Solved Confused About Activating With Hyper V


In my law firm's office, there are many PCs with Win 7 stickers on them that our IT team upgraded to Win 10 using a different license. May I use one of those now-unused Win7 stickers to activate a Win 11 in a Hyper-V virtual machine on my personal at-home Win 10 machine? (Our IT guys said it's OK with them.)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    A Hyper-V Virtual Machine of Win 11 Pro 64-bit v 21H2 running on Win 10 Pro 64-bit v 21H1 host
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7010
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3470 CPU with four cores
    Memory
    16GB RAM, of which 8GB is assigned to the Win 11 VM
In my law firm's office, there are many PCs with Win 7 stickers on them that our IT team upgraded to Win 10 using a different license. May I use one of those now-unused Win7 stickers to activate a Win 11 in a Hyper-V virtual machine on my personal at-home Win 10 machine? (Our IT guys said it's OK with them.)
Legally no as those are oem keys not retail keys.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
Legally no as those are oem keys not retail keys.
Again, there is a difference between what is legal and what violates the End User's License Agreement with Microsoft. You can violate the EULA and not be doing anything illegal.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
When it comes to running Windows on a VM, I simply use the trial editions that Microsoft provides. I don't have any need for a legit license for a VM, as it's usually a short lived test environment.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Beelink SEI8
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8279u
    Motherboard
    AZW SEI
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Plus 655
    Sound Card
    Intel SST
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus ProArt PA278QV
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    512GB NVMe
    PSU
    NA
    Case
    NA
    Cooling
    NA
    Keyboard
    NA
    Mouse
    NA
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Mini PC used for testing Windows 11.
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900x
    Motherboard
    Asus Rog Strix X570-E Gaming
    Memory
    64GB DDR4-3600
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GeForce 3080 FT3 Ultra
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQ. ASUS ProArt Display PA278QV 27” WQHD
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2TB WD SN850 PCI-E Gen 4 NVMe
    2TB Sandisk Ultra 2.5" SATA SSD
    PSU
    Seasonic Focus 850
    Case
    Fractal Meshify S2 in White
    Cooling
    Dark Rock Pro CPU cooler, 3 x 140mm case fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Keyboard
    Corsiar K65 RGB Lux
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Defender.
Again, there is a difference between what is legal and what violates the End User's License Agreement with Microsoft. You can violate the EULA and not be doing anything illegal.
Sure but it is all really semantics. Violating an EULA is no legal in contract terms, and MS could technically sue but the police would not get involved. I tend to take view if person is using unactivated VM to test it, that is acceptable, but if a person uses same VM for work, that is not acceptable. In the end, it is a personal integrity issue.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    A Hyper-V Virtual Machine of Win 11 Pro 64-bit v 21H2 running on Win 10 Pro 64-bit v 21H1 host
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7010
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3470 CPU with four cores
    Memory
    16GB RAM, of which 8GB is assigned to the Win 11 VM
Unless you have an unlimited supply of Windows keys to burn, never ever just delete an activated VM when done with it. Export it or otherwise preserve its HWID for reuse later.
Why? If you used a product key to activate a VM which you then digitally linked to your MS account, can't that license be transferred to an actual physical machine later?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
Why? If you used a product key to activate a VM which you then digitally linked to your MS account, can't that license be transferred to an actual physical machine later?
No. MS does not allow transferring licenses between different machine types. And I don't think MS allows transferring licenses from VMs at all.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
No. MS does not allow transferring licenses between different machine types. And I don't think MS allows transferring licenses from VMs at all.
Thank you. That's what I wanted to know. I literally created an account here today to ask about this. So the answer to this thread of mine will be a big NO then and that the product key I used to activate the VMware VM will forever be tied to that particular VM? Is there a way to transfer a Windows 11 Pro digital license from a VMware VM to an actual physical machine?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
No. MS does not allow transferring licenses between different machine types. And I don't think MS allows transferring licenses from VMs at all.
Hi,
There are retail keys so they could be transferred.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win-7-10-11Pro's
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer 17" Nitro 7840sn/ 2x16gb 5600c40/ 4060/ stock 1tb-os/ 4tb sn850x
    CPU
    10900k & 9940x & 5930k
    Motherboard
    z490-Apex & x299-Apex & x99-Sabertooth
    Memory
    Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb & Trident-Z 3600c16 4x8gb & 3200c14 4x8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Titan Xp & 1080ti FTW3 & evga 980ti gaming
    Sound Card
    Onboard Realtek x3
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
    Screen Resolution
    1920-1080 not sure what the t.v is besides 43" class scales from 1920-1080 perfectly
    Hard Drives
    2-WD-sn850x 4tb/ 970evo+500gb/ 980 pro 2tb.
    PSU
    1000p2 & 1200p2 & 850p2
    Case
    D450 x2 & 1 Test bench in cherry Entertainment center
    Cooling
    Custom water loops x3 with 2x mora 360mm rads only 980ti gaming air cooled
    Keyboard
    G710+x3
    Mouse
    Redragon x3
    Internet Speed
    xfinity gigabyte
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    mbam pro
Hi,
There are retail keys so they could be transferred.
Transferring a digital license and reusing a retail product key are two entirely different things There are much less restrictions on reusing a retail product key then there are on transferring digital licenses.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
Transferring a digital license and reusing a retail product key are two entirely different things There are much less restrictions on reusing a retail product key then there are on transferring digital licenses.
Hi,
MS list all activations as digital licenses lol
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win-7-10-11Pro's
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer 17" Nitro 7840sn/ 2x16gb 5600c40/ 4060/ stock 1tb-os/ 4tb sn850x
    CPU
    10900k & 9940x & 5930k
    Motherboard
    z490-Apex & x299-Apex & x99-Sabertooth
    Memory
    Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb & Trident-Z 3600c16 4x8gb & 3200c14 4x8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Titan Xp & 1080ti FTW3 & evga 980ti gaming
    Sound Card
    Onboard Realtek x3
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
    Screen Resolution
    1920-1080 not sure what the t.v is besides 43" class scales from 1920-1080 perfectly
    Hard Drives
    2-WD-sn850x 4tb/ 970evo+500gb/ 980 pro 2tb.
    PSU
    1000p2 & 1200p2 & 850p2
    Case
    D450 x2 & 1 Test bench in cherry Entertainment center
    Cooling
    Custom water loops x3 with 2x mora 360mm rads only 980ti gaming air cooled
    Keyboard
    G710+x3
    Mouse
    Redragon x3
    Internet Speed
    xfinity gigabyte
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    mbam pro
Hi,
MS list all activations as digital licenses lol
And still, though, reusing a retail product key is an entirely different process with less restrictions than transferring a digital license is. The main example is transferring an activated VM install to an unactivated physical machine. You cannot activate the install on the physical machine by transferring the digital license from the VM. You must reuse your retail product key in order to do so. Another difference between the two processes is that in order to transfer a digital license, it must be done through a MS account. Reusing a retail product key does not require a MS account. They are still two entirely different processes.

