License questions - Windows 11 and Office 365


Awalt

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HI all, I am hoping you can help me figure out how to make my license info correct - I am in compliance as far as I know, but things are not reporting correctly in my MSFT account info and I want to make sure I am in compliance. Note, everything works fine, and every device I mention here shows as Activated. I also ran Licensingdiag.exe and confirmed it says L_GEN_STATE_IS_GENUINE.

Office 365 - I have a license that permits "use on up to 5 devices at the same time". I am using it on 4 devices, two Macs and two Parallels VMs, one on each Mac. I pay annually, and I purchased it through the Apple store. However, on my Microsoft account services and subscriptions page, it just shows two licenses used, one a Mac, one the other Mac's VM. I suspect this was because the second Mac was created my doing a migration direct from Mac to Mac; and both Macs use the same Windows 11 VM. So all 4 instances of Office 365 are registered to my email address of record for paying/accessing my MS account, yet only 2 show up. (I believe I was asked to "activate the new Mac or its VM when I first ran Word, and it said "Activated")

Windows 11 - My MS account page shows me having 3 devices registered - a Parallels VM, and 2 Dell laptops. I should have 4 devices; but the second VM has the same serial number as the other VM because I just copied and used the same VM as on the other Mac. Hence why it does not show up as a unique device, I think. The VMs say (Settings/Activation) "Windows is activated with a digital license need to your Microsoft account" So I have to add 1 VM device so it shows on the account page.

Windows 11 - With a digital license how many copies can I use? I assume I am in compliance with 4 devices, but I can't find where that is stated. I don't even know if these are using unique licenses or not, the account page just shows info about the 3 devices without any info on their license info.

Thanks! Whew this is confusing!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Apple MacBook Pro 16" 2021
    CPU
    Apple M1 Max 10 core/4 CPU assigned to Parallels 17 VM
    Motherboard
    Apple Silicon M1 Max
    Memory
    64GB/24GB assigned to Parallels 17 VM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Apple 32 core GPU
    Sound Card
    Apple
    Monitor(s) Displays
    16.2" Liquid Retina XDR
    Screen Resolution
    3456-by-2234 native resolution at 254 psi
    Hard Drives
    4TB SSD
    PSU
    Apple
    Case
    Apple
    Cooling
    Apple
    Keyboard
    Apple
    Mouse
    N/A; Apple Trackpad
    Internet Speed
    1.2Gb/42Gb
    Browser
    Parallels 17 VM: MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Parallels 17 VM: MS Defender
I can't say if the licenses are valid or not, but I can say, for Parallels on Mac, if you copy the 'real' files from one Mac to another, it does NOT change what Microsoft thinks is the hardware (as long as the versions of Parallels aren't that far off). So by the sounds, both VMs are technically using the same license since MS would see both as the same system.

If you decide you want them each to have their own license, you can't just change/update the license on one since again, MS sees them as the same. Therefore the only real way to get two licenses properly would be to create a new VM and refresh the install on one of the Macs. This probably wouldn't be worth the effort of setting things up, etc. so if it were me, I'd just leave the VMs alone and not worry about that.

I did something similar with Windows 10 VMs on Parallels, but after I copied the files and made sure they worked on the second system I no longer use the copy on the first system as I've retired it.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro β
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Laptop 15-eg0070wm
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7
    Memory
    32 GB DDR4-3200 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel® Iris® Xᵉ Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2TB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD
  • Operating System
    macOS Ventura
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Apple iMac 27" 5K (2017)
    CPU
    3.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
    Memory
    40 GB 2400 MHz DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon Pro 570 4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27" 5K, 34" UW
    Screen Resolution
    Mon 1: 5120 × 2880 Mon 2: 2560 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    32GB NVME, 1TB SSD
HI all, I am hoping you can help me figure out how to make my license info correct - I am in compliance as far as I know, but things are not reporting correctly in my MSFT account info and I want to make sure I am in compliance. Note, everything works fine, and every device I mention here shows as Activated. I also ran Licensingdiag.exe and confirmed it says L_GEN_STATE_IS_GENUINE.

