What is best activation method for Windows running in a FreeBSD hosted VM?
- Thread starter davidm71
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- 1,797
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- Windows 11
the same activation used for any other Windows 10/11. Purchase a product key and enter it to activate it.
My Computers
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At a glance
Windows 11AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT32GBEVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti- 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
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Windows 11 EducationIntel i7-8550U32GBNvidia Geforce MX150- 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!
Yes, a VM is just like any other machine. Each VM has its own unique hardware ID. If you activate Windows a digital licence is stored on Microsoft's activation servers and linked to this hardware ID. As such, if you don't want to loose this digital licence it is essential you do not just delete a VM you have activated when you are done with it, you should preserve its ID for re-use later. How you do that varies, depending on which host software you use for the VM.
Hyper-V - Preserve virtual machine digital license (activation)
In case you want to activate your Windows virtual machines, it is important that you will preserve the activation and resulted digital license. When done correctly, you can delete the virtual machine when it is no longer needed, then restore it whenever required. You can even import it to...
www.elevenforum.com
My Computers
-
At a glance
Windows 11 HomeAMD Athlon Silver 3050U8GBRadeon Graphics- OS
- Windows 11 Home
- Computer type
- Laptop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Acer Aspire 3 A315-23-R9VY
- CPU
- AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
- Memory
- 8GB
- Graphics Card(s)
- Radeon Graphics
- Monitor(s) Displays
- laptop screen
- Screen Resolution
- 1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
- Hard Drives
- 1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD (from April 2026: 250GB EVO 850)
- Internet Speed
- 150 Mbps
- Browser
- Edge, Firefox
- Antivirus
- Defender
- Other Info
- fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2, and 25H2 on 30th September 2025 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 25H2.
UPDATE - 11 April 2026: due to mechanical deterioration this PC has been retired from active duty. The OS with all software and files has been migrated to my System Seven in 'Other systems' to carry on as my general purpose 'main machine'.
I've now clean installed 25H2 and used Garlin's scripts to update Secure Boot to CA 2023 and revoke the PCA 2011 certificates. It's new role is to test secure boot issues.
-
At a glance
Windows 11 ProIntel® Core™ i5-520M8GB(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics- Operating System
- Windows 11 Pro
- Computer type
- Laptop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Dell Latitude E4310
- CPU
- Intel® Core™ i5-520M
- Motherboard
- 0T6M8G
- Memory
- 8GB
- Graphics card(s)
- (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
- Screen Resolution
- 1366x768
- Hard Drives
- 500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
- Browser
- Firefox, Edge
- Antivirus
- Defender
- Other Info
- unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround.
In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround.
Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.
In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media.
Upgraded to 25H2 by Enablement Package.
Also running Insider Dev, and Canary builds and Windows 10 as native boot .vhdx.
-
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 1TB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine. Updated to 25H2 on 30th September 2025.
My SYSTEM SEVEN is a Lenovo Thinkpad T580, Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 2nd 512GB NVMe SSD, a supported device for Windows 11. This is my current general purpose 'main machine'. The installed Windows 11 Home from my System One has been migrated to this machine.
I'm trying to convert our Windows server into a VM using Freebsd and Bhyve. Have figured out how to clone the install into one that bhyve understands so would imagine I would need a new key at this point. Though I have always wondered how it works and now how you would backup not just the key but the unique hardware id in virtualbox or whatever for future reinstalls. Thanks.
My Computer
At a glance
Win 11 Pro
- OS
- Win 11 Pro
Whatever you use to run the VM, the key is to preserve the unique hardware ID of the VM. For Virtualbox....
Can I activate two Windows 10 in the same VirtualBox? - Windows 10 Help Forums - post #2
My Computers
-
At a glance
Windows 11 HomeAMD Athlon Silver 3050U8GBRadeon Graphics- OS
- Windows 11 Home
- Computer type
- Laptop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Acer Aspire 3 A315-23-R9VY
- CPU
- AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
- Memory
- 8GB
- Graphics Card(s)
- Radeon Graphics
- Monitor(s) Displays
- laptop screen
- Screen Resolution
- 1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
- Hard Drives
- 1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD (from April 2026: 250GB EVO 850)
- Internet Speed
- 150 Mbps
- Browser
- Edge, Firefox
- Antivirus
- Defender
- Other Info
- fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2, and 25H2 on 30th September 2025 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 25H2.
UPDATE - 11 April 2026: due to mechanical deterioration this PC has been retired from active duty. The OS with all software and files has been migrated to my System Seven in 'Other systems' to carry on as my general purpose 'main machine'.
I've now clean installed 25H2 and used Garlin's scripts to update Secure Boot to CA 2023 and revoke the PCA 2011 certificates. It's new role is to test secure boot issues.
-
At a glance
Windows 11 ProIntel® Core™ i5-520M8GB(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics- Operating System
- Windows 11 Pro
- Computer type
- Laptop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Dell Latitude E4310
- CPU
- Intel® Core™ i5-520M
- Motherboard
- 0T6M8G
- Memory
- 8GB
- Graphics card(s)
- (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
- Screen Resolution
- 1366x768
- Hard Drives
- 500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
- Browser
- Firefox, Edge
- Antivirus
- Defender
- Other Info
- unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround.
In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround.
Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.
In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media.
Upgraded to 25H2 by Enablement Package.
Also running Insider Dev, and Canary builds and Windows 10 as native boot .vhdx.
-
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 1TB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine. Updated to 25H2 on 30th September 2025.
My SYSTEM SEVEN is a Lenovo Thinkpad T580, Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 2nd 512GB NVMe SSD, a supported device for Windows 11. This is my current general purpose 'main machine'. The installed Windows 11 Home from my System One has been migrated to this machine.
- Local time
- 10:56 PM
- Posts
- 122
- OS
- Windows 11
Cheapest way is to get a Windows 7 OEM key off Ebay. Last I did it was $15 and was an unused genuine key and it activates 10&11 fine. been using the system for years with no issues. Seems nobody wantes the old keys distributers are offloading despite them still being valid to activate Windows 10/11 at install.
My Computers
-
At a glance
Windows 11AMD Ryzen 5 3600G.Skill Flare X 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL...Dell OEM RX 5700- OS
- Windows 11
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- Manufacturer/Model
- "Selene"
- CPU
- AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte A520I AC Mini ITX AM4
- Memory
- G.Skill Flare X 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory
- Graphics Card(s)
- Dell OEM RX 5700
- Monitor(s) Displays
- LG 29UM69G-B 29.0" 1.5X Ultrawide 75 Hz Monitor
- Screen Resolution
- 2560 x 1080
- Hard Drives
- Intel 660p 1.02 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive
- PSU
- Corsair CX650M 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply
- Case
- Thermaltake Suppressor F1
- Keyboard
- SteelSeries APEX RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard
- Mouse
- SteelSeries Rival 300 Wired Optical Mouse
- Other Info
- SteelSeries Arctis 5 7.1 Channel Headset
-
At a glance
Windows 11- Operating System
- Windows 11
- Computer type
- Laptop
- Manufacturer/Model
- MSI Katana GF76 11 UD
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