The question asked in post #27 was if a digital license can be transferred from a VM to a physical machine. The answer to that question is no, it can't. However, the retail product key may be reused to activate the physical machine. That does not transfer the digital license from the VM, it creates a brand new digital license for the physical machine - again, two completely different processes.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
Hi,
You don't know for sure which license the dude has
MS list all activations as digital licenses linked to ms account or not
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win-7-10-11Pro's
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer 17" Nitro 7840sn/ 2x16gb 5600c40/ 4060/ stock 1tb-os/ 4tb sn850x
    CPU
    10900k & 9940x & 5930k
    Motherboard
    z490-Apex & x299-Apex & x99-Sabertooth
    Memory
    Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb & Trident-Z 3600c16 4x8gb & 3200c14 4x8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Titan Xp & 1080ti FTW3 & evga 980ti gaming
    Sound Card
    Onboard Realtek x3
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
    Screen Resolution
    1920-1080 not sure what the t.v is besides 43" class scales from 1920-1080 perfectly
    Hard Drives
    2-WD-sn850x 4tb/ 970evo+500gb/ 980 pro 2tb.
    PSU
    1000p2 & 1200p2 & 850p2
    Case
    D450 x2 & 1 Test bench in cherry Entertainment center
    Cooling
    Custom water loops x3 with 2x mora 360mm rads only 980ti gaming air cooled
    Keyboard
    G710+x3
    Mouse
    Redragon x3
    Internet Speed
    xfinity gigabyte
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    mbam pro
Hi,
You don't know for sure which license the dude has
MS list all activations as digital licenses linked to ms account or not
It does not matter which license the dude has. You still can't transfer a digital license from a VM to a physical machine. Microsoft won't let it happen. If you are going to activate the physical machine by transferring a digital license, it has to come from another physical machine, it can't come from a VM. Or, you can use a product key to activate the physical machine. And there is another caveat with Windows 10 and 11 digital licenses - there are no longer strictly OEM licenses. Any digital license can be changed to retail simply by changing the installed product key to the generic product key for that edition of Windows.
 