Office 365 - I have a license that permits "use on up to 5 devices at the same time". I am using it on 4 devices, two Macs and two Parallels VMs, one on each Mac. I pay annually, and I purchased it through the Apple store. However, on my Microsoft account services and subscriptions page, it just shows two licenses used, one a Mac, one the other Mac's VM. I suspect this was because the second Mac was created my doing a migration direct from Mac to Mac; and both Macs use the same Windows 11 VM. So all 4 instances of Office 365 are registered to my email address of record for paying/accessing my MS account, yet only 2 show up. (I believe I was asked to "activate the new Mac or its VM when I first ran Word, and it said "Activated")

Windows 11 - My MS account page shows me having 3 devices registered - a Parallels VM, and 2 Dell laptops. I should have 4 devices; but the second VM has the same serial number as the other VM because I just copied and used the same VM as on the other Mac. Hence why it does not show up as a unique device, I think. The VMs say (Settings/Activation) "Windows is activated with a digital license need to your Microsoft account" So I have to add 1 VM device so it shows on the account page.

Windows 11 - With a digital license how many copies can I use? I assume I am in compliance with 4 devices, but I can't find where that is stated. I don't even know if these are using unique licenses or not, the account page just shows info about the 3 devices without any info on their license info.

Thanks! Whew this is confusing!
Regarding Windows - rule is simple - one digital licence, one device (vm counts as a device).

The MS account only shows pc installations that are logged in with your MS account. It does not even say if the installations are activated or not.

If you login with a local account, then those installations are not shown in MS account,

In short, the MS account does not show what is activated.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Re. Office 365, strictly, you can only have as many installations as you like, but only 5 can be active at any one time. It gets a bit murky if you have a clone of a host OS with Office 365 installed to a virtual machine as both installations get seen as the same Office 365 installation as far as I can tell.

Truth is the MS account does not keep track of active installations very well. For Windows 11, I have it active on the Host OS, 3 Insider versions, a clone of Host plus an active copy on Windows 10 which is strictly 6 active copies but only 3 show in MS account. I have no idea why this is.

The most I can use at any one time is 3 (1 host + 2 vms) as I would need a lot more RAM to run more than 2 (plus more powerful pc),

In the end, it is all a moot point, as you will never run 5 versions at same time anyway.
 

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
If everything is activated, and not with some illegitimate KMS scheme, then I would not spend a minute worrying about it.
 

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!
In short, the MS account does not show what is activated.
It actually does show what is activated by showing the device, i.e. If a device is listed, it is activated. You can see what devices are activated by Logging into your Microsoft Account and clicking Devices...

Activated Windows Devices.jpg

Here all four of the devices above are activated - two running Windows 11 (Dru21, Kids), two running Windows 10 (UX31, Yoga).

And if you click the dropdown arrow and click "See details" it will show your current OS and OS build. BTW, you can also find you device if location is on. Handy is someone steals your device.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (Build 22631.3296)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    Intel i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Aorus Z390 Xtreme
    Memory
    32G (4x8) DDR4 Corsair RGB Dominator Platinum (3600Mhz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon VII
    Sound Card
    Onboard (ESS Sabre HiFi using Realtek drivers)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    NEC PA242w (24 inch)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    5 Samsung SSD drives: 2X 970 NVME (512 & 1TB), 3X EVO SATA (2X 2TB, 1X 1TB)
    PSU
    EVGA Super Nova I000 G2 (1000 watt)
    Case
    Cooler Master H500M
    Cooling
    Corsair H115i RGB Platinum
    Keyboard
    Logitech Craft
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    500mb Download. 11mb Upload
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
    Other Info
    System used for gaming, photography, music, school.
  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro 22H2 (build 19045.2130)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel i7-7700K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-Z270X-GAMING 8
    Memory
    32G (4x8) DDR4 Corsair Dominator Platinum (3333Mhz)
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Radeon R9 Fury
    Sound Card
    Onboard (Creative Sound Blaster certified ZxRi)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U2415 (24 inch)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    3 Samsung SSD drives: 1x 512gig 950 NVMe drive (OS drive), 1 x 512gig 850 Pro, 1x 256gig 840 Pro.
    PSU
    EVGA Super Nova 1000 P2 (1000 watt)
    Case
    Phantek Enthoo Luxe
    Cooling
    Corsair H100i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master
    Keyboard
    Logitech MK 710
    Internet Speed
    100MB
    Browser
    Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
    Other Info
    This is my backup system.
It actually does show what is activated by showing the device, i.e. If a device is listed, it is activated. You can see what devices are activated by Logging into your Microsoft Account and clicking Devices...

