Win7 the host?
>>>>>
>>>>>- If an OS like Win7 is the host, what additional software (or built-in part of Win7) are you using to manage guest VMs?
>>>>>
>>>>>Depending on the hypervisor/host OS and virtualization model, the guest OS may not see or have any direct access to the underlying hardware, only virtualized hardware, which is not the same as the real thing via direct access. So as far as Windows Activation is concerned, you've installed that instance on "different" hardware.