Solved VMware

6391mb · Mar 17, 2022

Not sure if this is the correct section to post this but hoping a VM Ware expert is floating around. Mods please move to the correct section if this should not be posted here.

Have VMware installed on a VD as suggested by @jimbo45. Have installed Win7 Pro as I have some security cameras that require Adobe Flash - yes I know it's old and vulnerable but reluctant to simply bin good hardware. There were no options as to which version of Win7 was required when it was installed from the ISO.

Problem is that Windows reports I'm running Win7 Ultimate. The Registry entry reports Win7 Professional. So at this stage cannot activate Win7 running inside VMware. Is anyone able to offer a solution. By the way Win7 is running fine using VMware drivers.

Any input appreciated

The-Hive · Mar 17, 2022

I had a similar situation on Win 10 caused by an upgrade. I upgraded to Windows 10 Pro from Home and a similar thing happened to me Windows reported the new OS but the registry still showed the old version. I believe this was because of an OEM licence key being replaced by a purchased one. Did you upgrade? and have you got the extras associated with Win 7 Ultimate, if so I wouldn't worry about it

Archigos · Mar 17, 2022

I know it won't help your situation, but I remember back in the day... Ultimate will be referenced as Pro in the registry... so it's safe to say it IS Ultimate, which should help track down which type of key is needed.

The-Hive · Mar 17, 2022

@Archigos that makes sense, it must be similar to what happened to me.

6391mb · Mar 17, 2022

Thanks for the input guys. It was a retail Win7 program - not OEM. I deactivated/unregistered the program using CMD from memory. Came from a not worth upgrading laptop so wasn't in place when I jumped to Win10. Limited experience here but you only seem to be able to install onto a VM via an ISO - the only option being Windows 7 x 64

Anyway, I'm only going to be using it to make alterations when necessary to the cameras which require Flash so it will just sit there and stay unactivated. No big deal but thanks again for your input.

jimbo45 · Mar 18, 2022

6391mb said:
Thanks for the input guys. It was a retail Win7 program - not OEM. I deactivated/unregistered the program using CMD from memory. Came from a not worth upgrading laptop so wasn't in place when I jumped to Win10. Limited experience here but you only seem to be able to install onto a VM via an ISO - the only option being Windows 7 x 64

Anyway, I'm only going to be using it to make alterations when necessary to the cameras which require Flash so it will just sit there and stay unactivated. No big deal but thanks again for your input.

Hi there
From the iso to get a prompt for the version to install you need to add this file to the iso -- extract iso to a directory, Then install Windows as usual via the "Classical method"

For professional version : add to the /sources file.

Create a “ei.cfg” file containing the following text:
[EditionID]
Professional
[Channel]
Retail

Now re-create the iso via any sort of program or install windows in the VM again via VHDX and dism/apply-image.

you can actually by using dism explore what images are in /sources and in the apply-image select index=xx where xx is the version of Windows you want.

Cheers
jimbo