View attachment 51242

Here all four of the devices above are activated - two running Windows 11 (Dru21, Kids), two running Windows 10 (UX31, Yoga).

And if you click the dropdown arrow and click "See details" it will show your current OS and OS build. BTW, you can also find you device if location is on. Handy is someone steals your device.
It actually does show what is activated by showing the device, i.e. If a device is listed, it is activated. You can see what devices are activated by Logging into your Microsoft Account and clicking Devices...

View attachment 51242

Here all four of the devices above are activated - two running Windows 11 (Dru21, Kids), two running Windows 10 (UX31, Yoga).

And if you click the dropdown arrow and click "See details" it will show your current OS and OS build. BTW, you can also find you device if location is on. Handy is someone steals your device.
This is not true.

Create a virtual machine and install Windows with an unactivated account and use an MS account.

You will see it is listed as a device regardless of whether it is activated or not.
 

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
This is not true.

Create a virtual machine and install Windows with an unactivated account and use an MS account.

You will see it is listed as a device regardless of whether it is activated or not.
Agree

-- a VM needs the same licensing considerations as a physical separate computer. Even if you want to run 4 concurrent VM's with identical "Virtual hardware" even on the same machine you would need 4 separate licenses.

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7
With regard to the original question there seems to be two separate issues:

1. Why does the the Microsoft O365 activation/management system not recognise that Office has been installed on two separate Macs?

- The answer would appear (to me) to be that the Apple Migration Assistant was used to create the second O365 "duplicate installation". The Migration Assistant is designed to aid the transfer of installed applications, data etc. to a new Mac. To me 'transfer' NOT copy clearly implies that, unless the software licences permit multiple installations, that original software installation should be removed after a successful transfer has been confirmed. In this case, it appears that the Apple's software migration process has been so successful that the Microsoft's O365 administration system has not been able to detect that any hardware change has taken place and that two installations are in use. That may be because the two Mac computers appear so similar that they can't be distinguished; and/or because the two O365 installations are not been used concurrently. The only immediate 'solution' I can see is to download and run the Mac O365 installer on the second Mac, which should create a new association and register the second Mac's ID information.

2. Why do the Windows and O365 Activation Systems not recognise that 2 Windows VMs are in use?

- This implies that the original VM was directly copied/cloned to the second Mac, retaining all of the original device UUID data, so there aren't two VMs but one + a totally identical copy, which can't be identified as a duplicate VM unless/until they are used concurrently and the MS Activation System recognise that two devices appear to be in use with an identical activation signature. Creating a clone of the original but with new UUIDs would have been the way to maintain 'legitimate' use, which would require the second VM to be separately licensed with its own Windows activation code (and, of course, a separately registered O365 installation). AFAIK the only 'legitimate' way to use a single activated Windows VM on multiple PC's/Laptops is by installing the VM on a plug-in device, e.g. preferably an external SSD.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    macOS (plus VMs: Windows XP, 7, 10 Home/Pro, 11 Home/Pro, Linux Distros)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    a) Apple MacBook Pro (Intel) - 2019 b) Apple MacBook Pro M1 MAX - 2021
    CPU
    a) Intel i9 b) M1 MAX (ARM)
    Memory
    a) 16GB b) 32GB
    Hard Drives
    a) 1TB SSD + 256GB SD Card b) 1TB SSD (+ 1TB SD Card)
    Browser
    a) Safari/Vivaldi/DuckDuckGo b) Safari/DuckDuckGo
    Antivirus
    -
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro (plus VirtualBox VMs: Windows 11 Pro & Linux Distros)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    a) Microsoft Surface Book 2, b) HP Spectre X360
    CPU
    a) i7, b) i7
    Memory
    a) 16GB, b) 16GB
    Hard Drives
    a) 1TB SSD, b) 1TB SSD
    Browser
    a) MS Edge, b) MS Edge
    Antivirus
    a) Defender, b) Defender
This is not true.