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My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
Psst - at least with the leak:

One of the digital licenses I have associated with my Microsoft account is from a Windows 7 --> Windows 10 upgrade, by using one of my TechNet Windows 7 keys to install Windows 10 the very first time.

I used the same windows 7 key in the WIn11 leak in a Hyper-V VM to activate it - and it activated.
Those old technet keys are good for 100's of activations -- one reason Ms dropped the program !!!!

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7
You still can't transfer a digital license from a VM to a physical machine. Microsoft won't let it happen. If you are going to activate the physical machine by transferring a digital license, it has to come from another physical machine, it can't come from a VM.
Please, could you provide link / links to any official Microsoft article or Microsoft Doc document to confirm this?

I just made a test. As my test laptop already has existing digital licenses for all editions except Home Single Language, Education N and Enterprise N, I selected Education N for this test, to be sure physical installation on laptop will not be automatically activated.

I installed Education N on a Hyper-V VM, and activated it with a valid, VS / MSDN product key. When done, I checked it was listed on devices list on my MS account:

Activation 1.jpg

I booted the laptop from W11 install media, and clean installed Education N. It was not activated:

Activation 2.jpg

I selected Troubleshoot, and selected I recently changed hardware on this device:

Activation 3.jpg

I signed in to my MS account, and selected the earlier Education N from list:

Activation 4.jpg

Windows 11 Education N on my laptop was activated using the original license of my Hyper-V VM:

Activation 5.jpg

Kari
 
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My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 PRO x64 Dev
    Manufacturer/Model
    Hyper-V Virtual Machine (host in System 2 specs)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-8550U
    Memory
    6 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Microsoft Hyper-V Video
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop display (17.1") & Samsung U28E590 (27.7")
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 PRO x64 Dev Channel
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP HP ProBook 470 G5
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-8550U
    Motherboard
    HP 837F KBC Version 02.3D.00
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620 & NVIDIA GeForce 930MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop display (17.1") & Samsung U28E590 (27.7")
    Hard Drives
    128 GB SSD & 1 TB HDD
    Mouse
    Wireless Logitech MSX mouse
    Keyboard
    Wireless Logitech MK710 keyboard
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up
    Browser
    Edge Chromium Dev Channel
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    2 * 3 TB USB HDD
    6 TB WD Mirror NAS
It seems as if Microsoft has changed their policy. Before Windows 11, their website for activating after a hardware change used to state that it had to be the same type of device. I stand corrected. Thank you for checking it out, @Kari. I wonder if they are also allowing unlimited "hardware changes" now, as well.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
A big, big thank you to Mr @Kari and Mr @NavyLCDR for clearing so many doubts & confusion I had. :thumbsup::clap:
Well, I apologize for having incorrect information at first about being able to transfer digital license from VM to physical machine. However, the discussion regarding reusing a retail product key vs. transferring a digital still holds true - they are two entirely different processes.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!

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