Create a virtual machine and install Windows with an unactivated account and use an MS account.
I can't speak for virtual machines (VMs), nor do I use them. I'm only speaking of non-virtual PCs - the normal PCs most people use every day. Here, your Microsoft Account WILL display activated devices as shown in my post above.

Perhaps someone else can better explain why VMs are different, but for normal machines your assessment was false.

Peace :cool:
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (Build 22631.3296)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    Intel i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Aorus Z390 Xtreme
    Memory
    32G (4x8) DDR4 Corsair RGB Dominator Platinum (3600Mhz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon VII
    Sound Card
    Onboard (ESS Sabre HiFi using Realtek drivers)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    NEC PA242w (24 inch)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    5 Samsung SSD drives: 2X 970 NVME (512 & 1TB), 3X EVO SATA (2X 2TB, 1X 1TB)
    PSU
    EVGA Super Nova I000 G2 (1000 watt)
    Case
    Cooler Master H500M
    Cooling
    Corsair H115i RGB Platinum
    Keyboard
    Logitech Craft
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    500mb Download. 11mb Upload
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
    Other Info
    System used for gaming, photography, music, school.
  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro 22H2 (build 19045.2130)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel i7-7700K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-Z270X-GAMING 8
    Memory
    32G (4x8) DDR4 Corsair Dominator Platinum (3333Mhz)
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Radeon R9 Fury
    Sound Card
    Onboard (Creative Sound Blaster certified ZxRi)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U2415 (24 inch)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    3 Samsung SSD drives: 1x 512gig 950 NVMe drive (OS drive), 1 x 512gig 850 Pro, 1x 256gig 840 Pro.
    PSU
    EVGA Super Nova 1000 P2 (1000 watt)
    Case
    Phantek Enthoo Luxe
    Cooling
    Corsair H100i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master
    Keyboard
    Logitech MK 710
    Internet Speed
    100MB
    Browser
    Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
    Other Info
    This is my backup system.
I can't speak for virtual machines (VMs), nor do I use them. I'm only speaking of non-virtual PCs - the normal PCs most people use every day. Here, your Microsoft Account WILL display activated devices as shown in my post above.

Perhaps someone else can better explain why VMs are different, but for normal machines your assessment was false.

Peace :cool:
Even then, you are still incorrect.

You can install Windows unactivated as the host OS with an MS account and it will show as a device in MSA.

Try installing say an N version for which you do not have a licence as dual boot (or if brave enough image backup current installation) overwriting current installation, setting up with MS account.

I can assure you I test these things, not just making assumptions.

If you do the tests, and prove me wrong, I will admit I am wrong (but it ain't gonna happen here LOL).
 

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
You guys are not arguing about activated windows. You guys are arguing about Windows that is NOT activated.
 

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!
You guys are not arguing about activated windows. You guys are arguing about Windows that is NOT activated.
The discussion is about the whether devices shown in the MS account are activated which Dru2 stated.

If a device is logged in with an MS account regardless of whether Windows is activated or not, it will show as a device.

You cannot tell from MS account whether a device is activated or not.

All you know is that that device is linked to MS account and NOT whether the digital licence is activated and connected to MS account.

The only place you can tell if an MS account is connected to a digital licence is in the windows activation menu.
 

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

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